How can the referee get them so wrong!

Now let me start by saying that I do have allot of respect for referees in general and I do understand that they have a very very hard job to do. That being said they also come under very heavy scrutiny with all the cameras that are at the grounds these days as well as all the slow motion and many different angles.

So I remember something that the former English cricketer Mike Atherton said while commentating once. There was an lbw appeal and the Umpire gave it out even though there was a clear inside edge. Atherton said something like this: If the commentators need 5 or 6 different cameras and 6 or 7 replays using things like slow motion and hot spot to see if it is out or not, or are not even sure after all that replay, then you cannot expect an umpire who sees it live for a second to give it out as there is still doubt. But in this situation, he said that he is sitting 60 - 70 yards away, up a couple of stories, looking through a glass window and he could see that there was a clear inside edge. These situations is when the umpire should get it right with no excuse, here is when you can be critical of the umpire, but not when several replays are needed before you can come to a conclusion.

This made allot of sense to me at the time and still does. Now I do understand that in Football it is different with referees. The have to keep running with the play and some time they are not always in the best position to make the right call, but they do have two assistants who should help them.

Referees make mistakes that is easy to happen and can happen to anyone, we all make mistakes. What makes a top referee is one who makes the least mistakes.

So when Sunderland scored against Liverpool with the help of a beach ball the referee should have known the rules of the game. Surely it is the job of the referee to enforce the rules, so if he does not know the basic rules of the game how can he be a referee? Now I'm not going to blame that for the loss or the reason we are in such a bad position, that is simply because we have been playing very bad football, simple as that it is our own fault.

If we look at the red card that was giving to Degen against Fulham, it was said that he was given the red card, most likely,  because he had to feet off the ground and had studs showing. So ok if we accept that then why, when in last nights game between Manchester United and Chelsea, did Valencia not get a red card, but a yellow, for what looks to me as the exact same challenge. He had both feet off the ground and went with studs up? I do not understand how the same challenge can have two different results? Now I understand that referees can make mistakes but they also have assistants who are supposed to help them.

Now if you are player the rules become blurred as well. Depending on the referee, depends on what type of challenge you can make and "get away with", is that the way Football should be played? As I said before they can make mistakes, I do understand that, but then maybe for the big decisions the assistant should help? The difference between a red and yellow is very big especially when you are chasing a game. Surely the referees are told that certain challenges are red and others are yellow? So now they need to enforce these rules, they need to get the call as to what type of challenge it is better.

If Valencia only got a yellow then so should have Degen, or if Degen got a red then so should have Valencia,  it is that simple! There  needs to be more consistency!

Another point is that in the game between Man U and Chelsae, Evens should have had a straight red card for kicking Drogba in the chest. The got that one very wrong and his assistant did not help, why not? I think that should be a 3 - 6 month suspension for kicking someone like that. So the referee got it wrong, later in the game when Fletcher fouled Cole, many say it should not have been a foul, so the referee got it wrong. Why when the wrong decision leads to a goal is it a big talking point but the earlier decision is just brushed away. Ferguson said they lost faith in the referee, you didn't see him say that he should have had a player sent off. So the referee mad these two bad decisions, accept it, get out of football or present the FA with a model that would help the referee get more decisions right. Every team suffers because the referee makes mistakes.

I think that the referees need to find some consistency in there decision making and players and managers need to help the referees. Players who act that they are injured should not be allowed to grace a football field, and that goes even more so for players who dive!

This is the way the game is, we should always try to improve, but we need to work together to improve.

6 Losses in 7 Games....Lets hear the excusses

So after six losses in seven games all the excuses and reasons come out. There is one I read that I like the most, it goes something like this: We lost at Fulham because we had 11, yes eleven, first team players out! I like this one because I do not believe it to be true, but just another bad excuse. Lets take a look, the starting line up at Fulham was: Reina, Insua, Degen, Carragher, Kyrgiakos, Kuyt, Benayoun, Mascherano, Lucas, Voronin, Torres.


So now lets break it down:


Reina- first choice, yes


Insua, started just about every game this season, if not all, so far-ahead of the Italian international. Maybe Aurelio would get in ahead but we all know e is injury prone and does not play more than a game a week. So Insua must be seen as the best and adequate replacement.


Degen, only their to make up the numbers. This is one of the non starters when all are fit. He got praise form allot of supporters after the arsenal game, but he had no end product. It does not take a magician to run in a straight line and give the ball away.


Carragher, a regular starter. No questions asked even with his bad form this season.


Kyrgiakos, another who would not be a regular starter. Brought in to replace Hyypia, lets be honest it is very hard to live up to those standards. He is not really good enough but probably all we could get with that kind of money. But it is not his fault he was in the game.


Kuyt, another regular starter and called by many as a Benitez favourite. To be fair last season he was very good. He is not a right winger even though that is where he is playing. Point is whether he is good enough or not he is first choice!


Benayoun, probably one of our best players over the last 18 months or so. Again he is one of our most important players and certainly not our weak link. He was also on the day looking like the only one who could actually do anything for us. That is other than pass back or sideways.


Mascherano, one of the best player you can find as a defensive midfield player. He had a fantastic season last time round and after a shaky start seemed to find that fantastic form again.


Lucas, another first team regular. He has come in for allot of criticism an I feel allot of it unfair. I don't believe he should be playing next to a player like Mascherano. He needs to play with someone more creative to allow him to be effective. I'm not saying he is great or the answer, but he is a first choice player! The argument that Aquilani will play ahead of him and that does not make him a first choice player, is not an argument that will hold. Aquilani was bought as an injured player. Every one knew that, every fan knew that! Now what happens when he comes back is irrelevant, because until he can establish himself Lucas is a first choice player. Like it or not is not the point!


Voronin, should not be playing for this club at this point in time. He was free and I do see the argument that at the time he was the best we could get. That does not mean I agree with it just because I can see the point of view. Nor does it mean he should have played in this game. Yes you got it right, he is another who is not a first choice player.


Torres, probably the best striker in the world and having a fantastic scoring season again! Of course he is a first choice player even if only half fit.


So if my math is correct and I do believe it is then their are only three, yes 3 non first choice players in that starting line up. So I thought it was rather funny how 11 first choice players were out.


So if you put in Agger, Johnson and Gerrard for Kyrgiakos, Degen and Voronin, you would probably have our strongest team. Maybe bring in Aurelio, but again he would not have played anyway, because he can not play 2 games in a week and would most likely be kept for the Lyon game, if you think he is the stronger of the 2. Maybe Riera, but I think Benayoun is a better player and certainly on the performance of this season.


So maybe Skrtel would be better than Kyrgiakos, but Kyrgiakos was bought to play in these situations.


What is a bigger worry for me is that N'Gog is our best replacement for Torres. Now don't get me wrong I am a fam of N'Gog. I think he has huge potential and a big future, hopefully with this club. But it is hard for an experienced player to replace the best striker in the world and it is allot to ask of a kid, as good as he is.
Torres i playing through pain and having injections to do so, this also tells you that the manager does not have an answer. He should not have played until he was fit to do so. I don't mean half a game here or their, what happens if his injury gets worse because he is playing through it instead of recovering? What happens if he misses the second half of the season because he played when he should not have? What happens if he misses the world cup because of it? I would have serious resentment toward the manger if the happened to me, wouldn't you?


What we really needed was another top striker to come in and take some of the load off Torres. Now you going to cry we don't have money, right? Come on be honest? I'm not saying it is easy to get one or that we could get one cheep. Nor am I going to say if we didn't buy Aquilani and sold Babel we could buy Villa, that does not work as we do not know personal circumstances. What if Villa said he does not want to come here and wants to stay in Spain? I'm not saying he did, but what if? That is all we could do, is say what if. I would have taken Owen back, yes he get injured but if he used to a minimum, IE when Torres is out he might be ok. I would have him over Voronin, would you? By the way both would have cost us nothing for a transfer, so there goes one theory.


Six Losses in seven games, that sounds like Hull City not a Liverpool Team that is going to be competing for the title, does it? It is not easy to loose, but when you play badly you can say we deserved to loose, when you play well and loose you feel grieved and hard done by. But when you get beaten by a beach ball and the manager says we didn't deserve to win and that it was not the reason we lost but that we played badly....that tells a story. If we out played Sunderland and lost to the beach ball we would be pissed off, but the truth is the most we could have hope for the way we played was a draw and we would have been lucky top get that!


I'm not saying Get rid of Benitez nor am I saying he should stay. I do have my issues with him but am yet to decide. One thing is clear, the owners should leave!


But there is something very very wrong inside our team. I do know if it is the manager or the players or the staff or what it is, but something is wrong. I have said it before and I will say it again, until this gets sorted out we are in trouble!