A&H

Liverpool v Atalanta

GraemeS

RefChat Addict
Level 5 Referee
Did anyone watch the above match last night? Fairly unremarkable game from a footballing perspective, but it did contain one of the strangest top-level refereeing performances (from Carlos del Cerro Grande) I've seen in a while!

For the vast majority of the match, he just seemed to be letting pretty much every minor foul go - to the extent that on multiple occasions, the players from both sides seemed to stop and expect a whistle, only to be caught out when the play was allowed to continue. Add to that the fact that he consistently seemed to give handball for incidents where the ball may not have actually touched a hand, and both his cautions were for tackles that seemed to be more legal than not!

Not unfair or inconsistent, as he was clearly applying the same rules to both sides, but just very strange to see. Provided some interest in what was otherwise a very dull game at least!
 
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Weird, did not see... could it have contributed to the odd Liverpool showing?
I think there's a lot to blame for the odd Liverpool showing! And to be fair, he was definitely doing it evenly to both sides - I can recall both sets of playing being surprised at the lack of a foul at various points.
 
I would say that different referees have different approaches to the game. I let a lot of physical contact go with sometimes players stopping and expecting a free kick, and it has bitten me on the derriere more than once when I haven't reigned it back in quickly enough.

But I would say that approach is pretty much unheard of for a Spanish referee, and you don't get to become a top level FIFA referee by surprising everyone with decisions or non-decisions. So I would err more on him just having had an off day, can happen to everyone after all.
 
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