FA bungles it in charging Arsenal and Chelsea
The callow officiousness with which the FA deals with ‘misconduct’ is now as predictable as it is depressing.
They’ve got it wrong again, this time even after reviewing match evidence. Tellingly, they’ve found a way to back the ref and put it all on the clubs, when both players and refs were at fault.
For Arsenal, Toure’s red card stands, and it should. He lashed out at Mikel when he should have gone on and taken the free kick. Fabregas, as I said earlier, should have received a red as well for his over-the-top reaction and tussle with Lampard.
Adebayour received a wrong red card, but the way he got involved when he didn’t need to, and reacted badly to the refs. For me that translates into this - disrespect the ref, get a red card.
Mikel’s red card stands, although Chelsea will appeal it (as will Arsenal with Ade’s red). It should be rescinded, but I doubt it will, seeing the FA’s willingness to back the ref on a marquee occasion like this. Ade’s card is another story, but would the FA have the guts to rescind it and not rescind Mikel’s?
And why does Eboue not get a post-match booking? His whack on Bridge (light or not) was a yellow-card offense, so technically he should be booked. A charge of violent conduct - which is laughable as it is the same charge Ben Thatcher got - does nothing.
Update: Appeals by Adebayour and Mikel have been rejected by the FA.
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And the petrol thrower who caused it to go off - Fat Frank Lampard - gets off scot free. Typical.
Your view of the “fight” is rather biased, making you look even more stupid than the FA. You’re obviously a Chelsea supporter because it was clear that the entire melee started when Lampard got involved with something that had nothing to do with him.
If he had just kept his fat nose out of it, Toure would have got booked and that would have been that, as Toure didn’t touch Mikel’s face or throw a punch - just some pushing. Nothing else would have happened, but fat Frank had to get involved.
Disrespect the ref = red card
That’s funny - made funnier because you’re actually serious. Pushing and shoving = red cards does it? Well then there should have been about ten reds in total.
James - that’s not an argument mate. See the vid again (link in above comment) - Lamps moves in to prevent Fab from having a go at Mikel. Fab loses it after that..
Would you rather that Fab should have been allowed to come and shout at Mikel and push him around too?
Of course they will rescind Adebayor’s red card because it was mistaken identity. They have charged him for seperate reasons, which I actually find disgusting. He is now being punished twice for something he didn’t even do because of a linesman who has clearly lied & an inept referee. How can a linesman mix up a 6′3″ guy with a ponytail for a 5′9″ guy, with a stocky build & short hair!!
The FA have just washed over the incidents with Essien & Drogba, but that really doesn’t surprise me as they are terrified of Abramovich, who is now running the game in this country!!
Ah I see, so you translate that to the FA translating it to disrespecting the ref = red card
He has a personal hearing but they won’t back down because they are holier than thou ar$ewipes who know nothing about football. Received a wrongful red card in a final and doesn’t go quietly. Yeah funny that…
Fat frank did not go in to prevent Cesc having a go at Mikel.
Fat frank pushed the ref out the way to have a go at Kolo, look at the video. Cesc came in to get fat fwank out of Kolo’s face.
Fat fwank was not trying to take Mikel out of the situation, he went in like a bull in a china shop, straight at Kolo, just a pity the ref was in the way as well.
The instigator of the melee was fat fwank. If he hadn’t barged webb out the way, this would have been mild handbags and 2 yellows, nothing more.
Yes, the author is biased, but he’s an MU supporter, he just loves to get a dig at Arsenal because everything is always Arsenal’s fault.
Funny how it’s always Arsenal when these things happen, but it’s NEVER their fault.. Fabregas should have gone. Eboue should have walked.. Just watch the video
A)Both Lamps and Fab deserved reds - Lamps for having a go at Toure, Fab for wrestling with him needlessly.
B) Mikel didn’t deserve a red.
C) Drogba’s slap on Fab’s head - that was Droggie right? Went unpunished and merited at least a yellow.
Sorry if I led people to believe that Lamps was blameless. He was at fault as well.
Lampard did nothing but separate Toure and Mikel. Fabregas putting him in a headlock is worse than any of the bits of contact.
So I watched this fight again in slow motion, stepping through it one frame at a time.
1. The camera angle I was given didn’t show Eboue/Bridge at all, so I can’t comment on that.
2. Toure was completely out of line and is owning up to it by not appealing.
Here’s the play by play:
Toure was blatantly fouled by Mikel. Ref blew the whistle and granted a FK. Toure lost his mind and charged Mikel, grabbing his shirt and shoving him around. Mikel responded by shoving back. Lampard ran in, facing Toure, and shoved Toure around. (If he had been interested in breaking it up, he should have jumped between them and only put his hands on Mikel to get his own team mate away from Toure.) At this point, both Mikel and Lampard were shoving Toure. Cesc charged in and took hold of Lampard to get him off Toure. Lampard never looked away from Toure. He continued to glare at (and presumably yell at) Toure until Cesc got him into a headlock. Carvalho, Drogba and Adebayor show up (maybe even Shevchenko) to separate Toure and Mikel and Lampard and Cesc. Mikel backs off with his hands up. Toure is no longer interested in Mikel, but is worried about Cesc. An Arsenal player (Hleb?) gets Cesc away from Lampard. Mourinho gets in Cesc’s face and says something to him (is he yelling? can’t tell). Several people keep hold of Cesc. As Wenger walks on the field, you can see Lampard walking past him, obviously looking for someone. Two seconds later Lampard finds Cesc and goes at him again (notice that Frank went looking for Cesc). Drogba and Carvalho have to break Lampard and Cesc up again. Cesc is really surrounded (and pretty fired up) when Drogba reaches in to slap him on the back of the head, grab his neck and continues to hold him by the neck for a few seconds. (It’s very difficult to tell Drogba’s intentions here, but even if he meant well, he should have been able to tell that Cesc was too fired up to take that kind of handling.) Adebayor breaks Drogba’s hold on Cesc either because he is annoyed by it or because he can read that Cesc doesn’t like it. Eventually other players and staff members get Cesc and Lampard on opposite sides of the field and everyone is left milling around. The ref finally has Toure and Mikel where he shows them red cards. As Mikel walks off the pitch, you see little Theo standing very far from the melee with his hands on his hips like he’s thinking, “How did this all happen?” For no apparent reason, Mikel bumps into little Theo. Toure takes his red card in better fashion. Of course, we all know that Adebayor goes nuts when he is tossed. He has to be dragged off the pitch because he wants to keep asking the ref what he did (which we know from the replay that he did nothing).
In conclusion:
Toure deserved his red. Mikel probably didn’t unless the ref decided that his original foul was a booking offense and the shoving was a second which equals a red.
Lampard deserved a red. I don’t think Cesc was as bad as Lampard because he only got involved to get Lampard off Toure and he would have been done after the first time they were separated except that Frank came back looking for him. So I don’t know if all that means he deserved just a booking or a sending off. I would have been fine with either because he did lose his temper (but was pushed to it).
Adebayor in no way deserved even a booking. The FA should have lifted the ban but maybe fined him for refusing to leave peacefully.
Mourinho should be fined for getting in Cesc’s face. Wenger was truly only interested in his own players, not Chelsea.