Former referee Dermot Gallagher thinks that Robert Sanchez should have been given a red card against Liverpool.
Speaking on Sky Sports Ref Watch, Gallagher said that he disagreed with Mike Dean’s decision against The Reds.
“You don’t want to see players coming out flying through the air like that, I thought it was a red card,” said Gallagher who refereed in the Premier League between 1992 and 2007.
There can’t really be any argument against it. Sanchez was high and out of control as his leg connected with the side of Luis Diaz’s head.
The Liverpool player was lucky that he wasn’t injured more severely. As brave as his header was, and it gave The Reds a much needed opening goal, Sanchez’s actions could have been costly.
VAR taking a day off
One theory was that the Brighton & Hove Albion ‘keeper avoided a dismissal because Liverpool scored from the action.
But Gallagher suggests that that wouldn’t have had any bearing. Instead, he claims that the sole decision came from the VAR operative, Stuart Attwell.
“What it did do is expose the vagaries of the VAR insomuch as it’s not the VAR protocol, it’s the operative, and the operative felt it was a reckless challenge,” said Gallagher.
“By thinking it’s a reckless challenge, the referee is hamstrung because he can only send him to the screen if the VAR operative thinks it’s a red card. As he thought it was a yellow card, it’s all or nothing.”
It’s incredible to think that anyone can look at Sanchez’s challenge and see anything other than a red card offence.
But listening to the former referee, that’s exactly what happened. As Dean hadn’t seen the offence clearly in real time, he was relying on Attwell to get him to the correct decision.
Without instruction from his VAR colleague, the on-pitch referee obviously has no option but to stick to his original decision.
“Because the operative thought it was a yellow card, he can’t go anywhere,” concluded Gallagher.
Welcome to the Premier League
As it was, the decision didn’t prove costly as Liverpool strolled to a 2-0 win at the Amex. But in terms of player safety, it seemed an unbelievable decision to go against Jurgen Klopp’s team.
Thankfully, Diaz was fine to complete the rest of the game and didn’t appear to have any knock-on effects from the challenge.
If the Colombian needed any confirmation of the physical nature of the Premier League, he certainly got it on Saturday afternoon. Welcome to the Premier League, Luis!
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