Why Mascherano was wrong, Bennett was right and Andy Gray was completely out of order
There has already been much written and much said about the sending off of Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano yesterday in the ‘Grand Slam Sunday’ game against Manchester United. He was dismissed for two yellow cards and with his departure went any hopes Liverpool had of getting something from the game and any outside hopes they had of staying in the race for the title.
At half time in the game, and afterwards, Sky Sports ‘voice of football’ Andy Gray declared that the sending off was a ridiculous piece of refereeing by an incompetent referee, or words to that effect. He expressed concern as to where the game is going if players are no longer able to speak to the referee.
I am no great fan of Steve Bennett’s as an official and his old style school master type of approach to refereeing is not one that I particularly enjoy. Having said that, I strongly believe that the action he took yesterday was correct and that Mascherano, and more particularly, Andy Gray, were completely in the wrong.
During the week Ashley Cole had shamed himself and the whole image of Premier League football with his petulant, childish and arrogant display when being lucky not to be sent off in Chelsea’s game at Tottenham. To be fair to Cole, he has apologised for the original tackle and the lack of respect he showed to referee Mike Riley.
As a result of that incident the whole English football industry have been discussing the FA’s respect agenda and the element of nastiness creeping into the Premier League games. Everyone, without exception, agreed that things needed to change. Steve Bennett himself was the fourth official in the Ashley Cole incident and came in for some criticism for not dealing better with it.
So it was against this background that the big game at Old Trafford took place yesterday. If I, a pleb supporter, was aware that dissent was going to be clamped down on, Bennett had been recently criticised and he always referees in a school master type way, then surely the players and the managers would be aware as well? Mascherano’s behaviour was poor, and the way he acted begs a huge question mark over his intelligence.
Mascherano is a great player and has performed exceptionally well for Liverpool this season. He doesn’t normally seem to be a ‘mouthy’ player and that made his performance yesterday even more surprising.
Steve Bennett had no choice but to give out the first yellow card. It was a reckless lunge early in the game, and in a high pressured local derby like this the referee has to take control early. Following his yellow card, Mascherano walked towards Bennett repeatedly saying, “F**k off.” It was clear and unacceptable, but Bennett showed leniency by booking him and warning him.
Mascherano then proceeded to commit two further fouls, either of which could arguably have been carded, and hurl abuse towards the referee when the free kicks were given. The warning Steve Bennett gave Mascherano could not have been clearer.
Then Steve Bennett decided to yellow card Fernando Torres. Now, this yellow card did seem harsh but we couldn’t see or hear what Torres actually said to the referee. Nor, of course, could Mascherano who decided to run fully twenty yards to remonstrate with Bennett.
Watching the game, I said, “He’s going to get sent off.” Alonso tried to grab his teammate and stop him from being foolish because he knew he would be sent off. Arbeloa looked skywards and annoyed because he knew his teammate was making a big mistake. Steve Bennett told Mascherano to go away or he would send him off. He continued to stand there and argue. He was sent off. Shock!
It is clear from the TV pictures that Mascherano was simply repeatedly saying “What’s happening.” He wasn’t swearing and he wasn’t, on that occasion, being particularly aggressive. In itself, maybe the yellow card in those circumstances would have been a little harsh. However, this was far from an isolated incident and Steve Bennett had already showed patience with the player and could have sent him off before he did. The fact that he ran so far and fought off a teammate to carry on the argument meant that Bennett had little choice.
The Liverpool players knew it, the Liverpool staff knew it and millions of people watching on television knew it.
At half time we were taken to the Sky Sports Studio studio where Richard Keys was talking to Jamie Redknapp and Andy Gray. Redknapp, a Liverpool fan and ex-player said what we were all thinking. Mascherano was stupid in the extreme and gave Steve Bennett no choice in the current climate.
Then Andy Gray, who I think has grown to believe his own publicity, starts to rant on about the referee losing control, the player simply asking a question, football going down the pan and it not being a ‘man’s game’ anymore. Total and utter rubbish Mr Gray. In your position, you should show a more responsible attitude.
The FA respect agenda is all about treating referees with respect. Commentators, fans, players and managers had all spoken out in the days prior to this game in support of the initiative. Even Sir Alex Ferguson and John Terry, two of the worst offenders over the years, spoke about how the harrassment of the officials has got to stop now.
Andy Gray said that the referees have a responsibility to take control. He said they should be ‘big enough’ to deal with situations. He suggested that Steve Bennett had lost control and ‘bottled’ the situation. Surely Bennett did quite the opposite? He repeatedly warned a player who was showing him no respect over a period of minutes and took control by sending him off and sending a strong message to players that this behaviour will no longer be tolerated.
Instead of taking the opportunity to reinforce the point that the whole football world has been making, as Jamie Redknapp and Tony Adams did on Sky, Andy Gray decided to fly in the face of common sense and criticise the referee and defend the player.
Later on I watched BBC’s Match of the Day, and whilst Alan Hansen and Gavin Peacok agreed that Mr Bennett’s style of refereeing is not to everyone’s taste, they both agreed that Mascherano had been asking to be sent off.
I was terribly disappointed with Sky Sports’ ‘Voice of football’. I think he did himself, Sky Sports and the Premier League generally a disservice with his, ‘it’s a man’s game’ attitude. Constant fouling, swearing at the referee and constant harrassment of the officials. Fighting off teammates who know you are being stupid. Which of these actions are the one’s that Andy Gray defines as ‘manly’ and which of them are the ones that he defends?
Graham writes at Views of a fan
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- Manchester United, Andy Cole and Alan Shearer
Discussion - 48 Responses
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as a staunch liverpool fan of over 20 years i was disgusted with Mascherano behaviour.Steve Bennett’s reaction was 100% correct. if i was the manager i wouldnt have looked Mash in the eyes to calm him down i would have slapped him back to the changing room.
wat a load of balls.the day that referees begin to control football is the day the game is ruined. u point out the ashley cole incident and that the footballers should have been aware of this, what a load of tripe, why should players change their style of football and remove the passion just because some twat made a fool of himself a couple of nights previous. it was a poor decision, he was eventually going to be sent off so all the ref had to do was wait for the right moment.
good one Graham.
It’s quite possible that Mascherano didn’t know why Torres was booked and therefore ran to the ref to ask him why. If Bennett thought that his decision was being questioned (as opposed to Mascherano simply inquiring the reason for the yellow card), and then he gave the 2nd yellow, it was probably a harsh 2nd yellow to give.
Having said that (and I said earlier that Bennett shouldn’t have sent Mascherano off), this is exactly why only captains and the player being booked should be allowed to speak to the referee. If that rule had been in place, Mascherano would have asked Alonso or Gerrard.
Lets hope that all dissent is punished from now on and we get that elusive thing called consistency from the referees. Somehow I do not see this happening.
Great Article
Mascherano got what was coming to him.The way he had been acting and with one card already I’d have put money on him walking at some stage.What is pathetic is that Benitez is defending the guy.This is the same idiot who thought Clattenburg got all the decisions right in the Goodison derby in October - can anyone take him seriously!
Anyway that’s another great step towards United’s next title - hope Everton get 4th!
man u say that ronaldo is being kicked out of england, and now you do to torres what you where crying about when you got beat to portsmouth, a loud of cheats. mascherano was right to have a go at the ref because torres was getting kicked. daniel go and be a man u supporter.
are you gay graham? your comment about andy gray saying football is a mans game is nonsical, it is a mans game!!!! i am usually a huge disliker of andy gray as he is an ex bluenose and systematically demeans and chastises liverpool. however yesterday i 100% agreed with him. Bennet was out of order and was nowhere near big enough as a man or ref to have been allowed to take control of a game of yesterdays stature.
Graham:
I would like to add two quotes from our interview with Mr. Ian Blanchard, Head of National Referee Development at the FA. These were in response to the necessary qualities of a modern-day referee, along with consistency:
You need to be a good communicator, not just of decisions made but equally important have the ability to get your message across to players, managers and spectators. You need to be a salesperson, just like selling a cart. You have to convince people you are confident in your ability to control the game and that your decision making is accurate. A high level of confidence is required, coupled with good knowledge on the laws of the game as well as the dynamics of football…
There is much speculation about referees being consistent; however, I believe this is almost impossible unless you want robots to control games of soccer. However, I do believe referees can be consistent in a game of 90 minutes of football. As an example, if a player commits a tripping offence early in the game and a similar foul is committed later on, players will expect you to deal with the situation in a similar manner. The laws of the game need to be applied in a fair and equitable manner, this is the only way that players will gain respect for the referee.
http://soccerlens.com/interview-with-ian-blanchard/5535/
What a load of sh*t. In all fairness, you sound like one of these idiots who has never played football in his life but feels like he can comment on how players react when a referee is consistently making wrong decisions, when you have absolutely no idea about the frustration that is experienced in these situations. Andy Gray was absolutely right in his comments at half-time in the game yesterday, Steve Bennett is a b*tch who could not control the game yesterday because players don’t have any respect for him due to his countless previous subpar performances; this results in him resorting to bully tactics to try stamp his authority on the game. Of course players have the right to question a referee’s decisions, as long as they do it in a non-threatening manner (as was the case yesterday); this has always been part of the game of footbal and should continue on indefinitely.
I agree with Larry’s comment, when referees are given the freedom to make rash decisions like this without reprimand the game of football is going to suffer. I think Steve Bennett should be removed from his position as a Premier League referee as he has clearly lost the respect of the players and Mascherano should have the red card rescinded and receive no further punishment for his reaction to the sending off, which was completely understandable to anyone who has played football before and understands what passion is.
Love the way Liverpool fans are claiming foul over this whole thing. This is the same team that happily took all the plaudits when they beat Inter over 2 questionable red cards. What goes around, comes around!! aint it??
Good article.
Perhaps if Mascherano’s petulance during the ‘boro game had been dealt with, this situation might not have arisen. However, he got away with inciting JA and perhaps he thought himself above the laws of the game? I dont know. JM was swearing at the ref during the game, constantly approaching him to critisize his decisions and fought off one of his players to persue the referee…who had actually tried to walk away from him. Certainly a booking.
And if Andy Gray had any sense, he will be embarassed with his statements.
On a seperate point, I was in a north london pub watching the Arsenal vs Chelsea game, and every time Ashley Cole touched the ball the gooners were shouting for their boys to paralyse him, and when Drogba went off for treatment a few were saying they hope his legs were broken. Typical football banter? Probably. But these were the very same set of supporters who were so precious about Eduardo’s injury and who had Villa fans ejected from their game for making a joke about it.
T - unfortunately, that’s how most football fans are when they are in the throes of passion for their club. Somewhat similar to the passion some fans have been pounding on about in the comments above.
Watching this game here in Finland with english commentary (Canalplus), I can only say that I am surprised that Mascherano was not sent off even earlier. When he got his booking he was clearly and visibly swearing to the ref, and then during the first half hour he had many arguments with the ref, always with the same bad language. The commentators said at 36th minute that Mascherano will be sent off soon if he doesn’t start behaving, and they suggested that Benitez should take him off immediately. So when the final yellow card came at 44th minute it had been happening all the time.
Yea, I was merely pointing out the fickleness of fans, who demand implicit consistentcy from referee’s but cannot maintain it themselves. Referee’s are not perfect and neither are fans.
Graham,
I agree with you completely on this one. Mascherano seemed completely oblivious to the inevitable conclusion for his incessant backchat. Gray was talking nonsense - shame the FA have no jurisdiction over him! The only slightly questionable part of the sending was the seemingly soft yellow card awarded to Torres, but as you mention, we don’t know exactly what was said.
However, there is one way in which I felt Javier was let down, and that was by his captain. I didn’t watch the whole game; I only listened to it and saw the highlights. Where was Gerrard in all this? Surely he should have been having a word with JM early on to get him to back off Bennett? I know SG was completely absent in footballing terms yesterday, but he should still be taking on his other duties as a captain. Maybe someone who saw the whole match would know more on that one…
its just one sided refereeing, i’m suprised not more people see it.
Torres with a injury to the ribs and ankle, kicked all game, he is yellow carded for asking why the ref is blind. Monster aks why torres was carded, ref sends him off.
During the first half utd players surrounding the ref, nothing done about it.
When you go to the old toilet you play against the utd 11 + the ref.
Thats why they get beaten at the old toilet in the euro’s because the euro ref’f don’t fall for thier crap!
ummm….United have, with their win against Lyon, equaled the record for most consecutive wins at home in the Champions League, and will probably take it outright when they beat Roma at Old Trafford.
I’m just pointing this out so that you realise that you don’t know what you’re talking about. Not for anyone else - they already know.
here’s the thing. it doesnt mattr what masch said to the ref after fernandos card. im a liverpool fan thru and thru but masch was just pushin it too far. it was clear from the first card tht he was goin off at some point. unacceptable.
Agree that all players should respect the ref. But what the ref must do to earn respect? Can the ref earn respect for granted? The ref also needs to have adequate quality, right? How can the ref earn respect if he cannot show the consistency of fairness and accuracy? All the overreaction Bennett did on Sunday was to earn respect? Unfairness not only destroy the respect, but also provoke players. Torres had not been protected after being fouled consistently… no yellow card should be shown, but at least the ref should give out some verbal warning to protect players, right? Instead, Bennett chose to provoke players by harshly giving out the yellow card to Torres. I’m sure if Gerrard is the one running to the ref, Bennett wouldn’t have guts to show the England star a yellow card. The same for any ManU players coz Bennett wouldn’t try anything like that with Sir Alex’s team as well. How many times have you seen ManU players got yellow cards for complaining? Seems like all the British refs have unbias toward England stars, and the only top British manager (Sir Alex). Still agree that ManU deserved to win last night, but I’m just saying it could have been a better game to watch until Bennett totally destroyed the game. I know that the ref is just a human, so he can make mistake anytime.. but to earn respect, he gotta admit his mistake like a man. How many times we have seen the ref admit his mistake like a man? Very rare.
I do not think you were watching the same game as most of us. It was obvious from the start that Mr Bennett was more concerned with being respected rather than refeereing a football match. Torres was abused by the Utd defenders and after being quiet about it all the half he was yellow carded for getting fouled too many times and being pissed off about it.Look at Liverpools record of referee “respect”, they barely ever surround the ref or question calls yet have ridiculous calls go against them routinely. Remember the Chelsea “penalty” at Anfield? Utd players were allowed to show disrespect Liverpool players not…pure and simple. And as far as Mascherano telling the ref to F**k off after the first yellow so what? Rooney would probably still be serving out a disciplinary ban for all the times he has done it if it were treated as an offense. Well done Man Utd…a ref changed the whole game for you. ……Liverpool 0 Man Utd and a biased ref 3.
Oh please, anyone claiming that stamping out dissent is taking the ‘passion’ out of the game represents everything that is wrong with football. Watch a Rugby League game, where dissent results in a ten minute sin binning, and tell me that game lacks passion.
These imbeciles are supposed to be role models for our kids. They’re supposed to display that with hard work, respect, humility and commitment that you can achieve whatever you want to. In fact, what they do is tell kids that if you whine, moan and call your superior vile names, you’ll earn a small fortune and pop stars will sleep with you.
Steve Bennett may make some ropey decisions but I admire him for this. I hope it continues and referees around the country decide to grow a spine. Football is the greatest game in the world but it’s being ruined by pig-ignorant thugs on the pitch, in the dugout, in the stands and in the studio.
If it’s a man’s game maybe we all should stop acting like children.
Well done to Mr. Bennett, the new hero at Old Trafford, for handing Man U the title. You made up for all the poor decisons you’ve given against them this season!
Respect is earned and not an entitlement. I don’t blame any player for showing their annoyance at the complete incompetence and inconsistency of a large number of refs in the EPL. The first card for Mascherano inside of 10 minutes for a hard but fair tackle on Scholes was a foul not a yellow. This set the stage for the game and the inevitable sending off!
Bennet has an air of arrogance and aloofness that does not endear him to anyone. Compound this with his errors and it’s no wonder players lose their cool - especially in big games that mean so much. Along with Styles, Dowd and Halsey to name a few, they should not be allowed anywhere near a major game until their standards improve dramatically. Mr Hackett take note!
“The first card for Mascherano inside of 10 minutes for a hard but fair tackle on Scholes was a foul not a yellow”
That’s ridiculous
I remember Bennet sending off Ronaldo against Man City for showing intent…namely going for a challenge after being tackled and missing the ball and missing the player completely. Swings and roundabouts.
“I remember Bennet sending off Ronaldo against Man City for showing intent…namely going for a challenge after being tackled and missing the ball and missing the player completely. Swings and roundabouts.”
What’s Ronaldo’s idiotic revenge challenge in the Man City game got to do with this? Do you really think Mascherano was going for the man and not the ball here? Watch the game again! If every player got a yellow for missing man and ball in the tackle, we’d be watching 7-a-side games.
On one hand he chose to uphold the authority of referees, on the other hand he had indirectly led to serious doubts on the credibility of the standard of refereeing.
I agreed that Mascherano should be sent off, that guy lost his cool and went over to ask a question when he’s over the other side of the field, but due to Steve’s inconsistency, he had failed to protect a player from getting roughed up.
Is refereeing all about authority, and less about protecting the best interest of football itself?
I think he ought to reflect on why he ever choose the path in the first place.
@Hugh
He missed the man?!?!!?
ha
RK im glad to see someone is taking sense.
People are putting way too much into this if Mascha got sent off for Constant complaining why wasnt Ronaldo booked for diving? Ferdinand and Vidic for taking lumps out of Torres? Rooney for constant complaints? Vidic again for fouling Torres in progressive play!
You have to look at it this way. Mascha went over to the Ref the Liverpool players though he was gonna throw a tantrum he didnt. He went over and said whats happening because for some reason the Ref carded Torres when clearly he should have carded Ferdinand, Vidic and Wes Brown for all fouling the one player in the space on 10 seconds.
Mascha’s first challenge was a little missed timed if you do that 3 times its a yellow no the very first one. He complained because there is no rule agaisnt it. So if you play a game and get sent off for a rule that doesnt exist is that really justice?
I honestly feel for Brown too that was his day to be the hero but instead when people look back at this match it will be about Steve Bennett and Mascherano.
Whatever mates,it dont matter.United were still gonna win,forget the decisions its over.No point discussing ppl will neva agree.United won, liverpool lost again.United are 1st. liverpool are 4th.Its done.
T - my mistake - I meant missing the ball in a tackle!
He did collect the man but only just and with a studs down tackle and Scholes was not hurt. Surely not a yellow card at that stage of such a big game!
So, game over Manu U beat ‘Pool again and next week we have to put up with more poor refereeing decisions!
Steve Bennett was the guest speaker once at our local sunday league meeting. He spoke for a while about the game and then did a Q and A with everyone who was present. The meeting was taking place on a monday night after a weekend of fixtures which included Wayne Rooney telling a referee during the live game on sunday to “FUCK OFF” repeatedly which was pretty easy for millions of viewers to see. When asked why A player would be sent off on a sunday morning for being abusive to a ref but the prima donnas get away scott free he couldn’t answer and started rambling about how nobody sees what happens during a game. It was pretty apparent what had been seen on Sky the day before! I think Steve Bennett is a bottle job. He could of sent Ashley Cole off last saturday but he bottled it! Mascherano played into Bennett’s hands yesterday by unnecessarily confronting him. It was the perfect opportunity to make up for not doing his job last wednesday at White Hart Lane.
bottom line you cant get sent off for asking a ref why he booked somebody steve bennet has a history of being a bad ref the sooner hes gone the better
Harold, Mascherano was not sent off for purely asking a question.
1. The first yellow card was fully justified. A reckless challenge in the opening of such a big game needed to be clamped down on. Had Bennett not given the yellow, he would have been basically inviting more reckless challenges from players feeling they can get away with it.
2. The constant chirping away from Mascherano would have had a lot to do with his ultimate dismissal. As a referee myself, you are perfectly happy to accept some questioning of your decisions, its natural and part of the game. However, when it happens every couple of minutes, it begins to get annoying. If Bennett was purely out to “ruin the game” or “help United out” as some Liverpool fans have suggested, then don’t you think it would have happened a lot earlier under the constant barrage of “f*ck off’s” Mascherano threw his way throughout the game. If anything, Bennett was very lenient.
3. The questioning of the decision was not what got Mascherano the second yellow. It was his refusal to go away after Bennett had asked him to which ultimately saw the card given.
So yeh, I feel Mascherano deserved to be sent off. However, I also agree with Dickie (comment 15). As captain for my college team, it is immediately obvious when a team mate has lost his head. Gerrard should have had a word and calmed him down much earlier. Every onlooker on the planet could see that Mascherano was treading on thin ice but still Gerrard failed to calm him down. He is as much to blame for the red card as Mascherano
Mr. Bennett was a no show when it came to the big decisions in the game, and in my eyes had a fairly average performance. How on earth does he not give a penalty for a last man tackle from behind on Rooney, does Mr Bennett want players to dive to get a free kick.
again when carragher clearly tripped Ronaldo insode the box what was Steve Benett thinking by not awarding a penalty.
and again Mr Bennett didnt show any strength of character when Torres should have been shown a second yellow card for a lunge at Vidic after Vidic had cleared the ball.
and Back to the mascherano sending off, Mr Bennett once again didnt show any strength by not rightfully sending mascherano off earlier in the game after a few more silly tackles and a torrent of F words and demeaning attitude toward the ref
Torres got mash potato head sent off, Torres constant diving and crying was disgusting to see, but if that wasnt bad enough he waved his hand to the ref to show a card, and recieved one himself for unsporting and unfriendly behaviour, boohoo ;(
what a professional this kid is.
and then comes in bangers and mash to ref the game for bennett, and after his showing for the first 43 minutes of the game there was no option but to be sent off, and how can someone call mashed a professional is beyond me because from now on people will know how easily this guy loses his head and Mr mash potato head becomes Mr mash potato
Due to the recent complaints toward Mr Gray by Liverpool fans about his ‘percieved’ bias against Lpool during their recent games (Inter Milan especially), it is unsurpising therefore that he has defended the Reds in this situation somewhat vehemently. In other words he is probably overcompensating in his denial of the red card admonishment to Mascherano so as to ‘prove’ that he has no ulterior motive when concerning the Reds. How much he believes in what he’s actually saying should perhaps as a result only be taken at face value. Its a matter of that old age adage… ‘you cannot defend the indefensible’. Here it is all the more pertinent.
I feel Bennent was harsh to send Macherano off…Sure, Macherano had been hurling vulgarities at the referee since the first yellow card..he had also committed some fouls which might just be enough to send Mascherano off too… But…for just asking ‘whats happening’ and you get send off??
A referee must view every incident independently..if he is not happy with what mascherano had been doing like spewing vulgarities or such, what he should have done is to talk to Rafael Benitez and suggest that Mascherano should be substiuted off soon before he sees the red card..
Hasn’t a referee done that like a season or two ago?? I forgot is which referee and is regarding what club and which player…but im positive that had happen before…(if im not wrong it should be Charlton)
Man, now I wish I didn’t post on the other article about this. You explained why Mascherano deserved to be sent off far better than I could.
Matt you twat
Mascha didnt lose the head thats why everyone is so confused about it!! If anyone knows Liverpool they will know that when a decision doesnt go their way they get on with it. They dont go mad. Mascherano’s absolute suprise at getting a yellow for a simply question is the most out of order thing that has happened with Liverpool under Benitez reign.
The premier league is corrupt and the sooner SAF leaves it might do a little bit of Good. Its a shame such a great manager tries to manipulate the officals.
If this happenend to a united player the Fa would immediately revoke the suspension and ban bennett but this corruption of the game i love sickens me. When Torres dives to win a free kick (and Torres normally only dives when he is fouled but nothing is giving) sky show 9 different angles. Next time Ronaldo dives watch the replays…. oh yeh they dont show replays of a united player diving or dirty united fouls!!!
@Liverpool fan
Do you honestly feel the media has an agenda to promote Ronaldo as a non diver? For the past 3 years or so thats all the media have spouted on about.
And no, the FA wouldn’t revoke controversial decisions if it involved a Man U player. I remind you of the time Rooney was sent off in a pre season game against Porto for a nothing challenge and then faced a 3 game domestic ban, however the season after Gerrard and Mellor got sent off in the Amsterdam tournament and both recieved no ban whatsoever. Gerrard then in another pre season game tried to punch someone (vs Feynoord) and Benitez subbed him on advice from the referees and again didn’t recieve a ban.
Most out of order thing to have happened under the Benitez reign? Pah. I refer you to the Crouch “tackle” and subsequent tirade against foreign players
sorry found it hard not to laugh at the liverpool fans there so bias on the bright side looks like the scoucers can afford p.cs and no how to use them… shocking
There so bias right now and not even realising it i could almost hear the world muttering “hes off” as soon as he ran those 20 yards.
if i was a liverpool fan this is maybe how i would of seen it plan out
1) harsh tackle in the game - now mascherano was simply hugging the united player telling him he hopes he has a nice day
2)questions the refs decisions - ridiculos if u watch it again mascherano was simply asking hows the wife and what benett wants for dinner
3)runs 20 yards to question the ref - ridiculos he simply went to celebrate the free kick and ran to the crowd on the other side to go celebrate then benett got in his way and warned him for nothing so he followed asking him “what can i do to make it up 2 u?”
Long story short 2 bookable offences mascherano cant shut up, all liverpool fans think there players are above the law (who wuldnt when the diving machine gerrard never gets booked)and benitez has got a great sence of humour with his “were still in he title race as long as manutd mess up the rest of their games this season”
Listen im sure you had a nice flick through history to check that out and it probably pains you to even talk about it now but i have to agree with my fellow Liverpool fan about Keane and co hounding the ref at Old Trafford.
Oh and I know you’re probably sick of hearing it Some refs have admitted letting Wayne Rooney swear at them 20 times or more in a match, and then Mascherano gets sent off for plain dissent following Torres’ unfair booking. Where’s the consistency?
The league is biased the higher you finish the more the officals give you. In a Chelsea and Derby match if two players collide and its a 50:50 no guess whos gonna get the free kick eh?
It’s ironic that Liverpool hardly ever harass the referee, and rarely get players sent off, and yet pay the price of a clampdown while teams who misbehave more frequently continue to get away with it. Cole’s tackle and reaction were far worse, but he got away with it. Ferguson, meanwhile, had put the referee under more pressure before the match.
what is despicable is that any time any of the teams in the so called top 4 benefit from the fruit of a referee’s blunder they rush to this arena pontificating on the altar of football knowledge. what is clear though is the double standard the epl sets for english players and foreigners. if mascherano was english ( ashley cole or rooney, or even gerald) they will be the same people to re-baptize such an act as passion for the game.
the english tabloid called mascherano the dumbmest man on earth, if he qualifies to be “the dumbest….” where does that leave ashley who in my opinion was more of a dumb a** in the way he behaved compared to mascherano. to be honest mascherano is a scape goat of “the respect 4 referees” that unfortunately triggered by ashley silly behaviour the week before.
Mascherano has gradually over the last few games become much less tollerant of referees and i have noticed he has started to look as though he feels he’s being picked on. His language has grown worse on the pitch and i just hope this is a big lesson for him and he starts letting his skill and ability do the talking.
As for Andy Gray, i think he gets paid for doing NOTHING. I can sit and talk crap through a football match too. The sooner he goes the better.
Mascherano is a stud, but he was wrong. Other players doing it and getting away with it is not license for Mascherano to do it. Its hard for refs to always make the right decision but in this case he did. I feel that the game on a whole needs to be cleaned up, but thats another topic.
Mascherano could not seem to shutup after his 1st yellow - I saw the send off coming and most of his teamates saw it. If there is an issue with the ref have the captain address it, not the guy already with a yellow card and where was the captain in all this? as pointed out by #33 Matt and #15 Dickie. But why stop there? The coach must have seen it too - or is that beyond his capability? Could the coach not foresee a player putting the game in jeopardy? Would it be unreasonable for the coach to make sub at that point? I like the coach by the way - just for the record.
Mascherano was undoubtedly stupid to race over 20 yards to complain about Torres’ booking and another player should have seen what was happening and grabbed him and restrained him before he got too close to Bennett. However, the decision to book Torres for simply showing his frustration at being fouled again was a terrible decision andwas where all the problems started from. He was far too quick to pull his card out for Torres when all he was doing was asking what was going on.
Decicions cant always go your way muppets. I personally laughed my pants off when the over rated knob jocky got sent off. There is only one person on the pitch who can issue cards so why run twenty yards and get in his face when already on a yellow. Even papa smurf was shouting at him to go away from the side line so its no good him trying to defend him now. Never mind though. Ha Ha Ha. Jose will put you club right soon anyway when papa smurf gets the kick at the end of the season. Then, and only then, will you have any chance of winning the premo and all you non educated liverscum planks will have to swallow your pride of thing you have said about him in the past. He will be your next GOD!!!!!!
I think Benitez is doing a great job and mourinho is over-rated even Grant can win the league its chelsea’s team that won those trophies not jose