As the best former referee in the Premier League, Mark Clattenburg can speak from a standpoint of authority when it comes to certain decisions.
Universally admired by players and managers alike, the English top-flight has been much the poorer since Clattenburg decided to take his whistle to Saudi Arabia.
MORE: Klopp needs to chill out!
In his column for the Daily Mail, he’s highlighted how the PGMOL, the governing body for match referees at the elite level, have got it wrong once again, and he’s clearly not happy.
Much was made of the decision between VAR and the on-pitch referee, Jon Moss, allowing Man City midfielder, Bernardo Silva’s goal against Aston Villa to stand when team-mate Rodri was coming back from an offside position.
“I said at the time that letting Manchester City’s goal stand was the wrong call. PGMOL tried to justify it by explaining the law and their interpretation of it.,” Clattenburg noted.
“They hid behind the idea that Tyrone Mings ‘deliberately’ played the ball.
“But by now saying this would be offside from now on, they are admitting they were in the wrong. It’s only right that situations such as this would result in an offside.
“That is what everyone associated with football would expect to happen.
“Mings chested the ball but was challenged immediately by Rodri, which prevented him from gaining control of it. He was then robbed of possession and City gained an advantage.
“At least now we know this would be offside in the future.”
If nothing else the rule has been absolutely clarified, although that doesn’t really help Aston Villa who had every right to feel aggrieved at the time.
VAR was supposed to rule out such mistakes but it appears that the technology is only muddying the waters for all sorts of reasons.
1. Mings clearly played the ball, ergo…
2. As per the laws of football, Rodri was not offside.
How many times?
Jez, need to read the whole of rule 11.
Player in an offside position cannot challenge for the ball, which is what Rodri did.
The offside rule was introduced specifically to stop players doing what Rodri was doing, and forcing the defensive line to sit deep
He did challenge for the ball but not until Mings chested the ball down and controlled it but then in trying to touch it on with his foot, he miscontrolled it. Therefore, the Ref and VAR absolutely correctly, applied the law as it stood and allowed the goal to stand. Yes, it’s a crap law and has rightly now been changed (mid season?). So it’s Clattenberg who’s got it wrong.
Sorry but they did not get it wrong, they interpreted the law EXACTLY, EXACTLY as written. If they’re now saying they think the law is written incorrectly, then fine but please, don’t you get it wrong!
So Clattenberg is now sticking his nose in. The law states if the player deliberately tries to bring the ball under control and Minges definitely tried to bring the ball under control, end of so stop crying.
The real issue is that the rules have now been changed or clarified mid season! So, let’s say City beat United to the league by one goal and equal points (silly example as United will fall away) and in the meantime United score a similar one and it is disallowed, it would not be fair and delegitimatize the title. Whatever the rights or wrong the same rule and interpretation should remain until the end of the season and only then be changed.
I was thinking exactly that way.
Let’s be honest, all the new laws they’ve introduced and those they messed around with have, without exception, ended up a farce. They’ve needed either explanation, clarification (arms in an unnatural position? from rule makers who probably never played sport) amendment or scrapping. The only one that has been OK is offside, level now being onside but even that is being clouded by VAR ruling over a few millimetres either way, rather than clear and obvious as its guidelines say. Before all this, if last nights goal had been disallowed, that would have been the end of it, disgruntled City fans but accepted in the end. The laws of football had been perfectly good for a long, long time now, they’ve become farcical.