Taylor for the Liverpool game

[BlueKolarovWorker]

I did my usual...spent quite a bit of the first and most of the second half calling him bent, especially around the Salah chance near the end but on reflection (and reviewing) thought he had an OK game.

From where I was sat (CB 3) I didn't even think it was a foul from Vinnie at the time but having watched it back, he could easily have gone!

Also think he could have sent Pep to the stand, others (Mike Dean) would have done.

So, as much as I won't forget or forgive the Chelsea and Wigan games, I thought he did alright.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

I did my usual...spent quite a bit of the first and most of the second half calling him bent, especially around the Salah chance near the end but on reflection (and reviewing) thought he had an OK game.
From where I was sat (CB 3) I didn't even think it was a foul from Vinnie at the time but having watched it back, he could easily have gone!

Also think he could have sent Pep to the stand, others (Mike Dean) would have done.

So, as much as I won't forget or forgive the Chelsea and Wigan games, I thought he did alright.

So he didnt do ok?

 

[Scaring Europe to Death]

Overall, there were so many incidents (some of which I'd forgotten until reading this thread), that it would have been impossible for any referee to make decisions that pleased both sets of supporters.
I haven't seen the incident since, but there was definitely a collective micro-second gasp when the crowd realised that Stones had under hit his pass, and both Salah and Kompany accelerated towards the ball.
A Yellow Card was just about right, and it certainly wasn't as blatant as the Ferdinand challenge on Ljungberg a few years ago, or even the Kompany Yellow Card at Leicester last season

Would we have said the same if Van Dijk had clattered Aguero?
Probably not.

 

[BluessinceHydeRoad]

I could cheerfully have murdered him after the Chelsea game two seasons ago but was impressed this season in the derby and again last night. Not mistake free perhaps but not biased and showed common sense and an awareness of the importance of the match at key points.

 

[BigOscar]

Still not sure how he didn't give that Sterling penalty tbh, those are the easiest to see when a player cuts back and the defender just wrestles them to the ground. Although that is just as much on the linesman on that side as he has a perfect view of Robertson's right arm rugby tackle.

He could have been worse, is as generous as I'll be. Still let their defenders get away with murder, rewarded their constant stop drop and roll tactics and generally gave every 50/50 he could in their favour, but at least he didn't decide to ruin the game by sending Kompany off.

 

[Ajm1985]

He's shite.

I thought Vinnie's was a red. Sterling's was much more of a penalty than Salah's Platoon impression and Taylor allowed far too many fouls.

 

[Machiavelli]

1. No-one thinks he was lucky, but as Jamie Carragher rightly pointed out, the tackle was sufficiently borderline that 3 out of 10 refs might have sent Vinny off.
2. Vinny took a flying leap leading with his left leg, which missed the ball completely and connected instead with Salah’s ankle. Vinny then took the ball by accident with his right arse cheek on the follow through. It was never anything other than a foul.

There’s nothing sad about being objective, and it doesn’t mean those City fans capable of looking at an incident without blue tinted specs on, were necessarily disappointed with the outcome. I enjoyed every second of Vinny standing over the cheating little weasel calling him a pussy. Still a foul though, and a fairly poor one. Taylor got it right with the yellow, but it could easily have been a red

I’m not sure how much ankle he actually touched? Salah made the most of it because that’s what he does.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

1. 3 out of 10 might have sent him off, I agree. But that says more about the shocking standard of refereeing than anything else.

2. Kompany only brushes Salah after he’s already won the ball. He doesn’t win the ball by accident, he makes himself as big as possible so there’s nowhere Salah can go to hit the ball past him. Great defending and it’s sad that the rules are being interpreted to try and take great tackles, that get fans out of their seats, removed from the game. You could make a valid argument that all sliding tackles endanger an opponent because if a player was in control, why would he have to slide? But that’s the sanitised road we’re heading towards and probably already at if perfectly good, ball winning tackles are outlawed like Kompany’s tackle was last night.

I don’t disagree, although the making himself big argument only holds water if Vinny had been trying to block the ball rather than tackle his opponent. If he fouls that opponent then the validity of the block goes out of the window. And again, it wasn’t a perfectly good, ball winning tackle, it was a foul. He took man first and ball second. Like you though I did enjoy it!

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

I’m not sure how much ankle he actually touched? Salah made the most of it because that’s what he does.

I know. Although the challenge was full tilt, the actual contact was still more of a clip than a crunch. Still a clear foul though

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

Despite people saying "he went in two-footed and that's a red", this is what Law 12 actually says:

Direct free kick

A direct free kick is awarded if a player commits any of the following offences against an opponent in a manner considered by the referee to be careless, reckless or using excessive force:

(It goes on to give a list of offences and then says:)

• Careless is when a player shows a lack of attention or consideration when making a challenge or acts without precaution. No disciplinary sanction is needed
• Reckless is when a player acts with disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, an opponent and must be cautioned
• Using excessive force is when a player exceeds the necessary use of force and endangers the safety of an opponent and must be sent off

SERIOUS FOUL PLAY
A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality must be sanctioned as serious foul play.

Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play.

Law 12 says it's quite OK to tackle with both legs as long as that's not with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent. Kompany's tackle didn't meet either of those criteria so it certainly wasn't a red. If we accept that he caught Salah and it was a foul, then it was therefore between careless and reckless. You could well argue that it was the former, in which case the yellow was harsh, or the latter, in which case it was justified.

You could certainly argue that the tackle that Lovren got a yellow card for in the first half was worse according to those criteria and that he potentially endagered the safety of an opponent.