Dermot Gallagher has given his verdict on one of the major talking points from Liverpool’s latest victory.
The Reds’ 2-1 win away to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday could politely be described as tempestuous, with two red cards, some needless behaviour from Richarlison after his goal, and a challenge by Micky van de Ven on Alexander Isak which has left the Swede with a suspected broken leg.
All in all, not much in the way of festive goodwill in north London, and plenty to keep John Brooks and the officials on VAR occupied throughout the evening.
The first dismissal came in the 33rd minute when, having inititally been shown a yellow card, Xavi Simons was sent off for raking his studs down Virgil van Dijk’s calf.
Gallagher: Xavi Simons red card was justified
Gallagher felt that, while the Spurs forward didn’t go into the challenge with any malicious intent, the eventual decision was justified, telling Sky Sports‘ Ref Watch on Monday morning: “I want to make clear that I don’t think Simons has any intention to do this, but he has done it.
“Once you see the replay, you can’t unsee it. When VAR sees that, in modern football, it is always going to be a red card. He’s unlucky, but he is always going to see red. You can’t make challenges like that anymore.”
Jay Bothroyd (who was alongside him) aired a similar view, saying: “By the letter of the law it is a red because he has caught him high on his calf, but there’s no doubt he didn’t mean it. The players didn’t swarm around him; there were no big reactions or arguments.”
Red card for Simons was warranted
While Simons subsequently apologised for his challenge on Van Dijk, it was still a crude and reckless one, and he could have no complaints over Brooks’ decision to upgrade the initial yellow card to a red.
That sort of tackle on the back of a player’s calf is liable to cause serious injury, but thankfully that wasn’t the case here, and we would hope that the Spurs forward will learn from it and refrain from such rashness in the future.
Unfortunately, Isak was rather less fortunate after being brought to ground by Van de Ven, an incident which has left the Liverpool striker facing numerous months on the sidelines and reduced Arne Slot’s available playing pick even further amid several other injuries.
Football is a contact sport and we don’t want to see physicality being taken out of the game, but we also don’t want to see players being ruled out for many months with a serious injury.
The Isak take down is a Red Card in Every League in the World. PGMOL please explain why these incidents continue in Liverpool’s Games!
Good goals ruled out, penalties not given, bad tackles unpunished, etc. etc. almost every game???
They are just plain lazy as isak has just scored and they knew Liverpool would not have made a big fuss. If Liverpool had not scored, then it is a different story.
🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱
What are you on about? Van de Ven went to block the ball. It’s a shame about Isak but these things happen in football
Van de ven is lucky…….. if thats outside the box it’s a red card all day!! because it’s inside the box either Isak scores or it’s a Pen!! the VAR Loophole means that if it’s a goal they are looking for reasons not to give it (Liverpool foul on Spurs or Off side etc) but they don’t look for Spurs fouls….. means if the Ref doesn’t see it he gets away with breaking someones leg.
Corruption/Incompetence
Just terrible, a scissor tackle will 95% result in a serious injury… luckily (sad to say) Isak received a broken leg and not a torn MCL. The defender should miss same time as Isak. Look at Prickford’s 2-legged tackle on VVD which should have resulted in red. Refs are not protecting all players against vicious slide tackles. Refs need to be penalized after games via PGMOL… sooner or later there’ll be lawsuits against refs for not protecting players…
Wasn’t a scissor tackle at all. Was a block, which Isak carried on into. Not the defender’s fault. Pure accident, correct decision by the ref.
It wasn’t a scissor tackle numpty, he left his other leg bent.
Liverpool are the new arsenal < cheat to win. Fact.
Xavi definitely for the red, but also should have been a foul on Romero leading to the 2nd goal. Certainly wouldnt have beaten Tottenham if they had 11 on the pitch.
Ultimately I dont expect much from refs and VAR, but how a scissor challenge that involves a player having to leave the pitch was ignored is beyond me, and I would say the same regarding any team who suffered it. I didnt want to see Simons go because i knew it would ruin the game, but Van de Ven needs to be dealt with retrospectively and Richarlison should have gone as well for grabbing Ekitike by the neck and then elbowing Frimpong in the face
Ah bless you both… Liverpool undone again by VAR yawnfest… I’ll come back with a question about why Ekitike’s goal was not disallowed for a push on Romero that would’ve been if it was the other way round… Bore off
Why wasn’t Van der Ven & Richarlison sent off?
A scissors tackle is never harmless. Is it better to have a broken leg than an ACL seroius injury? I do not understand how Lfc paid than much for Isak considering his frail body structure. I could see such injury coming either in the PL or CL. Think of all those top CL defenders, Rudiger for instance, they have no pity for your legs or whatever attribute.
No one saying anything about the assault on Kerkez ?
If ever a “tackle” warranted a red card then this was it. Total thuggery, lucky he wasn’t seriously injured.
the match officials had Liverpool’s back the whole game! Spurs were never going to win that game because all the major deciions were in Liverpools’s favour. which is the norm when they play Spurs.
Spurs were making all the dangerous tackles and were more interested in maiming Liverpool, pal
That’s because Spurs were reminiscent of a Leeds team in the 70’s
Let’s see you better it again. City will win the league
I get that this was a match that Spurs didn’t cover themselves with glory. It was not even a fractious match until John Brooks and the other officials started with dubious decisions.
Why was Liverpool’s second goal allowed to stand and it not being scrutinised and discussed, especially as John Brooks and Stuart Atwell have been guilty of similar acts?
It was looked at by VAR and they said it was OK.Romero was lucky he wasn’t sent off in the first half the way he kept mouthing off to the Ref
Correct, it was very dubious that Van der Ven & Richarlison were not sent off & that Spurs goal wasn’t disallowed for a player being offside & in the goalie’s field of vision
I have been a Spurs supporter for many years and their behaviour on the pitch did not leave me feeling proud. Richarlison is always reckless in the tackle and Romero is a disaster waiting to happen. The second goal should not have been allowed because it was a clear push on Romero. Spurs are currently playing some rubbish football and I have no faith in Frank. It will take a long time to recover from the Levy era. I would like to see a manager who plays exciting and savvy football and involves some real talent in the academy. Please replace Frank.
Define push? If I put my hands up and you walk or back in to me and my arms and hands stay as they are, have I pushed you? The answers no. If the forward bends his arms and pushes out towards the defender then it’s a push. In this instances his arms are out but it’s not a push. They are feeling the space and for the defender. You can have your arms up and not push someone. Explained to me by a ref in our u16’s game recently as well. The pushing motion makes it a push. Arms out in a static position is not a push. Hope that explains it
So, tell everyone what you mean. When did Liverpool cheat in the game at Spurs?
If Spurs are coached to play so violently, as they did against Liverpool, I’m surprised they don’t get players sent off in every game. Unless they only do it against the better teams.