by Hoop Blah »
25 Jun 2019 13:27
Snowflake Royal My personal view was that the elbow was an misjudged arm across the chest that rode up and hit the face rather than actual violent conduct, so I was just about ok with the yellow.
I think it was clear the officials had seen it, so I'm presuming VAR decided that was a fair interpretation.
On the Kirby pen shout, it wasn't VAR that took ages, it was the ref thinking and watching the replays. She could have cut that time dramatically herself. Personally I thought it was a foul, but a fair advantage played given we then got a shot at goal.
I don't think the Cameroon players got upset because the decisions weren't on screen. They got upset because they WERE on screen and felt Duggan should have been called off and that the butt of a heel when walking away from goal in the build up shouldn't be called off. I think they were also (justifiably) upset that a loose control and claim by the keeper was called a free kick that they conceded the first goal to.
The final yellow, I've mixed views on. You can give the benefit and say it's just poorly timed, or you can say it's cynical and nasty. It wasn't a clear leg breaker though, more a nasty rake.
And this post is a good example of why replays don't necessarily help matters too much.
The ref has to take their time over making a decision when watching replays. It's the heat of battle and there's probably millions watching on TV and in the ground, who are ready to jump on any decision, so they're going to watch it more times than necessary because it could be career threatening to make a mistake.
In terms of the specific decisions you mention, most comment I've seen has been the opposite. The back-pass was a back-pass for me, and if there's any doubt there the keeper should just clear it. The two offside decisions were correct, although I'd argue the Cameroon player wasn't gaining any advantage by being marginally offside and so I would rather that wasn't given.
Replays can help a referee be more informed, which is a good thing, but it doesn't make the decision less debatable in matters of opinion.