Protect the flair players – Please!

From Sukhdev

We may see fewer sendings off this World Cup. That goes against the grain considering the last few World Cups, but 2006 was a bumper year for disciplinary action and considering there were only three red cards in Euro 2008, I think the tide has changed somewhat. Also, from the table below, we can see that yellow cards have consistently increased, but red cards demonstrate an alternating behaviour.



Also, I hope to see an end to red cards given to players who react to abuse from other players. If a player reacts, fine, they should be punished. But if another player has been constantly fouling, pushing and harassing that player, then the bruiser needs to be dealt with more firmly. Intimidation can put off the flair players, and those are the players I want to see. I don’t want to see Ronaldo or Messi brought down mid-flight. They also shouldn’t have to deal with the little annoying fouls that are engineered purely to put them off their play.

On the other hand, great players have to respect the referee and his decisions. Recently England played Platinum Stars and Rooney saw yellow, but the referee said it should have been red considering his foul mouthed outburst. This is where no amount of modelling can help you work out the probability of a win for a certain team. The explosive nature of some players can work to a team’s advantage, but could be a huge liability.

In 2006, we saw Rooney sent off against Portugal after stamping on defender Ricardo Carvalho. It seems he has not learnt his lesson still, but Rio Ferdinand has been keen to relay through the media that he has grown since that experience. Watching him week in, week out in the premiership, I would beg to differ. He is always vocal, and sometimes I feel his position as England’s greatest hope stops him getting booked more. It’s great to have passion, but his disrespectfulness may yet be England’s downfall.

In that same World Cup, we saw one of the world greatest players, Zinedine Zidane, sent off in the World Cup final. What did Materazzi say to him? I’ve heard various things, as I am sure everyone has. I’m an Everton fan, so I got to see Materazzi close up for a season. He was sent off four times in that season. Not exactly an angel. Also, having played against Italian teams on tours, I know they put in niggling little fouls, and constantly try to annoy you with comments. The worst thing is the girly pinching they seem to delight in during corners. Referees never seem to see these things. Now there are four officials, and FIFA/UEFA are trying to introduce another couple. It doesn’t seem to help, as players still seem to get away with murder. More needs to be done to protect the flair players!