FA Back Xabi Over Bennett
March 14th, 2006 by Alan Hylands
The FA have ignored referee Steve Bennett’s match report from Sunday’s Arsenal-Liverpool clash and decided not to impose any further punishment on Xabi Alonso for his furious reaction being sent off in the game at Highbury.
Alonso had been given a second yellow card after appearing to slip and crash into Mathieu Flamini by accident, an incident which Bennett had his back turned to but still felt Alonso should have been sent off for.
The player initially refused to leave the field of play such was his incredulation state of incredulity at being dismissed for slipping and Bennett included this in his report of the match for the FA. They have decided not to take any more action against Alonso, seemingly coming out in sympathy of his situation, which referee Bennett still refuses to admit he got wrong.
This begs the question of when do the FA decide to censure referees for making blatantly incorrect decisions and despite having seen TV replays can we expect referees temselves to never back down from their decsions, however erroneous they may be. Either the FA have to take a stand and bring the match officials to task or we need a new code of conduct for referees whereby it doesn’t negatively impact them if they admit post-match that they got a decision wrong. Maybe they’d even get more respect from fans for such a stance. Maybe it’s time to open up that debate about video replays during matches for contentious decisions again.
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March 14th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
What the hell is “incredulation”! ROFL
March 14th, 2006 at 1:54 pm
Making words up now am I? Oh wait, looks like I did. Is “state of incredulity” better?
March 14th, 2006 at 2:27 pm
Alonso did it on purpose, how can you accidently steamroll someone like that, it’s bollocks, he should have got a straight red for trying to snap the ankle of Fabregas when he went in with his studs up, what will the FA do about that?
Finally will the FA rescind the Liverpool goal that never was, or do they think that there was no foul, just like Bennett did?
March 14th, 2006 at 2:54 pm
Referees do make mistakes. Some go against you, while others go for you.
Xabi Alonso did “slip” a long distance before clattering into Flamini, but with his back turned, Bennett could never be sure. He assumed that the challenge was late. That 2nd yellow card favoured Arsenal for sure.
BUT, wasn’t Bennett the same referee who WRONGLY sent off Patrick Vieira against Manchester United in 2003 after Ruud van Nistelrooy’s theatrics? Wasn’t he the same referee who WRONGLY awarded Man U a penalty (missed by RvN) in the same match?
Maybe Bennett was trying to make amends. Or maybe he’s just a pants referee (just like Mike Riley).
March 14th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
ow geof… you’ve got every neutral man who watched the challenge saying its not on purpose, just the anti liverpool and pro arsenal ppl say its on purpose, draw your conclusions.
And if alonso should have gotten a straigt red (??) for his tackle on fabregas (which was never going to snap his ankle), games would end with 5 players sent off!
about that goal that never was… maybe the fa should rescind that goal and give liverpool a penalty and cech a red card so they’d be in more trouble. good idea!
March 14th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
i think this arsenal fan have to rewind video tap when fowler told refree there wasnt contact between him and seamon your arsenal goal keeper refree gave penalty he suited wide when score was 1-1 so that kind of mentality every liverpool palyer have not like your foreigners like sandros ask ref to sent player off you where lucky benett on your side otherwise you lost anyway arsenal not going to repeat Liverpool 2005***** just dream of it and if you want to see european trophy which you never had go to liverpool we have trophy from every era yes era so dont talk like a kid who have no point to argue and dont even think catching liverpool catch Bolton yes sam big sam first and count ha ha ha haha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 14th, 2006 at 3:15 pm
Only when you watched the incident in super-slo-mo, from a particular angle, was it obvious that Xabi had slipped.
The ref doesn’t see super-slo-mo from 5 different angles. All he will have seen is that Flamini was standing when he played the ball, and that Xabi was running towards him. Bennett heard a shout from the crowd, turned to see Flamini on the ground, and Xabi looking guilty. In that situation, the referee cannot ignore that Xabi was running towards Flamini and that something happened while he wasn’t looking. Bennett might not have seen the incident, but my guess is that he’d have given a straight red if he had seen it. He had no choice but to take action.
Don’t forget that it was Xabi who fouled the arsenal player when liverpool scored. He got away with that one.
March 14th, 2006 at 3:17 pm
Tommy, geoff was talking about the foul on cesc straight before liverpool scored the equaliser. The ref was rubbish on the day, arsenal should have had a blatant penalty & liverpool’s goal should never have been allowed. I do feel that he knew he had cocked up about the liverpool goal because from the moment it was scored he kept giving arsenal free kicks & then sent off alonso for nothing. Last season at highbury he sent off bergkamp for nothing in an fa cup game with sheff utd & bergkamp kept asking him why he was sending him off but he wouldnt answer. It was clear to everyone that he had messed up as he had seen a hand from an arsenal player strike a sheff utd player & he guessed at the wrong person. It cost arsenal as well because he refused to rescind the red card & the real culprit (reyes) also ended up with a ban (via video evidence) so two players were suspended for one incident!! He is just an awful ref…..does anyone know when he has to retire??
March 14th, 2006 at 3:22 pm
ken, how could xabi look guilty if he didnt commit the fould on purpose?
and you’re saying the ref shouldnt base his judgement on what he actually sees but what the crowd yells? next time when i play football when the ref isnt looking ill put some ketchup on my face and let the supporters yell some guy hit me, surely he’ll get a red card?
March 14th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
yashin, come on, be fair. its a match arsenal should have thrashed the life of pool. In the end, it took Gerrard brilliant pass.
Dont be bitter.
Arse was outclassing your bloody pool before and after Alonso. Its makes not a shred a difference. Blame your defeat on your Captain, not the ref. the ref did not pass to henry. Neither did the ref influence your captain to pass to the ref
March 14th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
Well, I myself thought it Alonso foolishly went and banged into Flamini at first (and that would have been a deserving 2nd yellow=red) but after viewing the replay, you could clearly see him slipping before he made contact. And a fool said how could he slip? Did you see the amount of players from both sides slipping through out the game?
Anyway whats done is done, I am sure for the blatant argument of the Arsenal players to send of Alonso off, they will bound to have a decision agaist their way sooner or later. What goes around comes around:)
One more thing is weird, all of a sudden, after most of the season shutting up, the Arsenal fans have suddenly come about making helluva lot of noise on how great their team is…trust me man, you can dream on winning your European Cup. LFC have got ***** and you guys are most a quarter finals team. It will be nice to see your ex cheaterc##k captain doing some nice dirty fouls…won’t be suprised he cons the ref and sends out a Arsenal player…heard of Karma?:)
March 14th, 2006 at 3:32 pm
Yashin, your talking rubbish. Seen as fowler knew he hadnt been brought down for a penalty why didnt he just pass it back to seaman from the spot or put it wide?? He took a penalty which seaman saved but mcateer scored from the rebound & liverpool won 1-2 so hardly done us a favour!!
March 14th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
the ref was poor on sunday ,but so were we (liverpool) but we still should have left with a draw. Which goes to show how far Arsenal have slipped this year, I would like to see arsenal win the chapions league but I think juve will be to good for you. The win at madrid while good was built up to much they are a shadow of themselves and living off their reputation of 4 years ago, and arsenal have too many s**t players eg senderos that new forward the 2 full backs and a ageing midfield, your held together by henry.
March 14th, 2006 at 3:40 pm
mick, the goal that was no goal is the garcias goal against chelsea in the cl last year when the ball did or didnt cross the line after cech rugbytackled baros
March 14th, 2006 at 3:51 pm
so im assuming you wanted fowler to miss on purpose too, mick. if he had kicked it wide on purpose i would question him, but as for telling the ref there was no foul, that is no problem. did you see our players crowding around seaman telling the ref to send him off, or give him a card, or begging for a penalty. no. because that is the way liverpool football club is. we play with heart and integrity. when seaman “brought him down” fowler got right back up and told to ref there was no contact, even tho it was to no avail. and sure he didnt miss on prpose but if he had it wouldve been going overboard. at least he didnt roll around on the ground. you’ve all seen the “amazing healing of hernan crespo” video, or arjen robben “breaking his neck”… we all know the game is full of cheats now, but i can guarentee you there is one team that was, is and always will be above that generalization, and that is liverpool football club.
March 14th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
and im not saying liverpool should’ve won the game… we played horribly, and did not deserve 3, maybe not even 1… in fact we prolly deserved nothing. first game of teh season where we got outclassed and lost because of it. usually we outclass the opposition, and still lose. but that is not the matter that is under discussion. we are talking about the integrity of the game, and how it has seemed to vanish from the list of priotities of most teams.
March 14th, 2006 at 3:57 pm
J, talk sense. Saying liverpool deserved a draw would be the same as me saying arsenal deserved a draw at anfield!! Total rubbish. We dominated liverpool for nearly ninty minutes & even your own captain has said if you had drawn it would have been robbery just like the cup final really. Arsenal are in transition this year & have an extremely young team although some of the older pro’s are certainly past it. Liverpool have invested massive money year in & year out yet only due to arsenal & man utd coming below their usual standards do you have a chance of finishing second (& its a small chance at that). With the age of your current players your team should be at its peak, but if thats its peak then you have a lot to worry about!! Two shots on goal in ninty minutes is awful. You didnt look dangerous at any point & lets face it only one of our first choice defence (toure) was playing & flamini is a midfielder!! Benitez has been clever pointing the finger at the ref as it takes flak away from the real culprits which is his team.
March 14th, 2006 at 4:05 pm
Timmy, you dont ever remember owen diving then or the appaling challenges made by gerrard (like in the merseyside derby), what about hamann’s challenge earlier this season?? Liverpool have their fair share of cheats just like every other club (including arsenal). Dont try to preach when you club is just as bad. Only a liverpool fan would say something so stupid about Fowler being great for admitting it was not a penalty but then making sure his team go on to win whilst making himself look a hero!! I remember not so long ago arsenal scoring a goal against sheff utd when they should have given the ball back to utd who had put it out. The class our club showed was to give sheff utd a replay so dont talk about doing the right thing Fowler would not know the meaning of it!!
March 14th, 2006 at 4:18 pm
mick, liverpool invested massive money? despite winning the cl and receiving money from sales, what money have we spend? 20 mill? lol, you’re confusing us with chelski. liverpool is too in transition.
nor benitez, nor any liverpool supporter with common sence has said we deserved a point. Arsenal outclassed us, simple as that. they can be a great team with fabregas, eboue, hleb and van persie as young promising players.
but saying liverpool players are at their peak? what about half of the promising youngsters benitez bought for exemle anderson, barragan, hammil, idrajiz, … and the first team players who havent reach their peak: gerrard, riise, warnock, reina, carson, garcia, sissoko, …
March 14th, 2006 at 4:20 pm
i meant to say: half of the reserve squad: the promising youngsters such as anderson, …
March 14th, 2006 at 4:34 pm
Tommy, you misunderstand me. I have a lot of time & respect for liverpool. I truly believe they are a great club (although I didnt like them under houllier, as I always thought he was a wenger wannabe). Your the most successful side in english history & a brilliant european team. My points earlier were in response to yashin. Players like gerrard are already at his peak & the others are much more experienced than the arsenal ones. I just cannot understand any liverpool fan (not talking about yourself now) who can claim liverpool were robbed on sunday. I have seen liverpool a few times this season (on tv obviously) & your correct they usually outclass teams & for large periods I include chelsea in that. Man utd were totally outplayed in the league game at old trafford & were more than fortunate to win. I just feel benitez has taken credit away from arsenal for what was a terrific performance against an excellent side. The ref was poor every fan agrees on that but he was poor to both teams, not just liverpool as benitez is making out.
March 14th, 2006 at 4:46 pm
Mick , did`nt say we deserved a draw as I started with we were poor but if it had not been for gerrards back pass I think we would have left with a point. Arsenal have some top players like fabregas he looks class and on his day reyes but hleb seen him a few times and the only time i`ve seen him play OK was against us which goes to show how poor we played.
March 14th, 2006 at 4:48 pm
and for tv replays arsenal have a huge screen in the corner which showed the alonso incident as he was being sent off
March 14th, 2006 at 4:57 pm
ok i see your point mick.
lets let ‘pool en arsenal battle it out on the field and hopefully the better side wins.
good luck against juve
ynwa:-)
March 14th, 2006 at 8:51 pm
total waste of time, i as a liverpool fan watched the game on internet and must say that Alonso did run fast towards the player and tackled, whether he slipped or not, he was to pay the price because he very well knew that he had received a yellow card before. Secondly someone on here said that Gerrard is in his peak yrs? what a load of bollox! A player reaches his peak years at 27-28yrs and not 25…
March 14th, 2006 at 10:13 pm
Well the Arse got the three points this time round with a little help from their “Twelveth Man”. In case your Arse_nel Thickos can’t figure out who the twelveth man is, let me give you a helping hand - THE F*CKING REFEREE”.
Xabi is not a dirty player and nor are any of the other LIVERPOOL players dirty or cheaters. I have seen allot of cheating particularly from London clubs and that is quiet sad what clubs and players do to win.
Rafa has set a standard at Liverpool that our players play fairly and honestly. I think that the cheating F*CKERS should perhaps learn something!!! Maybe not too little brain power!!!
What goes around comes right back around!!! Look at what happen to Scummy Chelsea in the champions league after Arjen “THE CHEATING F*CKER” Robben got Reina sent off!!! Again let me remind you, Del Horno got sent off for a tackle on Messi (Who rolled around looking like he was dying!)
I rest my case for now.
Final thought - We’re third in the league and in a Champions league position and I believe you’re about 5th!!! Enjoy UEFA CUP FOOTBALL NEXT SEASON….
March 15th, 2006 at 4:35 am
if you see the video, then you will find the decision was wrong. So in my opinion, FA should release this red card.
March 15th, 2006 at 7:06 am
Where was the assistant referee when Xabi slipped? The officials have three pairs of eyes between them, so why didn’t Bennett ask for a second opinion, if he didn’t see the incident, rather than speculating about the intent.
March 15th, 2006 at 11:43 am
i think you should have spell check installed on your pc
March 15th, 2006 at 3:23 pm
i know its off topic but people saying liverpool are a one man team,gerrard,ok,so what are arsenal,henry,if there was ever a one man team,its arsenal….ps:bennet was a load of bollocks.