Ref Review: WBA – Arsenal. When oh when will Neil Swarbrick learn the laws of the game?

21 Replies to “Ref Review: WBA – Arsenal. When oh when will Neil Swarbrick learn the laws of the game?”

1. With the help of too much booze, my head went in this game, so it’s doubly interesting to read this.

   In the first half my impression was that Alexis was very heavily targeted and pathetically protected.

   I was 90% sure I remembered a pull back which was a near guaranteed booking earning a free-kick only, a clear foul for a kick right in front of the ref which received nothing, and Mclean’s lunge which I thought should have seen red (if judged on Xhaka red standards it had to be a red, as it was worse than either of those)

   The second half was an unhappy blur.

   Anyway, a few days later I checked the stats and to my astonishment saw there were only 11 free kicks in the game, with us making 6 fouls and West Brom 5*. An amazingly odd figure to me for any professional game let alone one featuring us and a Pulis team. Even Pulis’s staunchest admirers will admit his teams play extremely tough and aggressive football, so to commit only 5 fouls in a game is incredibly strange.

   Well, the report here suggests there were fewer fouls than I would ever expect against them, but of course more than were given.

   I expect, however, that the number of real fouls was much higher than that, and that West Brom players made small fouls all the time when near our players, shoves in the back, little pulls and pushes, little kicks as the ball is released. This has become completely routine in our games and the opposition have become expert at it. Hard to know what effect it has but it certainly benefits the opposition some and isn’t good for us.

   For a bit of context, PGMOL were very proud a few years back (covering Riley’s first few years) to report that they had overseen a big drop in fouls per game. Of course, this was trumpeted as a triumph for the flow of the game. Don’t have the figures to hand but I saw at the same time they were considerably lower than fouls per game in the champions league.

   For a bit more context, in Leicester’s impressive effort against A Madrid in the second leg, it was extremely noticeable that neither they or their notably physical opponents were making those small fouls. It was striking and a huge contrast to how teams, including leicester, play against us all the time.

   Just proof that even the most aggressive teams tailor their approach, with ease, to what a referee will permit. Both those teams knew it wasn’t worth giving away free-kick for fouls which, individually, don’t confer much of an advantage, but which, over a whole game, if allowed, are extremely useful in upsetting the opposition.

   In the Fa cup at the weekend, which obviously had an extra 30 mins, there were forty fouls, 20 apiece. That was pretty much right in a game which the ref seemed, blessedly, weirdly, normal and even.

   *stats from BBC report

2. few interesting stats here, inc comparison with other leagues, and, even better, some words from Mike himself

   http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/22253531

3. Rich,

   Methinks Mike himself speak with forked tongue.

4. Sorry, but
   “Fletcher positions himself to block the keeper from coming for the ball so a foul. He can stand there but can make no movement that can impede the keeper.”

   I’ve watched this over and over again.

   He(Fletcher) did not make any movement except when Cech pushed him away, so not a foul, or am i seeing this one false?

5. para

   We debated this on the match day report thread and mostly came to the same conclusion as you have. No foul unless he moves around to impede the keeper…..and he didn’t.

6. Para/Leon I commented on that very point at the time and agree 100% that Fletcher didn’t block indeed he was perfectly entitled to take up the position he did..
   As I have said time after time these reviews are interesting but other than that they have no statistical validity far too many incidents in a game aren’t recorded or commented on.For instance a onside is called correctly and play carries on?Where is the credit given for letting play proceed , as it should?
   Again as I have said before when these reviews are compiled no one has any idea what has been said to the players by the ref nor do we know what view the ref had of the incident ?
   As an aside Walter/Tony are you able to explain why all of my postings now go through moderation?

7. Mike, we are having a problem with moderation on the site, and I am trying to sort it out. The heart of the matter is that with 5 million page views a year and the level of comments we get (many of which are not published because of their nature) the software we have is struggling somewhat. I am trying to resolve the matter not only for you but for others as well.

8. 5 million page views a year? That’s more than Harry Potter gets.

9. @para/Leon/MikeT,

   When Fletcher was standing there, it was not a foul, but if you watch, Cech first puts his left down, then Fletcher moves left slightly, and also bends his knee to have more strength to push back onto Cech when he makes a move for the ball. Clear foul. That was just my opinion when I saw it live and during the replays.

10. I must say that I agree with Para and Leon.
    There is enough good evidence available of our being mistreated by the refereeing fraternity without resorting to “gilding the lily” tactics which will only undermine the object of the exercise and give ammunition to those who accuse you of bias.

11. Thanks Tony.

12. Chiming in with agreement with just about everyone here, there was no foul on Cech.

13. The one on 74 mins was a bit of a mess as Xhaka positioned himself between Ospina & Fletcher which seemed to completely confuse Ospina who was left floundering for Dawson to score easily (& not foul Ospina as stated)

14. The one on 74 mins was a clear impeding of the goalkeeper. Dawson sticks his bum into Ospina & his foot against Ospinas foot to cause him to trip & partly fall over. It was clearly against the Laws but not the ones that PGMOL & their Peon see it.

15. More importantly Dawson is effectively in an offside position impeding the Goalkeeper when the ball is headed.

16. Dawson was the goalscorer, who was nowhere near Ospina when the corner kick was taken. Get it right for a change or just shut up!

17. Fletcher & Dawson all look the same to me. But as the Peon is awake swap the two in my comments.

18. There’s a good boy. Well done.?

19. There’s a good boy. Well done.?

20. Menace

    What do they say about when being in a hole?

21. Mike T – don’t know. I’ve never been in one with or without them.