Southampton v Arsenal Sunday 10 Dec 2017 – The Match Officials. Outstandingly good and awful

by Andrew Crawshaw

Another week and another referee we have had before this season

• Referee – Bobby Madley  Age 31 from West Yorkshire and FIFA accredited
• Assistant Referee 1 – Stephen Child  from Kent and FIFA accredited
• Assistant Referee 2 – Marc Perry  from the West Midlands
• Fourth official – Graham Scott  Age 49 from Oxfordshire

2017 – 18 We first had Bobby Madley in Matchweek 6 our 2 – 0 home win against West Brom.  On that occasion he was pared with Lee Betts and Marc Perry with Stuart Attwell as Fourth Official.  We won the game but :-

• Rodriguez was tripped by Mustafi in the penalty area – should have been a penalty to West Brom – video clip 09
• Sanchez should have had a penalty, clearly brought down in the penalty area – see video clip 10
• Both Krychowiak and Dawson should have been sent off for multiple yellow card fouls. – video clip 11.

NB the video clips are courtesy of Usama and can be found here https://twitter.com/mrarsenal93/status/899035664997548034

So let’s say that is four wrong Important Decisions in that game so clearly not one of Mr Madley’s finest

Last Season 2016-17 we had Mr Madley twice

1: Our 2 – 1 home win against Southampton on 10 Sept when he was accompanied by Mr Perry and Mr Smart.  He achieved a weighted score of 70 , bias against the two clubs was 88/12 and three wrong Important Decisions:

• Min45 Arter should have had a red card for a studs up challenge on Monreal,
• Minute 90+1 Fonte should have conceded a penalty and received a second yellow card for a foul on Koscielny

Ref Review: Arsenal – Southampton; a perfect example of how the new instructions to refs affects the flow of the game.

2:  Our 3 – 1 away loss at Liverpool in March when he was accompanied by Mr Kirkup and Mr Perry.  His weighted score was 79%, bias against the two teams was 40/60 and there were three wrong Important Decisions.

• Min7 Coquelin should have had a red card for head high foot on Coutinho,
• Min 56 Liverpool should have had a penalty Bellerin on Firmino and
• Min 77 Can should have had a second yellow card for a foul on Walcott

Ref Review: Liverpool – Arsenal: Are we really that biased in our reviews?

In 2015 – 16 we again had Mr Madley on two occasions

1: Our 3 – 1 home win against Sunderland on 5 December.  This was an outstanding piece of refereeing.  He scored 90% and only made two wrong decisions all game, neither of them on Important Decisions.  If only this was the rule rather than the exception

2: Our 1 – 2 loss at home to Swansea.  If the December visit was outstanding, this one was horrible.  He scored 38%, his bias figures were 93/7 and he made 5 wrong Important Decisions.

• Min 32 Swansea scored as a direct result of a non given foul by Anat on Özil – goal shouldn’t have stood,
• Min 47 Anat should have had a second yellow card for an attack breaking foul on Giroud,
• Min 73 Ayew should have been booked for a dive – the referee awarded a free kick against Gabriel.
• Min 74 Williams was offside as he scored Swansea’s second goal – shouldn’t have counted and
• Min 84 Ayew should have had a third yellow card for another dive – given as a foul against Wellbeck.

Conclusions

1. Mr Madley is a typical PGMO referee – he knows the rules but more often than not choses not to apply them impartially.
2. Whether we win or lose we can expect him to make three or four wrong calls on the Important Decisions – Second Yellow or Red cards, Penalties or Goals.  The sort of things that you would expect a referee to get right nine times out of ten.
3. He is still not very good at recognising bad tackles and unless this improves it is only a matter of time before a really serious injury occurs on his watch.
4. He is also poor at deciding what is and what isn’t a penalty and is all too willing to ‘buy’ a dive with an Arsenal player nearby.

COYG

• Premier League moves towards our suggestions, although more out of desperation than agreement
• Arsenal II hit six as the sneering and sarcasm from the Guardian drones on and on
• Arsenal II – Bate Borisov : 6-0 with Jack the boss