[BBC] 'One of the most mind-boggling Premier League games ever'

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/7914713

BBC Chief football writer Phil McNulty pieces through the carnage.

Interested to know what the neutral's view of this match was, especially Ange's comments after the game.

“It’s who we are, mate. Even with five men, we’ll have a go.”

https://www.football.london/tottenham-hotspur-fc/news/every-word-ange-postecoglou-said-28057867

Have you been involved in as crazy a game as that before?

No, but I think it's going to become the norm. It's where the game's heading. Unfortunately it's how we're going to have to watch and participate in football from now on because... look I've said it before, I don't like it. I don't like the standing around. I don't like the whole theatre around waiting for decisions.

But I know that I'm in the wilderness with that. I'm on my own. In my 26 years I was always prepared to accept the referee's decisions, good, bad or otherwise, and I've had some shockers in my career let me tell you. I've had some go my way as well but I cop that because I just want the game to be played.

When we're complaining about decisions every week this is what's going to happen. If people are going to forensically scrutinise everything to make sure that they're comfortable that it's right and even at the end of that we're still not happy. So what does that mean? It means that we're going to see a lot of standing around.

I just think it's just diminishing the authority of the referee. You can't tell me that referees are in control of the game because they're not. The control is outside of that but that's the way the game is going so you have to accept that and just try to deal with it.

When you say you're in the wilderness, the fans seem to dislike it so is it other managers or club execs?

I don't know but it seems like there isn't a great call for us to go back to accepting the referee's decisions for the majority of it. I understand goalline technology because that's a simple one. That came in and no one's complained about it.

But in searching for this utopia of no wrong decisions in a game, that doesn't exist. It never will but that's the road everyone wants to go down.

It's self-inflicted because we all complain about decisions every week. That's not new. We've been complaining about decisions...I've been doing this for 26 years and I've heard managers, me included, complaining about decisions in the past, but we've got on with it. We didn't feel the need to find some miracle cure for it.

I don't think that that's a viable option because we've opened that door, allowed the technology. Now we want transparency. I guarantee the next thing is we'll have referees mic'ed up and explaining decisions.

There's plenty of other sports where you can watch referees do that. I don't think it's better for football, but like I said I think I'm in the wilderness with that one.

Do you think that the Premier League managers should get together through the LMA to teach the referees how to referee a game?

See that's the problem. That's the problem. Premier League managers should just manage their football clubs. I've never and I never will talk to a referee about the rules of the game.

I was taught that you grow up and you respect the officials. You know what managers do? I tell you what managers do. We, me included, try to find ways to bend the rules and get around them. Tell me what the rule is and I guarantee you'll have a room full of managers processing 'how can I get around this?'.

They're not the right people. We're not the right people and I get that people keep saying that. I don't agree with that. What I want is the best officials always being upskilled to officiate the game.

I think that it's so hard for a referee to officiate the game nowadays. Their authority is constantly getting diminished. I grew up afraid of referees. They'd be like policemen. Nowadays I guess we talk back to policemen as well.

I'm old school mate. I'm from a bygone era and I just like the purity of the game but that's not what's going on.

Part of this is my problem. I've got to embrace it and find a way to work with it but it goes against everything I want to work with my team on. I want my team to play fast, attacking, high tempo go at it football.

If we get a red card, a penalty against us, so what. Let's cop it, let's go again. But we have to stand around for two minutes trying to figure out if something is offside or not. Let the linesman make the decision. Remember it used to be the benefit of the doubt to the striker. Remember that? We all lived with it. The game didn't collapse, but like I said I'm an old man shouting at the clouds mate. I'll cop it for that but that's who I am.