Former PL referee sides with Klopp in dispute with Arteta

Keith Hackett has claimed that Liverpool forward Sadio Mane’s foul on Takehiro Tomiyasu is not deemed to be a red card decision, despite Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta’s frustrations.

The two managers clashed on the sidelines after seeing the Senegal international’s foul on the Gunners’ right-back, and received a yellow card for his actions.

There has been much talk about the challenge since, but former Premier League referee Hackett insists that it wasn’t a red card challenge.

“The Tomiyasu challenge was what sparked the incident in the technical areas,” Hackett told the FootballInsider.

“Again I thought Michael Oliver got it right. I didn’t see that as a serious foul play challenge. I thought it was reckless.

“Yes, it’s a fine line but for me it was reckless. I think the match officials get it right.

“It’s good to praise a match official when they get it right.”

Tomiyasu made it through the remainder of the game, and the red card wouldn’t have made much difference to the scoreline, so there is little point in arguing the point at this stage, and we can just be thankful that our summer signing escaped unscathed.

I feel as though other referees may have disagreed with Hackett’s point however, especially with him saying there is just a ‘fine line’ between reckless and serious foul play…

Patrick

Tags Jurgen Klopp Keith Hackett

6 Comments

  1. “Tomiyasu made it through the remainder of the game, and the red card wouldn’t have made much difference to the scoreline, so there is little point in arguing the point at this stage…” – I’m afraid that’s ridiculous writing right there Pat.

    First, I’m not sure anyone (including Mikel) called for a straight red card, and if I could recall very well, Mane wasn’t even booked for that tackle.
    He’s always doing those while constantly getting away with them, and that was the frustration from Arteta and most of us.
    Then, even an early caution makes a big difference, not to mention an influential figure like Mane being sent off (as you claimed and not what the point actually was).

    I don’t support Arteta getting on to that spat with Klopp in that manner, and the fact that it defined the game afterwards shows the weak mentality of our team and the players, no thanks to the zero leadership Aubameyang offers to a team full with kids.

  2. I guess it depends on what we read and what we choose to believe from what we’ve read

    I read a piece quoting Klopp saying that he reacted to the Arsenal bench asking the Ref to give Mane a yellow card, that Mane didn’t touch our player and that he was fed up with Mane being picked on as a target for cards

    Well, he clearly did whack Tomi and has previous for doing similar, I don’t think the Ref booked Mane straight away but did so after the malarky, as the Ref in the piece above says it was a fine line yellow or red and was reckless

    At nil nil a Red card may well have changed the result, we will never know and it is what it is

    As for Mikel’s reaction, it was just that, not intended to wind the crowd up or otherwise, the goal we gave away after that wasn’t the crowd getting up it was a dopey challenge by Auba giving them a deadball into our box that we didn’t defend well, why was Gabriel that side rather than Ben White and who was Partey marking?

    Liverpool stepped up the intensity and bulldozed us at the start of the second half, after the crowd had calmed down a bit over their HT Bovrils as Jurgen did his stuff

    We lost 4 nil and need top move on

    1. You’re nearly spot on in all FingersFurnell.
      Mane well wasn’t booked for anything relating to that incident, but for a totally different one just before HT.

  3. That’s interesting dO2, not really sure what Hackett was saying above then, thinking about it again you’re dead right, the Ref didn’t give us a free kick

  4. When I read comments like this, I understand how this referee earned his nickname:

    “Keith Couldn’t Hackett”

    Mane had committed several nasty fouls early in the game, and when the referee did not book him he was seen to walk away smiling.

    The foul he committed on Tommy though, if done anywhere other than on a football pitch, would be deemed as “ABH”.

    I do not agree with what Arteta did, but the refereeing decisions given by Michael Oliver, if committed anywhere else but on a football pitch, might just be investigated for possible bias!!

  5. There is, apparently a clear but , IMO MISTAKEN, difference between “serious foul play” and being “reckless”.

    To me, as an arch pedant, but one who is a pedant simply because I believe in using language to mean PRECISELY WHAT I wish to say and not be mistaken and misinterpreted, those two seemingly”fine line” different phrases and words amount to the same thing.

    It is incorrect to attempt, as HACKETT DOES, even a “fine line” difference in actual meaning between them. If something is reckless then it is by definition also serious foul play and vice versa and I AM FIRM ON THIS.

    Word are our prime real communication tool, whether written or spoken and we misuse them at our peril.

    That is why so many who do not have proper language skills – and I NATURALLY MAKE ALLOWANCES, for non English speakers – misunderstand and confuse(in either direction) words that either mean precisely the same or have similarities in certain uses but not in others.

    Words are powerful and effective tools but HACKET IS DELIBERATELY MISUSING THEM IN THIS DECEITFUL CLAIM.

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