Daily News & Analysis of the English Premier League

← Capello Announces 23-Man Squad for France Friendly The Independent Newspaper Scores One for Liverpool →

Good For You, Steve Bennett

March 23rd, 2008 By Michael --> Comments

Steve+Bennett Good For You, Steve Bennett

I don’t want to hear Liverpool fans criticize referee Steve Bennett for dismissing Javier Mascherano late in the first half today. I just don’t want to hear it, simple as that.

It’s about time that a referee stood up for himself and didn’t take any BS. I’ve complained all year long about the referees and how they’re too weak and inconsistent to punish players for dissent. In midweek, I sat there and watched Ashley Cole, who was fortunate to not be sent off for his horrific challenge on Alan Hutton, turn his back on Mike Riley as if to say “Hey, do you know who I am?”. Cole gave Riley an earful, didn’t come over to receive the original yellow card, and still didn’t get the second yellow for dissent.

Javier Mascherano must be an idiot. Has he not been watching the news or reading the paper at all this week? Did he not see that the FA just came out with a “respect the referees” initiative? Did he not remember that he already had a yellow card and was walking on thin ice? Did he not see that his teammate, Fernando Torres, had been booked for dissent just a second earlier?

I guess not. Sorry, this guy is a moron. He had basically been begging for a second yellow card ever since he got the first one. He’d committed two or three additional fouls since being cautioned early and took every opportunity to give Steve Bennett a piece of his mind. He then went out of his way to question an innocent play right before the half ended. Bennett gave him a chance to be quiet and motioned for him to walk away, and Mascherano didn’t. He kept going, Bennett reached inside his pocket, boom, see you later.

Where was the captain, Steven Gerrard, in all of this? One would think he would’ve gotten in there and separated Mascherano right away, or tried to calm him down a little bit and then speak to Bennett himself.

Nope.

Sure, after Mascherano had been dragged to the sideline by his teammates (where he proceded to rant and rave like a lunatic), Gerrard went to the Argentine and spoke to him, but that doesn’t exactly do much good.

Good for you, Steve Bennett. I applaud you for having the stones to do what Mike Riley and others haven’t done all season.

Related Posts

Tags: Alan Hutton · Ashley Cole · Fernando Torres · Javier Mascherano · Mike Riley · Steven Gerrard · steve bennett

Viewing 58 Comments

    • ^
    • v
    Having seen the replay any player worth their own salt would have stood up for their fellow team mate upon being booked for getting kicked by three man u players. Surely Torres' plea to Bennett for protection which led to the booking illustrates how out of touch any man in black is to the game and to the players. Rather apt that this has all occurred a few days after Riley was made to look like a spectator in A. Cole's petulant tirade. No consistency whatsoever, and when in one match an event was not refereed adequately, then why o why over referee it in the next. Grow up and use common sense if that's not too taxing!
    • ^
    • v
    He already had a yellow. You have to be smart once you've been booked -- let one of other 10 guys talk to Bennett about Torres. Just not smart.

    And I'm an Arsenal fan, so I was really hoping Liverpool could have gotten something out of this.
    • ^
    • v
    That's exactly the point, Eric., you're right. There was NO need for Mascherano to keep running his mouth, he already had a yellow card and Steve Bennett has a pretty short leash anyway. You would think that either Gerrard or Carragher, the captain and vice-captain, would talk to the referee about the Torres incident, but no, Mascherano had to persist on yapping.

    I think this brings up a bigger issue: Who should be allowed to talk to the referee and question his decisions?

    I know that in rugby, they're pretty strict on only the captain being allowed to speak to the referee. In hockey here in the US, it's usually either the captain or one of the two alternate captains who speak to the referees and/or linesmen.

    It's a joke when four or five guys crowd around the referee in soccer and harass him. I've seen players make contact with the man in charge and not be punished. It's ridiculous.
    • ^
    • v
    Yeah, let's start cracking down with the respect shit during a Man U/Liv game.

    What a tool. Trashed the game. Masch's first yellow was a joke, he saw he was late, tried to pull out, put all studs down, first tackle of the game, yellow. From then on Bennett ruined the game.

    Total bs.
    • ^
    • v
    I agree there is no consistency in the reffing in the EPL but after all the press given to the Cashly Cole incidnet it doesnt surprise me that Masch got sent off. If your already on a yellow common sense tells you that you should be a little more careful. Liverpool lost the match by thier pathetic play and Masch got himself sent off but I am sure plenty of Liverpool fans will defending him whinging it wasnt fair.
    • ^
    • v
    I applaud you for being an idiot Michael.

    Did you watch the game?
    I hope so.

    I mean did you really think Mascerano deserved a yellow card inside 10 minutes?

    Torres, just a few minutes before his booking, dodged one rough tackle, and was hit by two United players, when he finally went down, he got a foul. All good, but I mean doesn't he get the protection?

    It's fucked up. He shouldn't have been sent off.

    It sucks that the disciplinary action that should of been handed out to a dumb ass like A. Cole during mid-week were finally demonstrated upon a man that didn't deserve it, Mascherano.

    Go back and read his lips, he says nothing awful.

    Don't try to make this into Bennett standing up for himself because that's not the case.

    The case that should be made is something that Rafa will say in his conference later, watch.

    English referees are horrible, after watching Serie A yesterday, you can see how refereeing should be done.
    With no influence from the crowd.

    I just hate seeing referees give out red cards for dumb reasons and ruin game after game.

    Sorry sir but you are wrong. And are probably just happy that United won & not that they won thanks to the referee, AGAIN.
    • ^
    • v
    To be honest, no, I didn't believe Mascherano deserved the first yellow card, and yes, I watched the whole game, thanks.

    Whether or not he deserved the yellow card is a moot point, however, because the fact of the matter is that he got one. That's the bottom line. Argue all you want about it, whatever, it doesn't matter.

    Once he got that yellow card, he shouldn't have put himself in a situation where he could easily get another one. As I said, Mascherano was whistled for two or three more fouls and by the letter of the law, could've been booked a second time for persistent infringement but wasn't. He kept yapping at Steve Bennett every time he had the chance and then, when Torres got a quick yellow card, went out of his way to keep talking.

    Mascherano isn't the captain; he shouldn't be talking to the referee in the first place, especially when English isn't his first language and sometimes things can be misunderstood. He put himself in a bad situation and paid the price, and he clearly hurt his team in a big way by forcing them to play 10 v 11.
    • ^
    • v
    Another typical example of how Man U are favoured in any match at Old Trafford. Look back over the past seasons and tot up all of the 'benefits' bestowed upon United at OT. I like to think that these 'bad decisions' even themselves out over time but certainly not in Man U's case.

    The referee turned this game into a farce and may well have had a major part in deciding who wins the league this year. Referees are good when they are almost invisible but it seems they want to be the stars now. We should be talking about the football... not the inability of the referee to do their job.
    • ^
    • v
    Anyone notice how Liverpool didn't turn up for the match today period. Instead of blaming it on the ref but I know its never Liverpools fault, how about blaming your players who didnt come to play instead of Bennett, just a thought.
    • ^
    • v
    Ok, Masch was stupid to get invovled, but IT WAS NOT A SENDING OFF! You simply cannot get sent off for talking reasonably to a ref. He was just stating his authority with that one, its pathetic. Torres gets fouled and asks why its not a foul, and gets a yellow! Clearly the teammates would be angry. I was disappointed in Gerrard for not showing the passion that Masch did, but Gerrard did not talk to the ref about it, Masch did. And he was perfectly civil; didn't swear/curse the ref or anything like Cole did. And yet Mascherano gets penalized for Ashley Coles mistake.

    And its not just that, all decisions went Uniteds way and they always do. It's hard losing against 12 men all the time!
    • ^
    • v
    He was not "talking" to the ref...he was having a go at him and disrepecting the officials is not acceptable. He was already on a yellow and should have showed some restraint and intelligence. He raced half a field to argue that call so clearly he had lost the plot at that point.

    I'm sorry but the "all the calls went United's way" is just sour grapes.
    • ^
    • v
    Hold up, he done nothing more than ask a question. Why should Torres get booked when hes just been kicked twice. His first yellow was a standard foul, which did not warrant a yellow. Bennett was hell bent and issuing cards to Liverpool players from kick off.

    We've seen Man U and Chelsea of late pushing, sorrounding and bee aggressive towards refs with no punishment at all.

    Torres and Mascharano simply ask him a question. Can noone speak to the ref anymore?

    Andy Grays comments at half time were spot on.

    Michael is a scum fan by the sounds of it.
    I'm nuetral but the ref performance ruined this match as a spectical.

    (i support Hartlepool United by the way)

    Cheers Daz
    • ^
    • v
    Further replays showed that Mascherano did say "Fxxx Off" .
    • ^
    • v
    And still no Liverpool fan has admitted that they didn't show up. You would swear it was the ref that won the game for United not the poor play and mental block Liverpool have when playing United. Nice to know it's never anyone at Liverpools fault for anything.
    • ^
    • v
    I don't support any of the top four so.. I'm not the Liverpool fan you may be looking for.... but I don't agree that "... Liverpool didn't show up...". Certainly their keeper had a nightmare, which is unusual for him but, otherwise, they were playing well.... until Mr. Bennet decided that he should become the star of the show.

    Compare this game to the Arsenal/Chelsea game where football was the winner. Sure there were a few doubtful decisions but, generally, the game was not spoiled by the officials.

    Anyway, perhaps one of the other teams might still give Man U a good challenge depsite the obvious and constant preferrential threatment United receive.
    • ^
    • v
    Both Mascherano and Bennett didn't exactly cover themselves in glory. Yeah, I think the player should not have been surprised at the sending-off. But watching Clattenburg's solid performance in the later match made me appreciate what a good referee does. He doesn't sit back and allow things to escalate, relying solely on his cards to control the match. A good referee would've taken charge early on and told both the player (and his captain) that he was walking a very thin line. The thing about Bennett is that there are always surprises with him. When he gets a match, you never know what will transpire, and that's a shame when it happens in one of the biggest matches of the season.
    • ^
    • v
    I'll admit I'm a die hard Liverpool supporter but even still you might as well given Bennett a red jersey because he was certainly looking out for them. Booking Torres for getting fouled then asking for a little help, it was discusting.

    Mascherano had every right to be a mad. He might have taken it a bit far but any footballer would be after the crap call he got. It's like Bennett wasn't even watching the way he called things. Someone should sit him down to watch the replays and see if he sticks by his decision because half the calls he made went the wrong way.

    To say Liverpool didn't show up is just wrong. Even with 10 men they still gave a good showing and Reina might not of been on top form but he still made some spectacular saves. The game just turned into a farce and Bennett was against Liverpool from the start. If Man U didn't pay Bennett off they should because he certainly did good to them.
    • ^
    • v
    Just a bunch of Liverpool gripers. Macherano or not, your team did not have a good game. He always gets on his high horse with a bad attitude every game. So he did what he always does and paid for it this time. Stop making excuses for him.