First I need to have my rant though.
What happened today serves as yet another illustration of the modern game being ruled to the letter of the law, not the spirit of the game.
For context, there was an incident where Cole Palmer beat his man and would've been heading towards goal, had the opposing player not grabbed the ball with his hand. Palmer, angry, reacted and did that thing that footballers do, where they square up to the other player with their chest.
It's a stupid thing to do, and you shouldn't react like that, but at the same time it's not a punch or a kick or anything serious. It's what we normally call "a bit of handbags." It's a yellow card. Nothing more, nothing less. And that's what the referee gave.
However, in commentary Gary Neville wanted a red. He was more irate than Palmer. He was talking about the incident like it was a drop kick to the head. He wasn't bothered about the deliberate handball that preceded it, that potentially stopped a goal. He even said of Palmer's reaction, "I can't understand why he's done it."
Er, Gary, he was potentially through on goal (albeit from forty odd yards out). He's desperate to score. He wants to win. It's an important game. The other guy has blatantly cheated.
It's called passion.
I then went on Twitter to give my all-important opinion, only to find that most of the other comments where just like Gary's.
"How is that not a red?!!"
Obviously it's understandable from Spurs fans, but it's crazy that the average fan is now more outraged by a bit of handbags than by a deliberate handball that's stopped an exciting chance from developing.
Ten minutes or so later, Gary got his wish. Palmer got a second yellow and went off the pitch. This time it was harder to argue against, as he stood on his opponent with his studs when going for the ball, and that generally is a certain yellow. Assuming there's intent.
Even here though there was zero benefit of the doubt given. Often it's hard to tell if such contact is deliberate. Even now watching it back I'm not totally sure it was. Again, it was a yellow by modern standards, as was his earlier reaction. So I can't fault the referee. It's just that desire to have players sent off that I find so pernicious. Wanting players punished for showing passion. Giving players yellows and potentially reds for minor infringements and accidental collisions.
Towards the very end of the game we got yet another example. Morgan Rogers was given a yellow card for a daft little kick out at a player. It was a yellow and he deserved it. He was frustrated at the end of a game where they'd been beat and he was a bit petulant. Again, Gary Neville wanted a red for it though. Like a nerdy hall monitor.
I've mentioned before that there's lots of actual cheating that goes on in games that doesn't get punished. For example, defenders dropping to the floor when they feel the slightest bit of contact to get a free kick when they're under pressure. Which nine out of ten times they get. It's deliberate diving. They're cynically cheating, but that's fine. Whereas if you genuinely try to win the ball but are a split second late you get a yellow.
It's like passion is punished, but cold cynical acts are fine. Like here where a deliberate handball isn't a big deal - Gary isn't ranting about that - but the reaction is.
It's similar when you see commentators say things like, "That was a good free kick to give away," or, "That was a good yellow," when a player deliberately fouls a player near the halfway line that's heading towards goal. That sort of cynical and deliberate foul is praised by commentators. But if you show a bit of passion and accidentally nick someone's toe when trying to genuinely win the ball back then you're deemed a violent criminal.
It really does feel like football is being ran by a HR department.
Anyway, I've decided I'm not going to tell you how my bench boost went and how lucky I've been, as I've typed too much and I have food in the oven. I'll leave that 'til the next post.
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