The ref was piss poor but people blaming him for a thick footballer not having the sense to go in for a tackle that could injure them or the other player isn’t the refs fault is it?
If you don’t understand the concept numerous posters have tried to instill in you by now, there’s nothing I can say that will change your mind now.
Players change their behavior when on a yellow card. I think the challenge in question was relatively innocuous given the game, but I think Dallas would have been more prudent had the ref tightened the game up a little once the challenges started getting a little tasty.
Grealish and Foden were targeted by Marsch, because they were the chief playmakers in the side Pep picked. They were CONSTANTLY being fouled. Nothing too dangerous, but attritional fouls designed to have them lay the ball off earlier, avoid contact and, overall, reduce their effectiveness.
These are things that go on in the game that some people fail to see…the game within the game, if you will.
Dallas had already committed a poor foul that Marsch didn’t even think was a foul! That tells you the difference between views of both how the game should be played and, more specifically, the tone and tenor of this Leeds performance.
The referee sets the tone on what is and is not acceptable. He have two early fouls/yellows for players being pulled back. A non-violent, non-dangerous foul.
However, as the challenges started coming in, I think Tierney realized that he had two choices: use yellow cards and nip it in the bud OR give the teams much greater latitude lest he need to give a few reds in the second half. He chose the latter and set a tone that allowed too much to go unpunished.
He, like many modern refs, is weak. He “stamps” his authority on bullshit issues and then let’s actual foul play go, because he’s made a rod for his own back.
I just wish refs understood what PLAYERS don’t like, what endangers them, and creates tensions within the game to rise.
For me, a good ref tamps down rising tensions within the game, understands the on-field internal battles, and MANAGES the flow of the game in a way that players understand where they stand before they even start the game.
The pre-game ritual of Captains delivering the team sheets to the Officials is the perfect opportunity to set that tone. I honestly don’t know what gets said in those moments, but it is clearly not be used as it should.