[Albion] Roberto De Zerbi doesn't like 80 per cent of English referees

[Bozza]

I'm struggling to identify the other 20%.

“I am honest and clear, I don’t like 80 per cent of English referees. It’s not a new thing, I don’t like them. The behaviour, I don’t like their behaviour on the pitch.​

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“England is the only country where, when there is VAR, you are not sure the decision is right. In other countries, you have to be sure the referee is 100 per cent right. In England, no, I’m not able to understand.”​

 

[TomandJerry]

He'll be off to Real Madrid then

 

[amexer]

Stupid comment On the back of dropping 2 points

 

[raymondo]

Not sure I see that comment working in our favour.
I've seen many comments,/ reports that VAR is certainly imperfect in other countries too.

 

[El Turi]

He’s spot on. Even though the majority of Premier League referees are weak and barely seem to understand the rules of football, they have a deluded arrogance about them.

They are also very well paid so deserve all the criticism they get as the mistakes they have been made since VAR was introduced have been astounding.

 

[Nicks]

Can't argue with RDZ on this one.
Standards are rapidly going down hill since the introduction of VAR

 

[Kosh]

The original interview did make me chuckle, although I do think we’re starting to see some interesting parallels between Roberto and Gus… and not just in the interview style. . .

 

[Springal]

Embarrassing comment to deflect from his own weaknesses and an under performing team - 3 wins at home in the PL and an inability to keep a clean sheet / see out games. Focus on what we can control please.

I’d perhaps have a bit more understanding if the ref or VAR had a shocker. But they didn’t did they ?

 

[dazzer6666]

He’s spot on. Even though the majority of Premier League referees are weak and barely seem to understand the rules of football, they have a deluded arrogance about them.

They are also very well paid so deserve all the criticism they get as the mistakes they have been made since VAR was introduced have been astounding.

They’re not really that well paid at all given the people they have to work with. Can’t be many professions where those in charge earn less in a year than the people they are controlling earn in a week.

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

It's a notable departure from his normal stance on referees, which is not to comment on them. Pressure showing on RDZ.

The fella should take a week off. Go lay on a beach somewhere and let his assistants take charge of training

 

[HeaviestTed]

i don’t know if it is the referees fault or the rules but I think we need a refresh of the way games are played, top of the list:

- offside should be for obvious offsides where the players gain a genuine advantage by being further down the pitch by a clear margin, not a pube sticking out from their armpit - if lines are drawn to gauge whether they are offside then it is onside

- handballs / pens - maradona hand of god is a handball - a ball kicked at a defender that touches the side of their upper arm isn’t a handball

- more but I’d start with the clear and obvious errors they have made in the way they apply rules

 

[Rookie]

He’s bang on.
The attitude of the referees despite them making mistake after mistake is outstanding. They are well paid (compared to the average wage) and are seemingly beyond actual disciplinary action despite basic errors.

 

[Gabbiano]

A little bit rich for RDZ to criticise referee behaviour when he spends half the match screaming in their faces.

Don't get me wrong, I like having a passionate manager, but perhaps a little bit of perspective there needed.

The quality of refereeing is the issue.

 

[Silverhatch]

He’s spot on. Even though the majority of Premier League referees are weak and barely seem to understand the rules of football, they have a deluded arrogance about them.

They are also very well paid so deserve all the criticism they get as the mistakes they have been made since VAR was introduced have been astounding.

They are not well paid compared to the people they officiate. If refs got £500k you ‘might’ just see a few lower league ex-pros taking up the whistle.

 

[BBassic]

It's the inconsistency that does it for me. There was a moment in the Everton game, late on, when the ref made Milner stand in the exact spot the ball went out to take a throw in. Not thirty seconds later Ashley Young was allowed to trundle down the touchline to take their throw in.

Now that's a minor thing and unlikely to impact the game in any meaningful way but what it indicates is that there is a lack of consistency from a referee, moment to moment within one game. Those inconsistencies are happening in every game, at every level and some of them won't be as minor as where a throw in is taken from.

Then you factor in the inconsistency shown by referees across all the games. A foul in one is waved play on in another. A penalty conceded in one game is not in another. It is maddening.

I read an article a little while ago about how refs are graded and there's a report after each game: that should be made public. Or if not public it should be made available at the request of a club. There needs to be more accountability because right now the refs know, no matter how egregious the error, that the worst they can expect is a week off or being sent down to the Championship for a game or two.

I'm fully behind RDZ on this. They're atrocious.

 

[Del of Albion]

Did anyone notice that the two coaches of Sheffield Utd were virtually in the coaching area all the game and nothing was said by the fourth official, When RDZ stepped over the white line of the coaching area the fourth official was on his back all the time and I am only talking about a few inches. No wonder RDZ is angry at 80% of them I would have thought he tempered it to avoid punishment by saying 100% which is what I think!

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

The ref we had at Ajax showed how a good ref operates. He didn't rely on VAR to correct him he got everything right on the pitch.

 

[RandyWanger]

Only 80%? Thought it would be higher

 

[Farehamseagull]

Don’t like this. There are issues with officiating at the moment due to the way we have incorporated VAR. There need to be major changes made there but I am not a fan of criticism of individual referees, they make mistakes like all players and managers, they’re not corrupt, it is an incredibly hard job and they are not being helped at all by the system currently in place. I don’t like it when Klopp, Arteta etc do it and I don’t like it when RDZ does it.

And it’s not even like the ref had a bad game yesterday?!

I can’t see how these comments help us as a club and ultimately that’s all RDZ should be worried about. Same as his histrionics on the touchline yesterday didn’t help us. The team lost the plot on the pitch for about 10 minutes after the red and they desperately needed a calm head directing them.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Whether he's right or wrong, that's his opinion – and he should be allowed to express it. And he's justified it, too, which is all good with me.

I saw someone on Twitter call his comments 'unhinged' last night. Disagree with that, but it's understandable that people from all sides will wade in and make a mountain out of a molehill.

The refs thing is weird – on one hand I feel sorry for them because they simply cannot control the game and/or the players sometimes. In recent games, I've seen more than 10 players surrounding them after a 'contentious' decision, which is just plain wrong. However, there were rules brought in at the beginning of the season to prevent that, which have seemingly been consigned to history.

Ultimately they are weak/powerless, but a lot of it is their own doing. VAR hasn't helped because I'm sure they are leaving the decisions to someone in Stockley Park to decide. What's the solution? Fack knows.