Why Taylor did not go to VAR to check Martial incident amazed me. If he had look at, he would either have done 2 YC or 2 RC. Personally, I think it should 2 YC
I'm not sure having 0% chance of playing the ball matters at all. A tactical ankle tap where you have 0% chance of playing the ball is going to be YC every time.
it does for the people who think its SFP as it obviously cannot be.
In real time I couldn’t sell SFP to myself on that challenge. No question it was a deliberate don’t-give-a-damn foul but that seemed all.
On the reverse angle replay I’m more sympathetic to the argument but still not sure I’d call it as SFP. There’s an element of doubt in my mind. I have to be 100% certain and that sways me to caution.
As with the debate we had when Xhaka did this a few seasons ago, there is maaaaaaaaaybe a case for VC if you consider this a kick rather than a trip. Call it a trip and I don't think you're close to a red card. And to make that distinction, you're getting into the murky world of trying to judge his intent.I think Solskjaer's reaction on Shaw's challenge says it all, he immediately puts his head in his hands as he thinks they are going down to nine players. It is Shaw's eyes that do it as well, albeit only on the replay, he realises he isn't getting anywhere near to stopping the attack, looks away from the ball to the attacker, then just scythes him down. That just has to be violent conduct as he is intentionally kicking an opponent without making any attempt to play the ball.
Don't call it a trip then.As with the debate we had when Xhaka did this a few seasons ago, there is maaaaaaaaaybe a case for VC if you consider this a kick rather than a trip. Call it a trip and I don't think you're close to a red card. And to make that distinction, you're getting into the murky world of trying to judge his intent.
Personally, I don't feel that VC can be applied purely based on the tactical nature of the tackle. Standing trip or pull off the ball and I don't think anyone is calling for red. It's only because he's gone to ground in order to commit the foul that it looks forceful. And is that amount of force excessive? The answer there depends what you're comparing it to.
Excessive compared to what he'd expect to receive running along away from the ball? Yes
Excessive compared to what was required to knock him over? No
Excessive compared to the amount of force that would have been used in a normal challenge? Again, I'd say no
And certainly none of it comes close to meeting the "brutality" clause.
So overall, I think I struggle to actually justify more than yellow. I'd like to see this clarified in favour of a red card, as it certainly "feels" red, but unless it's a very unpleasant tackle, I don't think the laws currently support red here.
I think any referee is entitled to judge it trip or kick, as they see fit. The point of the rest of the post is that even if you do want to judge it a kick, I still don't think it qualifies for "excess force" as defined in the VC section.Don't call it a trip then.
How about "not a genuine attempt to play the ball" as a criterion? Excessive force is a stupid criterion anyway for exactly the reasons you've given (excessive compared to what?) but it would be daft to justify it by saying "it's not excessive if it's the only way to stop an opponent".
Fact is, if this was a world Cup final, 93rd minute, and he doesn't make this foul and it leads to a goal you lose 1-0. You wouldn't be happy.Don't call it a trip then.
How about "not a genuine attempt to play the ball" as a criterion? Excessive force is a stupid criterion anyway for exactly the reasons you've given (excessive compared to what?) but it would be daft to justify it by saying "it's not excessive if it's the only way to stop an opponent".