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Tunnel vision at Old Trafford
Published by Ian John on February 24, 2009
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What an enjoyable game Manchester United’s 2-1 victory over Blackburn on Saturday evening proved to be. Not only was the game an entertaining one, with both sides going for the victory and Blackburn causing United many uncomfortable moments, but the evening was also improved by the somewhat baffling refereeing and the ever present but earnest myopia of Sir Alex himself in his post match comments.
While the victory put United eight points clear of Liverpool, meaning the Reds home game with Manchester City on Sunday is a must win for Rafa Benitez’s men, that didn’t tell the whole story of the game as after a fine start from the home side, Blackburn came back into it strongly. Equalising after some uncharacteristically poor United defending and with the kamikaze Kuczszak providing light relief for neutral viewers and worrying moments for the home fans. The game was evenly poised. Enter referee Howard Webb for a series of entirely baffling decisions that no doubt left both managers scratching their heads.
The first was the award of a Manchester United corner when Gamst-Pedersen blocked Rafael who was chasing for the ball. To award a corner was an impossibility. A United player had played the ball out or Gamst-Pedersen obstructed Rafael for a free kick. It is a a clear case of either one or the other. However Webb somehow saw this as a corner. From which Johnny Evans rose well to head a perfectly legal goal home. Only for it to be ruled out for a ‘push’ by Cristiano Ronaldo that could not have been spotted had the Hubble Space Telescope been trained on the pitch.
While at half time United could have cause for complaint because of Webb’s strange decision making, he certainly made amends in the second period for the home side. Firstly he chose to see David Dunn tangling with Ronaldo, followed by yet another petulant kick by the Portuguese star, as a 50/50 challenge when it was clearly a booking (sending off if you are some referees). Moments later the United star flung himself onto the floor after no contact at all from Gael Givet in an attempt to earn a penalty and was rightfully yellow carded. The argument that Ronaldo could have been sent off for two bookable offences however is laughable. The first kick on Dunn happened only seconds before the dive, had Webb done the right thing and blew for the foul and booked Ronaldo, Blackburn would have had a free kick and Ronaldo would not have been diving in the box to earn a penalty. I do love it when TV commentators overlook common sense to try and promote controversy, even when there isn’t any.
Blackburn however were denied what looked a clear penalty minutes later when Rafael seemed to hold back Gamst-Pedersen in the box. While the contact was neglible, it was contact and can be reasonably argued that it denied the player a goalscoring opportunity. However Webb’s baffling indecision came to the fore once again. Having only just booked Ronaldo for a dive, and then saying Gamst-Pedersen’s was not a penalty, then it had to be a dive, and should have been a yellow card! How can the referee marry the two decisions? This isn’t just inconsistent, it is illogical. Why when there are only two possible choices for a decision, Webb still chooses a third?
The most enjoyable aspect for me was after the game. Sam Allardyce complained that you are never likely to get a penalty at Old Trafford, which is quite true. Sir Alex complained that Gamst-Pedersen wasn’t booked when Ronaldo was. However Sir Alex once again showed his selective myopia. I give him credit for saying Ronaldo should have been booked for diving and I can understand his grievance that Gamst-Pedersen wasn’t booked. However when he saw Rafael holding the Rovers winger back he claimed it was “a touch on the shoulder and then he let him go” or words to that effect. It clearly wasn’t. Rafael held the Rovers star by the shoulder who felt the contact and went down theatrically yes, but certainly he touched the player and denied him a chance. That is a penalty and sending off. Ronaldo on the other hand was touched by nobody, and instead threw his leg at Givet in the hope it would contact the defender and make it look like a foul. They are quite different and by no means the same.
One is pretending a foul occurred which is illegal. One is exaggerating a foul, which is not nice, but nonetheless, still a foul.
Another case of tunnel vision at Old Trafford?
Photo Credit : **man-utdphotos** at Flickr.com
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Nabyl Charania on Tue, 24th Feb 2009 11:00 am
I wish Cronaldo would stop his diving and just concentrate on playing the game (which he is much better at than flopping around looking for calls to go his way)!
Al-Nashir Charania on Tue, 24th Feb 2009 11:48 pm
ditto Mort Gamst Pederson…although he didn’t seem to get the card for diving! Ian, you might need to use Hakim’s ‘buy one get one free’ glasses because that was in no way, shape, or form a Blackburn penalty:-)
Nabyl Charania on Wed, 25th Feb 2009 12:05 am
ah Al… do I smell a ManU fan…lol…and I refer to rule number 1 here: http://deciphersoccer.com/2009/02/24/the-premiership-managers-guide-to-good-refereeing/
Ed Hawkins on Mon, 2nd Mar 2009 11:09 am
The diving by C. Ronaldo is a distraction from what is otherwise a great attacker. One wonders if he thinks that the only way he could possibly lose a ball is if he is fouled and therefore he fakes one when he has lost (or is about to lose possession). To me, this is disrespecting the opponent – not necessarily the referee. It is like he is saying: You must foul me to get the ball” The fact is, he is not so superier that other premier level players can’t get it from him. They can. Its just that he can’t deal with that level of failure which to me, is childish. All attackers lose the ball and they lose it when they are doing their job. Diving means you are taking ourself out of the play in hope that play will stop. Utter Nonsense.