Fans of Arsenal are not alone in being left frustrated on a regular basis by the decisions of the referees and their assistants. There is always an element of bias in the way we see things but there is also a lot of inconsistency from the officials.
Take Saturday for example, when our Spanish defender was penalised for the merest touch of legs with the onrushing Watford forward Richarlison. As an earlier post here on Just Arsenal reported, top ref Mark Clattenburg says it was correct because of that contact and that would be okay if it was going to be given like that every time.
Clattenburg said, “It was the correct decision to award the penalty as there was contact between him and Hector Bellerin, that wasn’t initiated by the forward.”
Earlier in the match, however, Welbeck was barged into by a defender who did not touch the ball after the Arsenal striker had but that was called good defending, so you can see the inconsistency and why it angers players and managers so much.
The fact that former EPL referee Graham Poll took the opposite view, as reported by Metro, and reckons that Richarlison should be retrospectively punished for diving just highlights the problem of consistency.
He said, ‘First time through at full speed, it didn’t look right to me, my gut feeling was it was not a foul.
‘It’s deception. There’s no contact, he throws his legs out, that’s a clear dive.
‘The FA will need their review panel to look at that. There should be a two-match ban coming.’
So what would have made it clear to the ref at Watford that it was not a pen? Perhaps Bellerin doing the old defensive trick of getting front and going down when the forward runs into you. Then we get a free kick, no?
Poor old Hector was on the wrong side of another poor decision this season, when he was taken out by a Stoke defender but got nothing. He did not ask for it with much gusto, though, and perhaps if he had done a Ronaldo and rolled a few times or got up and demanded the spot kick it may just have made the difference.
I think that officials like to take the easy route if possible, so make it easier for them when defending and make them make a decision when attacking. Do these two penalty calls that went against Arsenal suggest Bellerin needs to wise up a bit?
Bob.
Bellerin needs a good competitor to improve. He is still young and has to be smarter when he is near the penalty box.
@Got an idea.
Have to admit you consistently
make positive and balanced
comments here on the JA boards.
Almost makes me want to be balanced and fair too.
But I have waited too long for another title
so damn it… Wenger Korenke Ivan dead wood players out now 🙂
I was just bored, that was why I posted a lot 😀
I actually do not really care about Arsenal’s achievement, because it would be theirs, not my achievement. What I want is entertaining football shows from Arsenal, nothing else.
Bellerin is a fab player
and in a better team will
become world class.
If we are not title candidates
soon expect him to go to
a team with genuine title aspirations.
Referees inconsistencies happen too often against Arsenal as if there has been a conspiracy plan in place. But what actually hurts more is the double standards of the live commentary team, who blatantly and shamelessly speak from both sides of the mouth when such things happen. This is a very terrible state of affairs…
I’m still fuming that Clattenburg says it’s a penalty because there’s contact.
So f*cking what if there’s “contact”, it’s a contact sport.
Their legs brushed together. Everyone in the world knows that such minimal contact is not sufficient to cause an adult to stumble, let alone grounds to collapse in a heap.
It’s scandalous that a referee can say it’s a penalty because of “contact”.
Don’t blame they players concentrate on Asene Wenger for poor selection/decision . It is on record that the manager is fond of bringing in a lazy players to replace the better ones when the team is under pressure from the opponent, bringing Giruod and Ozil will show that Arsenal is playing 9 against 11 why any team that sees these chap will now push forward to attack because Giruod and Ozil are not fast enough to pose danger to d opponent. Another point is that they do not assist their colleague on d pitch when need arises instead the guys move strugglish