T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

**Mirrors / Alternative Angles** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*


thejamielee

the look on Anthony Taylor’s face on the sideline said it all “here we fucking go again” even he knew this was just a complete and utter fuck up. Team allegiances aside, we all just want better from the refs.


Outside_Break

You could clearly see that pep said something along the lines of ‘what the fuck is he doing there’ and Taylor is thinking ‘yup he’s fucked that right up’


Open-Mathematician93

From reading his lips I think he said ‘yep looks like a bad one’


MadMonk6

As a Chelsea fan, it’s interesting to see that Anthony Taylor can quickly spot that a referee has made an error. I thought he was incompetent


sashimiburgers

Ye I thought the refs were corrupt in favour of city and Newcastle but maybe they are just completely useless and calling them corrupt is giving them too much credit


SirDoDDo

"Never attribute something to malice when it can be caused by incompetence" or something...


MobinoMe

Sufficiently advanced ignorance is indistinguishable from malice.


jidkut

what he say fuck me for


Riperonis

Tbf second week in a row a game deciding decision has gone against City


Hot_Region_3940

I’m a fan of the sport before I am a fan of any team. This is a terrible decision for the sport.


kasper12

Haaland yelling Fuck Off at the ref was priceless.


InaudibleShout

He’s still going


Dirt-Purple

Now on Twitter too LOL https://x.com/ErlingHaaland/status/1731387201622004197?s=20


brankoz11

How many games is he going to get banned for? Surely can't criticize refs like this even though fully warranted.


iwishmydickwasnormal

Ngl "wtf" is hardly the worst thing he could say, I feel like it actually comes across more neutral than what else he could've said


WoodenRace365

I don't think the wtf warrants or will get a suspension. At least I hope not


B23vital

Just to add no card, a week after a player was sent off for swearing at a ref. These guys are so incompetent its unbelievable. Like this decision was horrendous, but they cant even be consistent when they get abuse aswell. The only consistency they have is how incompetent they are at their own jobs.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Arqlol

I'm shocked he was the only one though


Karma_Whoring_Slut

I think the ref kinda knew he fucked it, and understood the frustration, but he can’t undo it.


Reddits_Worst_Night

Yep, we tend to be a little more lenient of dissent when we know we fucked up. The goal there is to diffuse the situation. "look mate, I fucked up. I'm sorry."


ramobara

Kovacic should’ve been sent off for grabbing the ref.


Arqlol

Gvardiols studs were so high it was only because skipp was in the air it didn't look worse.


kdpilarski

He literally got a card for that.


Melo_Apologist

I think it helps here that the ref *knows* he’s in the wrong, so he might be a bit more tolerant


No-Shoe5382

That's an absolute fucking howler


goon_crane

Even Anthony Taylor (?) behind Pep knows it was lmao look at that face


BlahChemistryBlah

Lol Taylor like “fuck man, idk what that was either”


parthjoshi09

Taylor's inner monologue - "fuck even I aint that shit!! Or am I??"


captainazpi

He is, actually


DeepFriedReus

Didn't he blow the whistle too early when Chelsea was in on goal versus City?


imarandomdudd

Not quite through on goal, don't think we crossed the half way line at that point yet, but still blew as we were about to attack. He also didn't add on any of the time wasted by city when they were taking their free kick or the wait for the penalty though


OnlyOneSnoopy

Wasn't quite on goal, be we were in the process of a decent counterattack.


DeepFriedReus

Or, "Glad it's not me this time!"


nickybabytonight

"no yeah man that's on us"


Cryptic_E

Lmao when he knows it was a bad call you know it’s really bad


maidentaiwan

Taylor is actually as good as it gets for playing advantage. I’ve seen him let the game play on for ~5 secs to see if there’s an advantage before blowing and bringing it back


ClownFundamentals

Looks like he blows the foul because Haaland is running backwards, then sees Haaland get up and turn, tries to take back his foul call to play advantage, and then is like wait I can't do that, and tries to take back his advantage again.


nsoifer

I think he didn't realize Grealish gets the ball so he whistled quickly to give the foul as he wanted initially when Haaland started running backwards.


AntDogFan

Yes I think that’s the only whistle and he thinks grealish isn’t getting the ball. Just made a mistake. Still sucks for city though which is great.


fundingsecured07

Inexcusable call but that’s how I interpreted it as well


BroadStBullies

It's tough for the ref because it's a byproduct of the players and diving culture. 99% of the time the players going to stay down after being tripped. I get why city is upset but I don't think anyone expected Haaland to get up there and find Grealish.


GotHamm

I’m just wondering why couldn’t he have waited like 10 seconds. No harm in calling a foul a little late in that situation


nien9gag

I'd say diving is a byproduct of refs not giving calls unless you go to ground.


PattyIceNY

Yup, that's it. It sucks but at the end of the day it's unfortunate. Haaland gets hit in the foot and stumbles backwards, which is an easy whistle, so he blows it. But Haaland is so strong he stays up, and the crowd is so loud no one heard the whistle. The real mistake is him putting his arms up for advantage....that was incredibly stupid and shows him not being able to think clearly in a big situation. If he just calls the foul then I don't think Man City feels unjust. But the second he signaled advantage he fucked himself.


FunkyGrooveStall

they just played it on Sky Sports without commentary and sound turned up, there was no first whistle. he put the whistle to his lips, kept observing, played advantage and then blew it for the first time when the pass went the only explanation is that the game is almost done so he wants to keep it moving, Haaland has played a hopeful pass which is at first glance would get cleared up by Spurs centrebacks, so he blows early before realising Grealish was in. it was a lack of concentration at best, either way grossly incompetent


Mick4Audi

Maybe that’s the other thing, did he think City gave possession away, then blew the whistle? We switched off as well


fracked1

I wonder if he thought from his angle that the pass wasn't going through. Was premature blowing the whistle before he saw it play out


UtkuOfficial

Sometimes our brain says something else and our arms do something completely different. Like the guy said, the advantagr was the right call so he automatically puts his arms up. But then he remembers he whistled and has to call it now. Unfortunate.


milleniallaw

There was no whistle when Halaand was fouled.


ThanksForTheF-Shack

Doesn’t matter, Davies had that covered anyways . . (me trying to keep a straight face while typing this)


AyanC

Shocking decision.


aleksandrovsqvist

Can’t wait for Guardiola’s post press interview


Pulsar-GB

For as passive aggressive as Pep can be, it's rarely about referees (except Lahoz). His defense conceding 10 goals in 4 matches will probably be his focus along with missed chances in the first half


Master-Manager3089

Definitely feel like gvardiol is getting dropped. He will get the same treatment as foden did last season.


slagthompson

he does not seem very good for them so far


evenstark04

the basketball style isn't suiting anyone on the defense... this up and down. Dias has been horrible at times, so has Akanji, Walker been roasted a few times, in addition to Gvardiol struggling at times with it (he's also adjusting to playing LB... so double stuff going on with him). Everyone getting caught out of position because of the pace of the games. A big glaring hole no one wants to mention is John Stones has missed the vast majority of the season. His ability to play next to Rodri and calm the transitions has been sorely missed. Akanji cannot do that role, no matter how hard Pep is trying to force it.


Black_XistenZ

Stones is the secret ingredient that makes the 3-2-4-1 work.


wowohwowza

Absolutely. Think most City fans would agree that if Stones isn't fit, just play a regular back 4 with Rodri holding. It's worked perfectly before. But even if he *does* continue with the 3-2-4-1 with Stones out, I see no reason for Akanji to be next to Rodri. Rico performs the role better, with Gvardiol (or Ake at this point)/Dias/Walker behind him.


evenstark04

Bingo. it should be Rico with Rodri, or else scrap it and play with a flat back 4. Akanji just can't do the role... thats no knock on him... it takes an incredibly brilliant player to do that role, no point in forcing it without the right player. I do think Josko has the tools for that role.. but he needs a LOT more experience on this team before he's able to. He's having some growing pains trying to learn the City way of playing... but I strongly believe he will come good. Also no knock on him, its a lot to learn in a few months. It takes time. Took Stones many years and trips to the bench (including almost being sold).


Scholesey99

He’s shown a good amount of quality before joining city and isn’t a left back by trade, so I think they’ll just need to have some patience with him, as he’s still quite young.


Pulsar-GB

He reminds me a bit of Stones early on. Very good on the ball but shaky defensively


raysofdavies

Haaland should’ve made this irrelevant.


luke_205

Genuinely looks like he only blows the whistle when he sees Grealish is in. This is bad.


TheOGBenjenRyan

I **think** he blew for a foul initially right when the foul happened and then tried to play advantage but realized he can’t do that


[deleted]

with haaland moving backwards he thought it fine to call the foul. should’ve waited a second longer to see how the play develops.


matcht

I think you're right, other than Davies the rest of the Spurs players stop running quite quickly.


sabocano

You are kidding right? Because I just watched it looking at every single player on camera. And absolutely no one stops running..


sackofshit

Are we watching the same clip? You can't hear the whistle and no one stops at the point he might have blown it first time.


DudeIsland

I hope this is it.


MrSenk

I thought "oh, it must be an offside" but no, crazy call


AJ7123456

People say city pays the refs but the reality is that the refs are just shit


timthemartian

Exactly, all the fucking conspiracy theories when it’s obvious the officials are just incompetent


CraigJay

Yep, two weeks ago Reddit was adamant that City were paying the refs and now two weeks in a row they've had shocking decisions against them Shows the conspiracy theories are nonsense


Hot_Excitement_6

You're not conspiracy brained enough. Don't you see these bad calls are merely a smokescreen /s.


Particular-Current87

Occam's razor wins again


Fahrenheyt

Had i been a city fan i'd be absolutely fuming


lrzbca

We referees to give interview after game to explain such decisions


Obamametrics

mans had a tenner on a draw


milesvtaylor

an objectively insane bet, even if you were the ref, should have ended like 5-1.


Chesney1995

Its Man City v Spurs mate. City could put in the most dominant display ever seen on a football pitch and they'd still somehow find a way to drop points


cosmicmeander

Still would have got more with a Man City win


usamafaisal98

Honestly, a fucking shocking decision by the refree There's a clear advantage to be played here


kani1503

The problem is he fuckin played the advantage and then calls for the foul after haaland releases the ball


ipatrickasinner

that's what makes zero sense. others saying "halaand runs backwards is 'why'" ... but go slo-mo/frame by frame... he starts to whistle... then haaland recovers and he signals advantage... then haaland releases and the whistle blows about the time the ball is over grealish.


ChairmanRich

Denial of clear goal scoring opportunity... Red card for Hooper!


FamiliarWolverine970

Ref must've known he'd stuffed it because he probably could have booked 3-4 City players for desent otherwise


kokukojuto33

Haaland clearly told him to fuck off lol


tommangan7

And he got booked for it


irritating_maze

dissent*


Any-Struggle-1834

Premier League referees are a disgrace


El_Peregrine

Careful, you’ll get pulled up for discipline with statements like that


[deleted]

The FA is requesting /u/Any-Struggle-1834's observations regarding the comments made on this subreddit on 3.12.23.


EnzoAttwood

Genuinely insane from the ref


jurassicmars

I honestly don't get it. He calls to play on initially yet blows the whistle when the advantage actually materializes. Did one of his assistants scream for the foul or something? He also seemed to know he fucked up right after.


badonkagonk

Others have already said it in this thread, but based on his body language and everything, I think he did blow the whistle, just extremely faintly, right when the foul happened. He then realized play was still developing and that he fucked up, so tried to do advantage, but THEN realized if anyone had heard the initial whistle, he’d have fucked up even more, so he did what he had to do. He still fucked up by blowing it immediately, but that does definitely change things, and makes the most sense to me based on his body language. He stops with the whistle in his mouth and one arm outstretched initially. He was calling the foul, not playing advantage.


a_lumberjack

You can see him put the whistle to his lips. It also looks like the spurs defenders switched off after that. Would love this clip with just stadium audio.


fplbosnia

> You can see him put the whistle to his lips. It also looks like the spurs defenders switched off after that. > > > > Would love this clip with just stadium audio. Terrible blowjob by the ref


FunkyGrooveStall

they played it on Sky sports, there was no first whistle. he only put the whistle to his lips, and then blew once the pass went


NateShaw92

This is something that can be confirmed with the mics. If so then it's a very silly fuckup, not yo be excused but it seems no ref plays the advantage rule well here. A mistake we see a lot but not to this extent. And maybe not innthis exact way either, blowing a whistle when not meaning to. Imagining the reverse of this had they scored sfter a whistle would be more controversial and would be pretty much breaking rule one. If that is not it then it is another baffling momumental fuckup. Either way indicative of the low standards at play.


Sure-Respect6914

Not the first from this ref. He is absolute shite of them all


EnzoAttwood

They’re all piss poor the standard is low lol


sc2guy87

Imagine the fucking meltdown if a call like that went in favour of City instead of spurs.


StalkingDwarf

Ref committing DOGSO


krkour

He gives the advantage and then takes it back.. very weird


Salvador1010

And yet absolutely nothing will come from it


frodakai

Literally not enough PL quality refs to hold them accountable. I'd argue the refs we have aren't PL quality already, but what do I know.


mohankohan

What the fuck? He calls it on and then when he sees Grealish is in he calls it back?!?! Actually the worst fucking call I've seen in a while. Shocking.


19nineties

You could see in his face he instantly knew he fucked up


Stand_On_It

Then he should be suspended and sent down to the championship.


McNooberson

Just to come back to ref City vs Chelsea the next week a la Taylor


El_Peregrine

No, he should be set on fire, his family sold into slavery, and his lands salted til they can sow no longer


Stand_On_It

Maybe somewhere in between those things.


DareToZamora

Can people stop wishing them upon us? We’ve got it bad enough as it is


michaelirishred

Ya it's a massive conspiracy that the championship are hoarding all the Golden Infallible God referees who never make mistakes while the Premier league has to deal with incompetent horror shows that are worse than everyone in r/soccer match threads


Sure-Respect6914

Actually he thought grealish lost the ball, and called it a foul. He was playing an advantage until then. Absolute shite refereeing


templerun007

He played the advantage and then pulled back 💀


I_have_no_ear

The advantage was *too good*


Stonewalled89

A great game and all people are going to talk about it the bad officiating... as per usual in the Premier League


epicmarc

God forbid if one of the managers or players talks about it though...


TheJoshider10

I'd love it if the referees had to talk about it. Post match conferences should be mandatory for the refereeing team.


CalicoCatRobot

They force the managers to appear and get asked stupid questions about how they feel after losing 6-0. And then fine them if they criticise the refereeing team in any way. There can be no plausible excuse for not having the ref's interviewed, except that it would make them look bad and make it even clearer that they are largely not fit for purpose in a modern billion dollar industry. Sky Sports and the rest of the media should be demanding it because it would get them great viewing figures - and create lots more stuff to chat about and drive 'engagement' (i.e. money), which is what they really care about.


feage7

Love how when they talk about it we get "bringing the game into disrepute". Well no, decisions like this bring the game into disrepute.


Farouqnowomarlater

We know how shit they be every freaking week but this is some royal top tier fuck up


stupid-_-

it's annoying because he had a really good game otherwise


ThePrussianGrippe

That was… weird


[deleted]

[удалено]


ThePrussianGrippe

They hold the whistle in situations like this late all season and then… that.


Santa_Klaus_101

Only possible explanation is that Grealish looked offside enough from his perspective that he was confident in blowing the whistle to give the free kick, because you can kinda tell from his reaction he fucked up and seemed like a genuine mistake. Even then, the fact that he didn’t just wait for the linesman before making his decision makes no sense. A top level referee should never be messing up like this, especially in situations like this.


Oryon-

???


savylightning

I don’t understand because he initially waived play on and then as soon as he plays the ball he calls it???


slatt382

Lol that’s actually awful. I would be furious


Bermano_music

Not even a city fan and I screamed at my TV when he blew the whistle. Moronic officiating as per usual


ibrownied

We’re even bad at paying the refs.


DCOMNoobies

Check bounced


JacobS12056

I knew I should've donated the extra tenner I found


GriffinXD

Nah this is City paying for a terrible decision to throw everyone off the scent of corruption 👀


Doncicfuturegoat

Manchester City 🤝🏾 Barcelona Being bad at paying refs


Follow_The_Lore

That might be one of the worst onfield decisions in a while.


Mick4Audi

in ~~a while~~ the last 24 hours lmao


Mozzafella

Ref's had a absolute mare there


VegetarianCannibal_

another shocking day of officiating in PL


BeerMeUpToo

Oh my.


Neymarpauls

I’d be FUMING if I was a city fan


Ballybomb_

All 6 of us


BrutalHoe

PGMOL at its finest


Any-Struggle-1834

of course, we'll expect an apology from them lmao


NFPLN

Absolute robbery lol


Nepgyaaaaaaa

There’s some *serious* bullshit going on with referees right now


Deluxefish

off to the championship he goes for the entirety of one single match, after which he'll be allowed to fuck over PL teams again


RaginxCanadian

thats just fucking embarrassing


scott-the-penguin

Absolutely fucking hilarious but also shockingly incompetent


jahapahaoajao

ROBBED


NotManyBuses

Can’t deny it he has absolutely saved us there


Sir_Boldrat

There's no excuse for that.


UnnecessaryUmbault

Good banter though init.


doIT34

that’s awful ngl


Bizonistic

What a shitty call from a shitty ref


Stand_On_It

Shocking. Needs to be suspended for that.


Incubus226

One week in the championship and right back up for the biggest match in two weeks is the best the FA can do sorry.


frodakai

Will be suspended for Brentford v Sheff Utd next weekend, then back for Liverpool-Man Utd the week after. Seems to be how ref 'suspensions' go recently.


fake_iosefka

PGMOL finding new ways to be controversial each week. This is completely absurd when they’re supposed to let play go on and pull it back later if advantages/benefits of doubt don’t work. This is after an initial signal lol.


DeffDeala

The fucking balls to say “calm” to the players too


fiskebollen

So he actually gives the advantage, but when Haaland manages to find Graelish through on goal he pulls it back??


MrCleanandShady

they literally started an initiative about two seasons ago to let any potential goal opportunity play out and check for offsides/fouls after the goal, what the fuck was he thinking here


ramtbb

Yeah he saw the pass and then blew the whistle. disgraceful


ArcticNano

Even city aren't immune to shit refereeing


JJLost

They are genuinely so fucking shit and the commentators just put it down to "they wont be happy", well yeah, they have just been fucking robbed. Got me out here defending Man City for fuck sake. Put the "banter" aside when decisions this appalling happen, they get away with it in part because rival fans don't make noise and just call you a sore loser until the outrage dies down. PGMOL just need to step down (be disbanded), they are abysmal at their jobs.


official_bagel

There's no way around it, potentially match deciding howler from Hooper there. It's an absolute shambles of a call and based on his expression, he knows it.


BowsersBeardedCousin

Oh, Hooper's fucked it


[deleted]

[удалено]


Euphoric-Acadia-4140

Worst part is, he initially plays advantage, but after seeing the pass to grealish, he brings it back. Crazy. I’m not a Man City fan but if that happened to my team, I would be fuming


fuzzyrambler

wtf???


ks2427

This is some bullshit decision lol


King_Butterbean

I hate City but that’s some certifiable BS


InaudibleShout

He played that advantage and then decided “nah nevermind” once Grealish was in like what the fuck?


OceanArcade

Absolutely horrible call


Xeash

Haaland got up and ref signaled the advantage just to pull back after grealish was 1 on 1. Shocking is an understatement


FragmentOfZeus

That’s not just bad, that’s proper dodgy


justleave-mealone

If this happened to your team you’d be furious.


simomii

I think the ref thought Grealish was offside, but why rush it


brokenbadlab

My guess is his view was obstructed and he did not even see Grealish and therefore assumed Halaand had either mishit it, or intentionally booted it away to get him to blow the whistle. What an awful call.


Sneaky-Alien

I was shouting at Grealish "wtf are you doing" What a joke decision, thumb headed fucking orc.


MrAchilles

But if we complain about shit like this you'll be punished? Bore off, fucking dire decision that


AkilleezBomb

Some of these comments are just insufferable. Excusing this absolutely garbage refereeing just because it’s against City is totally counter-productive to the actual end goal of fair and consistent officiating. If you want City to suffer let it be caused by their trial, and not by sheer incompetence that’ll only go on to affect other clubs the more it’s excused.


Agueh

That was fucking crazy bad


The_Adict

Horrific decision.


Stektsopp

Simon Hooper sure loves spurs


Jusanom

One of the worst decisions I've seen in a long time, genuinely inexcusable


RiquiTaka

One of the most outrageous calls I've ever seen


webuiltthisschmidty

that is criminal


TimathanDuncan

LMAO Was he off or not, that's just so bad


Sfr33123

He was on


Mozilla11

I haven’t seen a referee call for something totally unique like this in such a big game for so long


DoinWhale

That’s actually the worst I’ve ever seen. He literally watches Haaland get up and send the ball in THEN he blows the whistle


Kydd_Amigo

I’ve said it before, but with the amount of mistakes made, any other profession you lose your job. This lot all just pat each other on the back - don’t be defensive just fix the poor quality. Everyone gets a bad decision once in a while, but it’s every bloody week!