To be completely fair to Manchester City’s Kyle Walker, it’s an opinion asked for and an opinion given over the refereeing of the 1-1 draw at the weekend.
The England international was full of praise for Michael Oliver, saying, “I feel once you have Anfield and the crowd around him, he could have crumbled but that shows his experience that shows his character.”
The 33-year-old fullback stopped short of completely backing the call to not award a late penalty to the hosts after Jeremy Doku’s boot collided with Alexis Mac Allister’s chest.
Perhaps feelings are still a little bit raw after the tie in question, but it just feels like an absolutely bizarre thing to do to praise the on-pitch official well after the occasion.
You can catch the clip below, courtesy of @SkySportsPL:
"He could've crumbled but that shows his experience, that shows his character"
Kyle Walker praises Michael Oliver's professionalism over Liverpool's penalty decision ❌ pic.twitter.com/Kvb9QiAIMg
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 11, 2024
Or he could have just given the correct decision
We expect referees to make mistakes but what it is unacceptable was that VAR wasn’t called upon…a very important decision like this:: penalty or not in the last minutes to end the game…it is the reason why VAR exist. That was bizarre and biased
Kyle Walker is correct. Both Michael Oliver and Stuart Atwell showed their character. They just happen to be Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. Just shows what Kyle Walker watches on telly. All three of them, total sphincter muscles.
I wonder if he would have said the same if VVD had done that to Haaland. Hypocrite!!!!