A Freethinker
RefChat Addict
I know this sounds strange, but I actually think the assistant and/or Moss DID see that touch. Otherwise it's simply not feasible to me that deliberate action would even be in the conversation. At one point, the assistant says, "if he has touched the ball, it's a deliberate action." Why is he so sure about that? Shouldn't he be thinking about a deflection if he hasn't seen the touch? The clues are there. It's almost as if, in front of the players, the assistant was trying to avoid conveying the impression that it was his call. I admit it's a weird exchange, but I am very much against fans/media being able to hear what referees are saying anyway. I know I have said some ridiculous things on the pitch because I couldn't find the words in a moment of stress, but I didn't doubt the decision.
Did the Liverpool players engineer that discussion or were they responding to a flag? If it was the former, the penalty decision makes more sense on an evidence basis.
I don't think in today's EPL with camera and mics everywhere you engineer or rather should engineer conversations. When you look at the positioning of the AR there is no way if he can tell if Lovren played the ball therefore his flag has to go up! Then if Moss overrules him and says Lovren deliberately ouches the ball then it s a penalty, but the first action by the AR mst be to raise the flag for offside not wait and see if it's a penalty or not. We get enough criticism without manufacturing our own.
Moss didn't see the touch, the AR didn't see a touch therefore the call must be offside rightly or wrongly. Now it appears we get decisions right by quess work!