Football seems to have a problem with referees. Barely a weekend goes by without someone – a manager, a player, a pundit – making it abundantly clear that many of those who officiate are (apparently) not very good at their jobs.
Arsenal’s manager, Mikel Arteta, for example, was furious with referee Michael Oliver for sending off Leandro Trossard during his side’s top-of-the-table clash with Manchester City on September 22. He described it as “really, really worrying” that referees were giving out cards for what Arteta seemed to regard as trivial offences.
In this case it was Oliver’s decision to award a yellow card to Trossard after the Belgian booted the ball away to stop City taking a quick free kick. On top of a yellow card Trossard had already earned for a foul earlier in the game, the second offence, bringing a second yellow card, added up to a red card, meaning Trossard had to be sent off. Arteta’s criticism came even though it’s crystal clear that such offences merit exactly the punishments that were being meted out.
