Comments on: Is Javier Mascherano ‘the Dumb One’?

By: Xamista

Xamista — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:36:33 +0000

he should be sent off after getting the 1st yellow card and saying 25987 times f**k off at the referee!!!

By: Daniel Beech

Daniel Beech — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:55:32 +0000

Any nation divided on this issue is a nation I want no part of (I’m not a Brit, btw). Mascherano sprinted across the pitch – throwing off his teammates attempts to stop him – to get in Bennett’s face, as he had already done numerous times in the game, and question a call after Torres had already been booked for dissent with regard to that call. He then proceeded to ignore Bennett’s multiple requests to get on with the game. Yellow card.

Meanwhile in Australia the top scorer of the season in the A-League got nothing for punching a linesman in the nuts.

By: BDCondell

BDCondell — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:30:45 +0000

He was booked for persistent arguing and abuse, not JUST for “asking the question”. He was in the ref’s face all afternoon and can have no argument.

Adrian says this issue has split the nation. He’s right but from all the things I’ve be reading it’s something like an 80%-20% split, with the 80% agreeing with the decision.

It’s a shame this has overshadowed the game. Utd were well on top and a goal up by the time the sending-off came.

Many teams cope well with 10 men (Ask Arsenal about Birmingham a few weeks ago). However, the fact is that Utd were different class to Liverpool.

It could easily have been 5 or 6. We heard a lot about Torres and Gerrard, forever the great hopes of Liverpool, before the game. Neither made any impression.

As Alan Hansen said, Utd’s defence is, by a distance, the best in the Premiership. Ferdinand had Torres in his pocket for the entire match.

Ferguson rotated the squad yet again and still came up with the required quality. Utd don’t depend on just 2 players and the gap in quality is obvious.

Benitez has a lot of work to do to bridge that gap.

By: jonathan

jonathan — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:42:55 +0000

Adrian you tart if you cant cope with a little raised voices then football isnt the sport for you try chess or badminton something girly.
Mascherano should not have been booked asking a referee a question chelsea do this every week without being sent of it is not one rule for one and one for another team. look at the incident again

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:15:26 +0000

Sure, if you want to view Mascherano’s behaviour in isolation and in terms of black and white, then it was right for the referee to send him off. However, when viewed in the context of the premiership season then the decision was ridiculous.
Firstly, the issue of consistency. All throughout the season, players have been chastising referees up and down the country in a manner far more aggressive than Mascherano did yesterday (Terry is an obvious example). Moreover, if the incidents prior to his sending-off merited dissent, then surely that of other players, such as Ronaldo throwing his hands up in exasperation at decisions that went against also constitute dissent and merit a booking.
Secondly, it is not against the laws of the game to ask a referee why a particular decision was made – they enforce the law but are not above and, presuming that there is a legitimate reason for their decision, they should be happy to explain it.
Thirdly, the referee should have at least warned Mascherano that he was walking a fine line before sending him off. If you look at all the incidents of him chipping away at the referee, in none of them did Steve Bennett take him aside for a quiet chat to warn him that his behaviour was unacceptable. A referee is there to officiate the match but part of that includes controlling the game and setting the tone – sending someone off for back chat is a draconian and unproductive way to go about it. And it ruined an important game of football. Given that Alex Ferguson was banging on about the importance of the referee in the run-up to the game, it looks like Bennett was in his pocket. And would the ref have sent the player off if it had been Gerrard or another English player? A hypothetical question but I’d like to see the stats on that one.
As for Mascherano’s behaviour, I don’t condone it but think the referee handled it badly and it could all have been averted if the ref had controlled. Now, of course, it looks like Mascherano is going to be an example of in the way that Ashley Cole was not. There’s justice for you.

By: the great one

the great one — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:14:36 +0000

rooney got what he deserved at the time. and now he controls his temper more than before. it was just a simple case of trying to prove your point too much. mr bennet finally listened…!!!

By: pany

pany — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:02:36 +0000

Mr. Adrian Clarke the first one that should stop playing in the premiership is Rooney then! I believe one out of three words he speaks in the games is f..k, not to mention his ”performance” towards his team-mate Ronaldo some years back in international level!!!!