It’s easy to forget how bad referees are, right? I know Chris Kavanagh and his team put in a particularly terrible performance in this match between Aston Villa and Newcastle United, but the fact that these people are being put in charge of the game we love is both shameful and extremely worrying.
Have linesmen become so dependent on VAR that they no longer even look down the line? I saw, while watching it live, that he was offside, so how could someone with a much better point of view and who is trained to do so not see what I saw?
If they’re too reliant on VAR, what’s the point of having them? Give corner kicks, throw-ins and goal kicks? I’m sure someone could come up with some technology to replace them very easily enough.
The problem is not just that offside was missed; it is also that assistant referees now appear reluctant to make proactive calls, instead waiting for VAR confirmation. That hesitation slows down the game and erodes authority. In the Prem they have to keep their flags low, so maybe that behavior was ingrained and he realized it too late? I’m probably too generous.
Kavanaugh had already made his decision to book Digne alone when he walked over to Murphy, who was lying on the deck nursing his shin. Why couldn’t he go across and look at the injury before making his decision? The foot was clearly high, so he must have thought no contact had been made, right? The cuts on his shin proved otherwise, a clear red card as you are likely to see this week.
To be fair, he got the Bizot send-off, but he waved away the appeal against the Hall penalty without a second thought. It felt like he didn’t want to make a big decision, but the Villa keeper eventually forced him to.
The non-penalty on Digne’s handball was the icing on the cake. At no point was Digne out of the box. He jumped into the box, landed in the box and took a few steps, which also kept him in the box. It seriously boggles the mind.
Luckily for us, justice was served and we walked away with a deserved victory, and that’s really what I want to talk about. But what was striking was not the chaos; it was Newcastle’s calmness in it.
Sandro Tonali was classy and deserved the windfall with the deflection for his first; his second was sublime. He seemed to be playing the box-to-box game he preferred, developing himself as he could and giving himself the chance to influence the game at both ends.
Ramsey was quality. I’m really starting to like the look of him. He fights extremely hard and becomes more and more controlled on the ball. Positionally he was a bit all over the place at times in the first half, perhaps a bit too hard and pressing when he shouldn’t have been, making him easy to play, but in the second half he seemed to find the perfect balance.
I thought Nick Woltemade looked much more comfortable in the number 10 position and is putting the game together very well. He also got into the penalty area more in the second half and it was great to see him break his duck. I think if he were to repeat the move from the second half more often, he’ll become a bit of a weapon.
Murphy clearly needs more playing time; he fails too often in the starting line-up, but it is to his credit that Bizot was sent off and Digne should have been sent off too.
Osula also needs minutes. The poor lad seemed completely off pace for large stretches, but he worked hard and it’s good to see him back there.
The whole defense was good.
Tripps played his best game in a while; Burn and Thiaw looked carefree and cohesive, and Hall is quickly turning into Lionel Messi. The number of times he has passed three or four players this season is staggering, and he was unlucky not to win a pin or get an assist when Elanga lost his balance. Bizot was sent off and then Villa had to sacrifice their width, which made both Hall and Trippier’s evenings much easier, but they both did a fantastic job helping us at the other end of the pitch. Hall was often more central, allowing Tonali to roam a bit higher, and Tripps stayed very wide, providing a constant outlet.
There were a few occasions where the midfield two weren’t where they needed to be in transition – giving Rogers too much time and space as he drifted in from the wing – but it was much improved from Brentford and the previous Aston Villa match. I was terrified when I heard that Bruno will be out for two very important months, but last night certainly gave me hope that the season isn’t dead.
Thanks to Eddie and Mad Dog. It seems like they’re finding solutions to some really tough problems and they deserve to be celebrated for that. Wednesday to Azerbaijan. A result there, after a great week so far, would be just the tonic to drive away the unpleasantness of the past month or so.
#tonic #drive #unpleasantness #month