Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca was annoyed. Not due to the dismissal of Moises Caicedo in opposition to Arsenal on Sunday, however about what he perceived to be a lack of consistency.
You’ll be able to see his level. Final month Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur was booked for a foul on Reece James, which the video assistant referee (VAR) agreed with. But when Caicedo was cautioned for the same problem on Mikel Merino there was an intervention for a purple card.
“It is a purple card, however why was Bentancur’s in opposition to Reece (James) not a purple card after we have been at Spurs away?” Maresca requested.
“So us, as a supervisor, we battle to grasp why they decide another way.
“Moises’ is a purple card, sure. Bentancur’s is a purple card, sure. Why do not they provide him a purple card? It is simply that we battle to grasp. The fact is that it is a purple card. However why do they decide it otherwise?”
So, what was the distinction?
Effectively, outcomes are partly dependent upon who the VAR is – which makes consistency very troublesome.
No two fouls are ever the identical and there are delicate variations between the 2. Bentancur was solely actually stepping in, whereas Caicedo jumped somewhat and his contact level was barely increased.
There was additionally a pronounced buckle of Merino’s ankle, which is one thing a VAR is searching for to point extreme drive, and his boot was shifted again on the turf.
In Bentancur’s case, the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel supported the yellow card for Bentancur by 4 votes to at least one, and unanimously backed no VAR intervention “on the idea that the problem was low, simply barely late and reckless”.
The KMI panel will again the choice to ship off Caicedo nevertheless it will not be too lengthy earlier than one other deal with of its kind is deemed only a yellow card.
Because the begin of the 2023-24 season the KMI Panel has logged 12 errors on critical foul play critiques.
