The temptation is to be grateful for our good fortune on Sunday, thank VAR for ever being invented and celebrate the 3 points.
Let me stress, the officials eventually got to the right decision at Elland Road in stoppage time, overturning Gabriel’s red card and Leed’s second penalty of the game.
Correctly it was judged that Patrick Bamford had done the fouling, yet the juice was so nearly worth the squeeze for the striker.
He wanted to provoke our defender into a reaction, realising our centre back is hot headed and over emotional.
He got the outcome he wanted, originally both our player and the ref’s assistant fell for his plan. Video Technology came to our rescue but it’s a device so inconsistent it’s not a medium you can rely on.
So, while the likes of Saliba were patting his partner on the back and Arteta was screaming in the air, relieved that Ramsdale didn’t have to face a second spot kick, the hope is that after the emotion wears off, someone is having a word with the Brazilian.
Mistakes can be worthwhile as long as you learn from them, and you would rather your players making errors while the team is winning.
It would be a missed opportunity for the 24-year old’s development if nothing was mentioned to him in training.
Because as much as he was pushed over, he went to kick out, as in he was thinking about it. He gave those in charge a decision to make where if he kept his composure there would have been zero drama.
On another day he could have cost us points.
Like he could have been judged to have handled the ball against Liverpool.
Like how he did conceded a pen in the NLD.
Like losing possession gifted Fulham an equaliser.
Like he was out of position at Old Trafford.
That’s too many errors after only 9 Prem fixtures.
I already pointed out that this was an issue last season, especially given how highly rated he is.
To be at the level we want to be at, we need players to learn from these moments, so they don’t happen consistently.
I would rest him on Thursday, give him a week off to mentally rest.
It seems he will also get a breather during the World Cup with Brazil not selecting him in their last squad. Which on form you can understand.
It’s better to be pointing out too many errors while we are winning then waiting for them to truly cost us.
Dan
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