Although Everton fans, United fans, Juventus fans, and general dislikers of every post that I throw out may disagree vehemently with this particular opinion, I feel that today has sent out (yet another) reminder to the powers-that-be within FIFA that we have to embrace the technology that is currently available. With some big referee decisions putting a general damper on an otherwise amazing day of fixtures, I feel that someone has to pitch a toddler-like fit. And who better to pitch that fit than…me?
Let us get all of the “duh” stuff out of the way at the get-go. Sure, Chelsea would have probably still conceded to the amazing strike-force that the Red Devils had on the pitch before the final whistle…and Juventus may have still pulled out a draw or victory to ensure their unbeaten run continues…and, it may be possible that the sideline referee saw through four or five bodies and made a call from about twenty five yards away on Sebastian Coates instead of the supposed offsides call on Suarez (which is why he raised his flag immediately…right?). But, the fact remains that the blown referee decisions (or non-decisions) could have been prevented if FIFA would allow the game to step into the 21st century and employ, at the very least, a rudimentary form of replay.
Also, shut up about the purity of the game. We live in an era where diving is not just a part of the game, but it is a strategy. We live in a time where the head of world football is a balding racist that probably would have trouble learning his “A,B,C’s” (in any language). Look me in the eye and tell me that “added time” is not the perfect mate to a replay system. Also, the referees already have headsets while they are working, so why not have a group of trained officials upstairs watching replays so that decisions can be made as quickly as possible and then communicated to the ref on the pitch. Also, and I will admit this, these calls are getting blown up simply because of the size of the fixtures in which they occurred…but that does not absolve FIFA from blame…Swansea versus QPR should have as much importance placed on getting the calls right as Chelsea v. Man U.
For someone that wants as little controversy…well…that’s a lie…we all love controversy. But, for someone that hates referee related controversy, this past weekend has been completely trashed.
Liverpool and Everton lived up to the hype that we expected from the Merseyside derby. Suarez was Suarez (and, come on, that celebration was great). Brad Jones was…well…Brad Jones. And Everton proved that they are no longer the little brother to Liverpool with a worthy comeback to snatch a point. However, an ending that completely defines why we all love footy seemed to appear out of thin-air. The ball somehow appeared at the feet of Suarez before he put the ball in the roof of the net and sent the Reds into complete ecstasy. However, a few seconds later (it almost seemed like Suarez had already rounded half of Goodison Park by the time it went up) a flag was raised. As of right now, the reports are conflicting. Some say that the referee was calling for a foul on Uruguayan defender Sebastian Coates in the build-up, which would be a correct call and it would resolve the refs of all blame. But, with the timing of the flag raise and with the fact that the sideline official probably did not have the ability to x-ray through a group of players and see that type of foul from the other side of the field, it seems that he was making a late offsides call.
Massive blown call #1…eh, technology would ruin the game.
Chelsea and Manchester United was the biggest fixture to occur in this relatively young season. The commercials were elaborate and seemed to run every commercial break, reminding us all to tune in for the clash. Chelsea were looking to continue their success in the Di Matteo era and continue their march to the Premier League throne and Manchester United were looking to throw themselves back into the thick of the race. 68 minutes of magic and goals that lived up to the billing of such a grand fixture, and then it went awry. Torres, obviously jealous of the negative press the Liverpool match was getting, decided to make the most of a tackle from Evans. Sure, he could have continued, but it was a legitimate foul and he chose to hit the deck. In the heat of the moment, he sent Torres off for an early shower. Would replay have saved the Spaniard? Maybe. But, the worst case of human error was yet to come. With Chicharito running back out of the net, he connected on a deflected Van Persie shot and sent the red contingent at Stamford Bridge into sheer pandemonium. The only downside- he was offside.
Massive blown call #2…well, United probably would have won anyway…technology would ruin the game…
Juventus cannot lose. If they go undefeated and they grind their way to another Scudetto and make a CL splash then they may go down as one of the most impressive squads in history…not only in Italy, but in the entirety of world football. Now, this game did not place the bulk of the blame on one call…no…it had the audacity to have two cases of blown calls. Catania, with their eyes set firmly on ending the Old Lady’s run, scored a perfectly legitimate goal in the 25th minute. Wait…I’m sorry…that is what should have happened. Catania put the ball in the back of the net in the 25th minute and had it wrongly disallowed by an offsides call. A quick glance at replay, and the game would have been 1-0 to Catania. Juventus may have still come back and continued their impressive run, and they may have done it without the wrongly allowed goal in the 57th minute. Oh…wait…did I not mention that? Juve snagged their only goal (the winning goal) by scoring in a situation where Arturo Vidal should have been ruled offsides.
Massive blown call #3 (and #4?)…please…please tell me about how technology would ruin the game…PLEASE!
All it would take is a few minutes in certain games. There is about 20 seconds between when a goal is scored and when the ref blows the whistle to get the next kick-off going. Since all of us can see the call was wrong within moments of the call, shouldn’t some secondary officials be able to communicate to the on-field official in time to prevent too much time being wasted? And, once again, does it not seem like “added time” was absolutely MADE for replay? Leave your hate and your comments below. Also, if you agree, feel free to leave those thoughts below as well. And, make sure you think before you post it…you don’t have the benefit of instant replay to rethink your thoughts…
About drewplaysbass
It’s got to the point where I no longer care if they
So long as they are quick then why not get hark eyed neutral ajudicators to give the verdict almost instantly?
I say that they should try it for an international friendly or a low profile game
And just so it’s clear I’m a die hard Man United fan and I vehemently disagree with only one thing and that is that united would have scored anyway I feel that it was destined to be a draw if Hernandez had not scored(albeit illegally)
I dont’ know about it being a tie…Chelsea was doing quite well…until Torres got sent off.. I don’t see how the referee could be so sure about Torres hitting the deck being a dive. I mean, is Torres that stupid to risk diving when he’s already on a yellow? And sorry to vent a little, but sure there have been wrong decisions…but what was the linesman doing!? Sleeping or something?? Surely he would have noticed Hernandez coming from inside the goal? …And what really pissed me off was Hernandez’s comments after the game…
I think technology in football would ruin that sort of raw feel the game has to it, I mean as much as we all hate those goals that are wrongly allowed/disallowed I think that situations like these add to the tenseness and make the games have much more passion. Can you imagine the refs never getting another call wrong? it would just take that something special away from the game that makes us love it so much.People would never be able to argue over those dubious calls.
This is just my take one the situation though.
If technology had been in use, Torres would have been sent off for catching Cleverly with a studs to the arms/chest foul earlier in the game. So it still would have been a 11 v 9 situation. Would Utd still have scored to win, as a Utd fan I would like to think yes but we really can’t know.
Also in my books there is a difference between diving and simulation but both are worthy of yellow cards. Diving occurs when there is no contact and a player goes down looking for a penalty/foul. Simulation is when a player is fouled(maybe slighty) and should stay on their feet and continue but goes down to draw the penalty. Both of these should be given yellow cards.
when player is fouled even if the contact is minimal, they still have the right to go down
Why not use technology when it can help? I watched the whole Chelsea ManU game and to be fair thought that Clattenburg managed the game excellently until the Torres call. Some ref’s are just a little too trigger happy right now in their attempt to curb diving, all of which i think is an overreaction. Unfortunately, that one moment spoiled what was turning out to be an awesome game. Being a Chelsea fan, as much as it hurts to say, that Hernandez offside could have been missed by any other ref or assistant ref coz it happened so quick. But again, if technology can help then why not?
By the way, please people – its “offside”, not “offsides”.