What’s going on with refereeing this season?
Once again victims of questionable arbitration decisions against Troyes (2-4), AS Monaco conceded their second defeat of the season in five days. Paul Mitchell and Philippe Clément went to the front to express their dissatisfaction and incomprehension in the face of these repeated injustices.
Five games. Three red cards. Three penalties conceded. To believe that the men of Philippe Clément became in an off-season a team of “Bad Boys”, like certain English teams of the Nineties. However, the Monegasques do not seem to be more aggressive in recovery than in previous seasons.
But this season, in Ligue 1, the referees have toughened up, as evidenced by this statistic on the evening of the third day: seize the red cards distributed during the thirty games played. Much more than the average of the last fifteen years.
Paul Mitchell steps up
A tendency towards repression which has a strong impact on the start of the season for AS Monaco and which is beginning to sufficiently irritate the Monegasque leaders. Against Troyes on Wednesday evening, Guillermo Maripan had a nightmare when he was guilty of a questionable foul in the penalty area, then a second warning at the end of the first period, again severe.
Faced with this lack of consistency in the refereeing decisions, the sporting director, Paul Mitchell, spoke, when AS Monaco was in sixteenth place in the standings with only five points in five days.
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“We feel that we have to deal with a lot of rejected decisionsregretted Paul Mitchell in the mixed zone at the end of the meeting. Two red cards in the last four games are debatable, a disputed sanction… All I ask is that everyone be refereed in the same way. »
In the radius of injustices, during the second day, Steve Mandanda had been the author of a contentious exit from the fist which could have been worth a red card, as was the case for Anthony Lopes (Olympique Lyonnais) during the first day against AC Ajaccio. Forgotten red cards, which are added to penalties also undressed. Breel Emobolo is witness to this this season having been pushed around twice in the box.
Consequences in the next matches?
“At a key moment in the match, there is this red card against us, while in the second half, Breel Embolo is held back in the box and we therefore have to benefit from a penalty. If there is a penalty on the action which involves Guillermo Maripan, there is also a penalty on the action which involves Embolo. Again, we ask for consistency and fairness. »
The ASM sporting director was acknowledged to have gone even further by writing directly to the French Football Federation. “We also said it at the press conference, we are open to discussion and exchanges. Some of us are former players, others have been involved in football for a very long time and we can certainly contribute. Inevitably, when there are decisions like those of tonight against us, we can only be disappointed and unhappy. »
For his part, Philippe Clément did not fail to react, too, in the face of this relentlessness which could have consequences in the next matches. When setting foot on certain duels, the latest arbitration decisions could resonate in the heads of Youssouf Fofana’s partners.
“As a coach, it’s important to always explain things to my players. But after these last few weeks, I can’t. I have a question for you: does anyone sincerely think that Guillermo Maripan is wrong? On this action, we concede a penalty and receive a yellow card. It changes the course of the game. »