Michael Carrick was understandably annoyed by Lisandro Martinez’s red card (Image: Sky Sports)
Michael Carrick was right to be furious after Lisandro Martinez was given a ridiculous red card in Monday’s defeat to Leeds United. The defender was given his marching orders in the second half for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair during a battle for possession. This was not noticed by referee Paul Tierney as a foul, but he was immediately advised to go to the VAR monitor for confirmation on the field.
Martinez was ultimately sent off for violent behavior, leaving Manchester United one man short as they try to get back into the game. In the end, the scoreline was 2-1, and after the final whistle, Carrick was furious, describing the red card as “shocking” and “one of the worst cards” he had ever seen.
It’s hard to agree with that assessment, and it shows how far the game has fallen since VAR was introduced in the Premier League eight years ago.
As always, technology is not the problem. It’s the sheer incompetence of the officials behind it, who are simply re-umpiring the match from a dark room hundreds of miles away.
However, this is nothing new. We have come to accept the terrible calls made by VAR. That’s because terrible calls by VAR happen on a weekly basis.
In this case, the main area of confusion has to do with the classification of hair-pulling as an “act of violence”, which in itself is completely ridiculous.
One of the problems with modern football is that everything is always so black and white. Applying these rules leaves little room for nuance or interpretation.
Martinez initially lost his balance when Calvert-Lewin pushed him in the face as they scrambled for the ball, which was probably more a foul than a red card itself.
However, due to a highly binary interpretation of the rules, the Argentine player was dismissed in a farcical manner. I can confidently say that no one at Old Trafford who saw this in real time thought it was an obvious red card.
Another football match overshadowed by a bad VAR decision (Image: Getty)
When a terrible decision like this takes center stage, it can’t be explained away simply by saying “rules are rules.” This is a stupid rule and should be changed to allow more room for interpretation since every event is different.
No one goes to a match to watch the VAR show. They just want to see soccer games where referees use common sense and apply the rules wisely.
There are two main points here. The first is that referees shouldn’t be pressured into making bad decisions by someone in a VAR room on the other side of the country, but this is hardly a groundbreaking idea.
Second, restrictive rules, such as the fact that hair-pulling under any circumstances is classed as an “act of violence,” should be adjusted to account for situations where other factors are at play, such as Martinez being shoved in the face seconds earlier.
Moments like these are killing the game, and something must be done to stop power-hungry officials from thinking only about themselves. But it all depends on whether the Premier League actually applies common sense, so don’t hold your breath.
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