mike23

Just watched that discussion between Mike Dean and the pundits on Soccer Saturday. I couldn't blame Paul Merson for losing his rag with him at the end. Dean spent most of the segment just endlessly droning on about the process and the laws of the game when asked as to why the game couldn't have been stopped, as though they were more important than the right outcome. I'd imagine the laws of the game dictate that if a team scores and there's no reason to disallow it then a goal should be awarded, so it was a bit late to be worrying about laws by that point. He even said that 2 wrongs wouldn't have made a right. That's literally what they would have done in this case as it would have resulted in the correct decision. He ignored all the questions about why it all sounded so chaotic and why so many people were talking, instead speaking as if it had been a flawless process that had only been let down by a momentary lapse in concentration when the decision was relayed at the end. I know he's no longer a working official, but he's clearly in touch with a lot of his old mates and it's obvious they just haven't learnt a thing from it. And then at the end he couldn't help himself from getting in a dig about the players not knowing the laws of the game (and it's not hard to believe that by extension he was also getting in a dig at fans who have been asking why the game couldn't be stopped this week). Just a smug, arrogant little man who didn't think anyone else's opinion mattered because he knew more than them. A man with a completely warped view of his own intellect and competence. You can imagine most of the current working officials are just like him, and while I don't like the way the players act towards officials on the pitch a lot of the time it's also easy to see how it can be difficult to treat them with respect if that is what their attitude is like when players approach them. As an aside, what the hell is Mike Dean wearing? Light blue safari suit is clearly the obvious wardrobe choice for refs if they get a job on telly.

Would they have even noticed if that one voice didn't speak up? They barely seem to even be watching the game. And you'd expect there to be panic in their voices when they realise what's happened. Instead they demonstrate about as much alarm as someone who's just realised they forgot to pick up some milk from the shop on the way home from work. They don't care that they've made a mistake because they know there will be no real consequences. At worst they get stood down for a weekend or 2. This is what happens when organizations face no accountability for their actions.

It is therefore unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention. The final part of this sentence appears to be the most significant part of the club's statement for me. If this seemingly farcical explanation is true about the VAR official believing the goal had been given and then the error being due to miscommunication, then this is something the officials would have very quickly realised. Apparently if play has resumed they can't then give the goal, but what was to stop the ref from stopping the game, calling both captains over and explaining what had happened to them. It certainly wouldn't have taken them more than 2 minutes to realise the mistake - the time it took for Spurs to score and effectively ensure the screw up from the officials led to an immediate 2-goal swing. It could have been agreed that Spurs just let us score. It would have made the officials look incredibly bad, but it would have protected the integrity of the game. The fact that they compounded the error by just letting play continue when they knew they had completely fucked up has led to suspicions of not only incompetence but bias or even corruption.

I'd have fancied him and Nunez to cause havoc in the last 20 minutes before the Jota red card put paid to that. He was really good again tonight. Should have had a goal contribution for the 13th game in a row but the officials put a stop to that. He also set up another great chance for Diaz just before half time. I'm not really sure what happened there. Diaz just seemed to be really slow reacting to it for some reason and ended up having to stretch. The ball looked perfect.

I must have misread that statement. I thought there had been something in it about VAR being down. But it just says there was a significant human error. So they just decided it was too much bother to check it properly? Offsides aren't like any other decisions. It's not a case of sticking with the on-pitch decision unless there's clear evidence to overturn it. It's meant to be objective and it should be irrelevant whether offside was originally given or not. Genuinely staggering. An apology shouldn't be sufficient. The guy on VAR should be sacked for failing to do the job he is very well paid to do.

Every big decision in the game went against us. Jones sending off - it was like the Virgil one. You could make a case for it but more often than not it's not given. If you slow down challenges like that and look at them in forensic detail then they're always going to look worst. Funny how there were no issues with VAR for that one. The offside goal that should have been given and apparently VAR just happens to be down at that very moment so they have to go with an incorrect decision from the linesman. Foul on Gomez in the box. There was one camera angle they showed on Sky where it looked a nailed on penalty. No idea if VAR was still down or the cunt in charge of it just didn't want to give it. Imaginary foul given against Mo on the defender - Mo has the patience of a saint but even he looked like he was struggling to remain calm after that one and picked up a booking. Who knows if it would have led to a goal but Spurs certainly looked in all sorts of trouble before the linesman bailed them out again. First yellow for Jota - It had just reached the point where you had to laugh at how bad the officiating was at this point. Second yellow for Jota - Stupid from Jota when he was on a booking and it was a blatant yellow card. It should have been his first yellow card, of course. I never saw it again and maybe I'm completely wrong but it also looked like there was a foul on Gravenberch near the Spurs box before they won possession back and went up the other end to score. It might have been soft but considering some of the 'fouls' the officials had been giving then it wouldn't exactly have been an outrageous decision.

Never mind a draw. We'd have won that game if the Diaz goal had stood like it should have done. Spurs scored almost straight after it and it was pretty much the only thing they created in the entire first half. They were absolute shite even against 10 men. They were even absolute shite against 9 men. If they'd gone behind in that game they weren't coming back.

Hard done by? They'd still be winless this season without all the help they received from the officials in both of their home games.

Two times in the first 3 weeks VAR should have got involved in blatantly dreadful on-pitch decisions that favoured United. And they hid behind the excuse that they weren't clear and obvious enough for VAR to get involved. And yet as soon as something goes against United it's a completely different story. They genuinely do whatever they want depending on which team it is and it's about time the media started holding them to account for it.

He's right. It felt more like a 5-0 game considering the chances we missed.

Really good performance and a comfortable win from what had looked like potentially a difficult fixture. 10 points from 12 is a really decent return from this set of opening fixtures.

I almost didn't bother with the second half. So glad I did now. It's a long time since I've enjoyed a goal as much as the winner right at the end. Two great finishes from Nunes. Hopefully it really kicks his career off here now. We rode our luck a bit at times, but Newcastle didn't create anything like enough considering the circumstances and then looked terrified of blowing it in the final 20 minutes once they'd failed to put the game to bed. 7 points from the first 3 games is a great start considering the difficulty of the fixtures.

And the yellow was for having the nerve of being annoyed for being blatantly shoved over.

Done watching this shite. 2 weeks in a row we've had absolutely disgraceful red cards given against us. The officiating in this country is an absolute joke now.

Decent afternoon other than United being bailed out by the officials yet again. And yet that prick Fernandes actually had the nerve to state that the officials owed them an apology after the Spurs game. They'd finish midtable without the constant help they get from the officials.

A decent performance from around 20 minutes onwards and after an incredibly sloppy start. We gave up a few good chances towards the end, but you'd perhaps expect that to happen after a sending off. Fortunately, getting the third goal almost instantly following the sending off ensured it didn't become anywhere near as nervy as it could have done at that point.. The only other frustration was how wasteful we were in the final third at times. The first 10 minutes of the second half were perfect barring constantly messing up the final pass or shot. It might still have become a complete hammering without the sending off as it was looking only a matter of time before the dominance led to more goals. Szoboszlai was really impressive both with and without the ball. I just don't get what the referee saw with the sending off. It wasn't high or especially reckless. There was certainly no intent to hurt the other player. It wasn't even like the other player suffered an unfortunate serious injury that sometimes, rightly or wrongly, influences the ref's decision. It was just 2 players making an honest attempt for the ball and Mac Allister caught him a little late. There will be numerous worse challenges than that this season that won't even result in a yellow card. There were several in the game last week at Stamford Bridge. When I saw the replay I thought VAR might intervene and ask the ref to have a second look at it, but that was foolish considering the officials are both inept and too arrogant to admit it when mistakes are made. I don't know if it's worth appealing it, but I certainly think the club should; it could be crucial in the next few games as we're so short of options in midfield.

You just have to laugh at how biased these cunts are. Propped up a godawful United team all last season and here we go again this year.

It was comical how relieved the ref looked when he saw the flag was up for offside when the Chelsea player made a diving save to block Szoboszlai's cross in the last few minutes. For a moment he had a look of horror on his face when he thought he had no choice but to award the penalty.

From watching the replays at the time, I gained the impression Alisson would have saved it had the Chelsea player caught it properly rather than completely scuffing it.

I couldn't believe he just let them play on at that point. They ended up having possession for about 2 minutes straight as a direct result of it, too.

That's one of the most frustrating things with VAR. Sometimes they review incidents in minute detail from various camera angles, other times they don't even seem to bother looking at it. I've no idea if it was a foul or not but it was definitely worth a second look. The game even stopped for an offside so they had the perfect opportunity to tell the ref to hang on for a minute.

We were great up until the equalizer but seem to have just completely fallen apart since then. Hopefully some halftime adjustments can be made and we can react to whatever the issue was because otherwise this game is only going one way. There should be more chances for us at the other end. Mo hit the bar, had a goal ruled out, and there seemed to be numerous other opportunities where we just didn't make the most of the positions we were in. So far it's kinda been what probably most of us expected in that we look like we have plenty of goals in us but also look like we'll concede plenty. An experienced defensive midfielder needs to be brought in. I'm not sure a talented but very inexperienced kid like Lavia would be what we needed in games like this.

If I was Brighton I'd add an extra couple of million to Chelsea's fee for every additional day they continue to fuck about over this without putting another actual bid in.

Of course Manchester City have one of the lowest wage to income percentages in the league.

It was inevitable they'd get their grubby cheating hands on it eventually. Inter did better than I expected but weren't good enough in possession and wasted the 2 golden opportunities they did create. As good as Inter were defensively, you'd really expect defenders to be doing everything to throw themselves in front of the shot for the goal. Two Inter defenders just stood there like dummies. I don't expect the media to constantly bring up all the charges they're facing, but it was genuinely distasteful how it wasn't mentioned once during the BT coverage and how the commentators instead spent the whole game talking of how this was the culmination of an organic journey built solely on great recruitment and hard work. The commentators can also get fucked just for comparing Ederson's save with Dudek's. City completing a treble seems like a fitting way to end this miserable season.