At any level of any game of football you know that you’re going to get booked if you persistently question the referees decision – although Mascherano looked like he was on a mission to be sent off. He was rightfully booked for a wild challenge on Paul Scholes, which for some strange reason he continued to debate. Then shown a second yellow, followed by a red, for dissent. Of course Benitez and Mascherano stated that all he asked was ‘What was that for?’. I sense it’s the same defensive reaction of Matthew Simmons (the moronic Crystal Palace fan) who stated that he ran 22 rows, ran past fellow fans hurling them out of the way to shout ‘It’s an early bath for you Mr Cantona’ – Although I tend to believe that was more true than Mascherano’s pathetic explanation.
To be honest I think Mascherano is good player, a very good player who closes down well, is disciplined (usually) and can pass a ball. But if I was Benitez, I’d be livid with him. Of course you want to defend your player, but Mascherano continued to get involved with things that had nothing to do with him. The sending off incident actually was after Liverpool where awarded a freekick for a foul on Torres. Mascherano then took it upon himself to rage at Steve Bennett for booking Torres, who was also moaning. There were no biased decisions, there were no favours – Liverpool, more specifically Mascherano and Torres, were an embarrassment yesterday with regards to ‘toys out of the pram’. United were miles the better side and if it was not for the heroic of Reina , it would have been more.
Any player that plays football knows how frustrating it is when a ref doesn’t give you a decision OR pulls you up for something you believe was fair. What complaints can Mascherano have from yesterday? He hounded Bennett a good 5 or 6 times prior to actually being sent off. Regardless of the actions of Cole in the 4-4 draw with Spurs – Mascherano should still of been sent off as he was an absolute pain in the arse for the ref. As stated previously he looked like a man on a mission to be sent off and Steve Bennett was 100% correct in giving him his marching orders.
I think that is just a fraction of the argument. Yes Man Utd would have probably still had won. And yes players should be sent off for harrasing refs – But Bennet was over the top, it came out of the blue.
Javier Mascherano must be pretty stupid if he thinks anyone is going to believe his claims that he was the innocent party.
Why not shut your mouth and get on with the game?