Coufal’s sending off lacks logic in light of Xhaka’s last tackle

Problems with VAR are not only in the Czech league. The Premier League is also struggling with inconsistent performance of referees.

Few things annoy football fans more than when referees don’t hold the same standard and measure everyone equally. In the current Premier League season, the talk more than ever is about referees making mistakes and bringing confusion to their decisions.

And not just the referees on the pitch itself, but also those behind the screens, i.e. at the VAR system. Discussions on the subject after Saturday’s Leeds-Arsenal game will not only not subside, but on the contrary, they will become even more heated.

In the second half of the match there was a tackle by the visiting Granit Xhaka on the home team’s Raphinha. The Swiss hard stepped on the ankle area of the technically proficient Brazilian, which certainly resulted in a sharp pain for the player. The latter was treated for several minutes and although he eventually played the match to the very end, it was not a pleasant one.

Judge for yourself whether it was a foul and whether the referee should have drawn a card for it. Not only did referee Andre Marriner not show Xhaka a yellow card (at the very least), but he didn’t even consider the tackle to be an offence against the rules!

That the referee didn’t spot the foul on the pitch can perhaps still be excused. Even more questionable is the referee’s zero reaction to the VAR system. Doesn’t he consider the tackle to be a flagrant foul? Shouldn’t the referees be awarding red cards for just such interventions?

In the light of the intervention of the Swiss Arsenal midfielder, the exclusion of Vladimir Coufal completely lacks logic. In West Ham’s last game against Arsenal, the Czech international earned an early exit to the showers after saving a situation in the penalty area during the Canaries’ attack. He punched the ball away from Lacazette’s foot and then the two players’ feet collided.

Just a few years ago, a defensive slip would have been rewarded with boisterous roars from the fans, but now it has been ruled out and a penalty kick awarded. Again, we will leave it up to the readers to decide whether both were measured by the same yardstick.

Source: Twitter (West Ham Xtra, Spencer)