Former Premier League official Keith Hackett has slammed Mike Dean for his actions moments before Trent Alexander-Arnold scored an absolute rocket for Liverpool against Newcastle on Thursday.
Dean has been criticised for his performance at Anfield after he allowed play to continue and the Reds to equalise whilst the away side’s Isaac Hayden was on the floor clutching his head, but Hackett has picked up on another incident during the game that reflects poorly on the 53-year-old’s officiating display.
“Mike Dean ran across the kicker, that’s a bit of bad positioning and poor reading of the game,” the ex-referee told Football Insider.
“If you’re out of position, what young referees are instructed to do is to run behind the player, not in front of him. It’s obvious.
“I can understand what he was trying to do, he was trying to get some width to get a good viewing angle. That’s what he was doing when he moved to the left-hand edge of the penalty area.
“By doing what he did, he crossed the line and obstructed the view.
“He might have been surprised by the player taking the shot. At least he’s up with play but it wasn’t a good piece of officiating.”
Although Dean may have stepped across our No. 66 as he let rip, the ball was hit so true that Martin Dubravka wouldn’t have saved the effort anyway.
It’s certainly understandable for all of those associated with Newcastle to feel aggrieved, but Alexander-Arnold had admitted that he’d been waiting five years to score a goal like that, so it wouldn’t be fair to suggest that the referee played a huge part in the goal.
None of our opponents on Thursday appeared to protest to Dean at the time so this incident shouldn’t be looked into too much.