After yet another disappointing defeat for Leicester City following a dramatic night at Anfield, it would be easy to direct much of the annoyance towards the players and managers. Questions regarding substitution decisions during the game and the Foxes’ inability to hold onto the football in the second half arose again, as they surrendered a 2 goal advantage in a thrilling 3-3 draw.
But what has left many Leicester fans reeling from the penalty shoot-out defeat was the standard of refereeing from Andy Madley, a performance that was not left unnoticed by manager Brendan Rodgers who called the ref’s performance “awful”. So why exactly was Rodgers so annoyed?
Missed red card Number 1
The east Midlands outfit started the first half on fire and were 1-0 up by the ninth minute. In the tenth minute, 19-year-old Tyler Morton produced a horrendous challenge on Ricardo Pereira that was over the top of the ball and across his shins leaving the constantly injured Portuguese international in a heap on the floor. Andy Madley saw it in clear view as he ran over to the incident with intent. But alas the occasion got the better of him as he meekly brandished a yellow card when a red was clearly the right call, setting the tone for a terrible refereeing display. This is even more ironic when you consider Jurgen Klopp’s rightful fury after a terrible Harry Kane challenge on Andy Roberston at the weekend.
Aside from the fact that Liverpool should have been down to ten men, the most annoying thing about this challenge is that Ricardo had to be subbed soon after. This will leave the Merseysiders potentially benefitting from Ricardo potentially missing the league fixture between the two sides on the 28th of December.
Missed red card Number 2
Perhaps it was the lack of VAR that left Madley gutlessly letting challenges go. But in the second half, he then allowed Diogo Jota to win the ball off Luke Thomas by barreling into his head with his elbow, much to the protests of Leicester players. It looked terrible on replays and despite a referee and a linesman right next to the incident, the play was allowed to continue. The lack of VAR may be what left Madley confused as to his job in the game as his performance smacked of a classic gutless display in front of a baying home crowd.
Obviously, Jota went on to score the winning penalty and rub the Foxes fan’s noses in it rather than going away to celebrate with his own fans – modern footballers are a real classy bunch when they want to be.
Inconsistent yellows in Leicester City game
Tactical fouls were a shambles as well and again seemed to favour the home team. James Maddison (who is quickly becoming a pantomime villain with opposition fans which enhances his performances) was away two times in the first half about to release counter-attacks in dangerous positions when he was cynically held back by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and then Jordan Henderson with no yellow brandished in either incident.
Ironically Maddison produced a cynical foul of his own in the second half and was rightly yellowed, but he also rightly clapped the decision sarcastically to highlight Madley’s inconsistent display.
I’ll give Madley one compliment by saying he was right to crack down on Leicester’s time-wasting when taking an age over a throw-in and booking Luke Thomas. But it does stick in the throat that somehow LCFC amassed more cards in this game than the Reds who miraculously achieved only one yellow card in the game for Morton’s potential leg-breaker.
Media blind eye
The fury gets even more compounded when you scan through many of the media outlets that hold very little interest in these incidents in their match reports. It was also galling hearing the commentators of the game meekly mention the incidents like they are mere moments not worthy of consideration. It just adds fuel to the fire that journalists cherry-pick their stories accordingly to both pander to and not offend their favourite teams. It doesn’t go unnoticed by the huge majority of non-top-6-clubs.
Not good enough
Partisanship would be an easy criticism to throw at Rodgers when managers tend to see games through their own bias lens. But the Northern Irishman is not one to cry over spilled milk and will know that his team contributed to their own downfall in the second half as well as being brilliant in the first. But playing against 10 or even nine Liverpool players would have made life significantly easier.
So let’s not ignore yet another pathetic refereeing display that has left another Leicester player injured and a baying home crowd pandered to throughout. We should all demand better refereeing and then we can just concentrate on the football and not the injustices.