Because that’s a blind spot- 60 yds from the assistant and center is always going to be trailing and will likely not see point of contact unless it’s very high.
I'm definitely no Kavanagh fan (used to be, but he's regressed so much since getting his FIFA badge). I haven't seen the full play yet and didn't know exactly where he was and where he came from, but I do have some sympathy for his positioning here. Your instinct as a referee is to get as close to the corner as you can, but in reality (and if you knew this type of "challenge" was coming) you'd want to sacrifice distance for angle. But in the heat of the moment, I can see why the first reaction would be, "Uh oh, there's a chance of something bad happening - I better get as close as I can." Maybe you can get enough information from the other officials to piece the puzzle together and get red on the field, but I can at least somewhat appreciate the idea of "I'm not going red unless I'm sure about it given I'm not as close as I'd want to be". This would be the type of play having the old additional assistant referees would be valuable for getting right in real time. But in the end, the crew got to the right call.
Here is the play: C’mon. If he can’t get that as a red live, then something is wrong. Is he waiting for VAR to referee for him? Look at the reaction of the Arsenal players. They know it’s a sending off.
Now that I’ve seen the full picture, hard agree with you. He was close enough to get an angle and see that.
This is a professional referee with what over 200+ games at various levels of the English football pyramid? I'm sorry, you shouldn't need the perfect angle or see the point of contact exactly to sniff out that red card. He should have been able to use his experience, feel for the game and seeing that type of horse shit tackle countless times in his progression to the Premier League. The location of the tackle alone should have given it away. It's in the corner flag and the defender is coming in like that. It's a dirty tackle and a tackle designed to send a message. I just can't believe a seasoned Premier League official can't sniff this out live. If I missed this live on my Sunday morning amateur match that I did yesterday, I would be rightfully grilled by my crew and my assignor. Basically, "what the ******** were you looking at?" Any referee that is upgrading to regional referee in the US would immediately, and rightfully so, fail his assessment if he misses this and yet were are excusing a seasoned EPL referee who has comms for missing this? I'm not a believer of the Keith Hackett "back in my day the officiating and standards were so much better" school of thought when it comes to modern officiating. The level of AR accuracy (remember the laughable AR decisions we saw in the 2002 World Cup?), foul selection, fitness, penalty kick decisions, etc. are miles better now than in 2002 or 2006. I do feel, however, modern referees are completely losing the plot and feel for serious foul play. It's not just down to instruction and the powers that be wanting certain tackles to not be red cards anymore that has led to referees missing really easy SFP red cards. Even in the liberal standards now, a two footed studs up tackle is still a red card. This isn't just unique to the EPL. It's happening at all levels in all leagues. There were two very similar tackles in MLS in games in Toronto (one tackle was right in front of the AR by the corner flag, the other was on the far side by the corner flag) where the crew gave yellow or nothing on the field and VAR didn't intervene to upgrade. I think a big part of it is paralysis by analysis and almost over instruction at the highest levels. Every major decision now has a bunch of boxes that have to be checked in order for your decision to be supported. Instead of having a feel and understanding of the game, referees now go through all these check-boxes (point of contact, mode of contact, glancing versus forceful, etc.) and they end up doing mental gymnastics to not give a red card. So if one box isn't ticked, then their decision is to downgrade. It's how you end up with that laughably disallowed goal in the Vancouver vs. Toronto match. That type of goal is never getting disallowed 20 years ago. They are no over-thinking and trying to be clever for their own good. I can only infer as to how EPL or any professional referee thought process would be, but my guess is his thought process is "I don't see the mode of contact, and I don't see where he got him, therefore it's a yellow." I know how I think when I see a tackle like that and it's "oh shit, that's in the corner, the attacking player has just been flipped over by the force of the tackle, why is he making that challenge, red card?"
This is actually a pretty good job covering the var incidents https://www.espn.com/soccer/english...cards-for-leeds-ayling-and-liverpools-fabinho
And you can add that PGMOL promotes a large cohort of officials who, to be brutally honest, are very deficient when it comes to mental strength, having courage/personality etc. The problem is much deeper than one guy. But I think Kavanagh is himself the perfect image of everything PGMOL have gotten wrong in recent years IMO.
I’m not defending it, your question was why he didn’t go straight red. What was provided by VAR? Perspective, angle. Given those, he went straight for the red. His main shortfall here, in my mind, is that he did not create an angle: even though he decelerated at the top of the box, once he saw that Ayling was intent on challenging, a step or two lateral would have helped him.
Not that the fans' perspective should be given much (if any) weight, but my Leeds supporting buddy said on the podcast he listens to the hosts were like, "yeah, straight red, not sure why the ref went for yellow at first...."
Matchweek 37 Tottenham - Burnley Referee: Kevin Friend. Assistants: Simon Beck, Adrian Holmes. Fourth official: Simon Hooper. VAR: Stuart Attwell. Assistant VAR: Matthew Wilkes. Aston Villa - Crystal Palace Referee: Chris Kavanagh. Assistants: Harry Lennard, Nick Hopton. Fourth official: Martin Atkinson. VAR: David Coote. Assistant VAR: James Mainwaring. Leeds - Brighton Referee: Mike Dean. Assistants: Darren Cann, Mark Scholes. Fourth official: Robert Jones. VAR: Andre Marriner. Assistant VAR: Neil Davies. Watford - Leicester Referee: Jarred Gillett. Assistants: Lee Betts, Timothy Wood. Fourth official: Peter Bankes. VAR: Michael Salisbury. Assistant VAR: Natalie Aspinall. West Ham - Man City Referee: Anthony Taylor. Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn. Fourth official: Graham Scott. VAR: John Brooks. Assistant VAR: Simon Long. Wolves - Norwich Referee: Tony Harrington. Assistants: Marc Perry, Derek Eaton. Fourth official: Jonathan Moss. VAR: Lee Mason. Assistant VAR: Wade Smith. Everton - Brentford Referee: Michael Oliver. Assistants: Stuart Burt, Scott Ledger. Fourth official: Andy Madley. VAR: Darren England. Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis. Newcastle - Arsenal Referee: Darren England. Assistants: Ian Hussin, Dan Robathan. Fourth official: Craig Pawson. VAR: Jarred Gillett. Assistant VAR: Nick Hopton. Southampton - Liverpool Referee: Martin Atkinson. Assistants: Constantine Hatzidakis, Richard West. Fourth official: David Coote. VAR: Stuart Attwell. Assistant VAR: Adam Nunn.
Thursday's matches are technically still part of GW37, correct? Guess they are holding those assignments for now until they know a little bit better what they need/want for Everton/Palace and Villa/Burnley. Regardless, seems like we know Taylor doesn't have City and Atkinson doesn't have Liverpool in GW38. So Taylor at Anfield and Oliver at the Etihad? Of course, depending upon how the next two matches shake out, Arsenal v Everton could be the biggest of all--at least to the extent it's independently big for both clubs and not contingent on other results. So I could actually see Taylor slotting there and someone like Tierney going to Liverpool. I do wonder where Dean and Atkinson finish their careers. Their assignments haven't indicated they are seen as a "top 3" referee right now and after the top three matches, nothing is screaming for a safe pair of hands. Probably Brentford/Leeds and Norwich/Spurs are next, but those seem like odd places--physically, I mean--for either to end their careers.
Another interesting wrinkle for GW38, which I hadn't thought of before (or at least since last season), is that all your "best" VARs are also referees. Some will be obvious--I imagine Gillett and England work as VARs. But the others? Are there some bigger names that have to be in the VOR and not on the field because of resource allocation. Because 10 simultaneous matches means there's no repeating VARs on the GW.
So you can go back and use VAR to look at a foul in the buildup that led to a goal, but not an obvious offside. Ugh.
Well, the issue isn't a difference between the two. The issue is it is England and the rules don't seem to apply (or the VARs don't know them). The standard for review of a foul is the same as offside. "Was the offence in the APP?" The APP isn't just simply possession. It's when the attack itself starts with a movement to goal. And a save does not necessarily reset the APP (but, theoretically, it can). The big question is whether or not Allison's save, where the ball rebounded far to his left outside the penalty area, reset the APP because it required Villa to start a new attacking phase. I think in most other leagues--maybe all other leagues--this goal would have come back. But, in England, VARs will find a reason not to intervene. If this had been a potential foul at the exact same location and exact same moment, you'd have gotten the same result.
The differences is, the AR might have thought it was offside, but kept his flag down expecting a review if there was a goal…which means there should be more leeway to go back and review a possible offside.
Well, no. If the AR thought it was offside he would put his flag up--likely after Allison's first save. There's no scenario where the AR leaves his flag down and hopes for VAR to correct him. That's a myth. The AR simply got it wrong. And then the VAR believed the missed offside wasn't in the APP. The only alternative is that the VAR forgot to check the APP fully, which would be scandalous. Much, much more likely he felt the save reset the APP.
Overall the officiating in the Villa-Liverpool match was really poor, from Moss and the ARs as well as the VAR. There is no way that an AR operating in the EPL should miss that offside that led to the Villa goal. If (although unlikely) the title race comes down to goal difference, that goal could be crucial. Aside from the Villa goal, there was a totally ridiculous "advantage" decision by Moss after a foul by a Liverpool player in the Villa half, from which Liverpool won possession and started a promising attack! Also way too many clear fouls uncalled, including the hand/arm to Diaz's face. Very unusually, no cards given. I don't recall the last EPL match without any cards. It seemed to me like Moss couldn't care less, like HS and College seniors in May. Will be glad to see the back of him in this league, he stayed well past his sell-by date IMO. PH
Referees for the Championship playoff semifinals, both legs: Luton vs. Huddersfield: Jones, Bankes Sheff. Utd vs. N. Forest: Marriner, Oliver (no VAR) The appointment strategy is obvious (and good!) IMO. Oliver's match, the final to be played, is on Tuesday 17th, so he will be safe for the last day of the league.