Balbuena Red Card (VAR) - West Ham v Chelsea

[Green_Red]

Personally I think Chilwell was in the wrong place and that it wasn't a red card.

Interestingly the same ref that made an absolute howler against us recently. Very surprised to see him again to be honest.

Whats your thoughts?

 

[King7Eric]

It's only a red card if players develop the ability to make their legs vanish after having kicked the ball.

 

[GledTheRed]

I thought he tried to nail him tbh, no need to go through him as forceful as he did.

 

[Andersonson]

Never a red card. Never

 

[2 man midfield]

Studs exist, and if you're daft enough to put your leg under them then you can't moan when you make contact with studs.

 

[pacifictheme]

If the ref thinks it's deliberate it's a red and the action did seem a bit suspicious to me, but if that's been given for dangerous play but not a deliberate attempt to hurt the other player then it's an awful decision.

 

[Cast5]

Idiotic decision, there’s plenty of lads who don’t make it as pros and end up brick laying, they should be offered to go on a refereeing course at least we’d have lads who’ve actually played the game and would know that he never meant to hurt that lad, if he wanted to hurt him he’d have missed the ball completely and done him.

It was a clearance and he followed through. Pure accident, these referees are just not good enough, this might not make much sense I’m half way through a bottle of bourbon.

bottom line, lads who don’t make it as footballers should be given the chance to become referees.

 

[Green_Red]

Should this ref be allowed to ref another Premier league game?

 

[Reiver]

I think that's one of the harshest reds I've ever seen.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

Anyone got a video?

 

[MileStolar]

I think that's one of the harshest reds I've ever seen.

After fecking Nani one, god I'm still mad about it, feck stupid Cakir!

 

[Annihilate Now!]

If Balbuena somehow meant to do that, he'd have to have incredible reaction times and control over his body.

He obviously didn't mean it, and in no was should he be punished for Chilwell charging into him... Otherwise running into people after they've kicked a ball would be a legitimate tactic to get people sent off

 

[sullydnl]

Bad decision. The VAR should never have referred it, so it's not just the ref who is to blame though.

 

[Red_toad]

Anyone got a video?

 

[Beachryan]

He had no idea he was going to make contact with anything as his foot came down. That's why there's the brief moment of hesitation, same thing as if you step on a slightly raised bit of ground.

Absolutely ridiculous decision.

If you're going to try to go down this road, it's actually Chilwell's fault for sliding under a player with no chance of playing the ball. Which is obviously stupid, but in this case Balbuena has completed a perfectl ynormal football action, and only made contact because Chilwell is randomly sliding through.

Football is such a waste of time this season.

 

[big rons sovereign]

Reminds me of the pogba one against arsenal. Absolutely nothing he could about it but unfortunately the referee is a prize cretin.

 

[GifLord]

Anyone got a video?

 

[Ish]

Not sure if it’s VAR or if there’s been a rule change (like the handball rule that seems to change often), but any studs making contact with anything above the shin, seems to be given a red these days. Didn’t Stones get a red for “similar” against AV? (Suppose stones didn’t get the ball, which is a big difference). Anyway, I don’t agree with it. Stupid red card decision.

 

[RedCurry]

Horrible decision. I couldn’t believe what I saw.

 

[Flying_Heckfish]

Awful ref, absolutely no courage in his convictions. He saw it in real time, he should've told VAR to do one. But at soon as he went over it was obvious he'd change his mind.

 

[Phil]

Yeah I don't know how that one is a red card.

 

[Oly Francis]

I also think it's a harsh red but i don't really understand the argument of "it's a normal kick, Chilwell just happens to be in front of him". You can't kick the ball the way you want when a player is close to you, you have to take that into account and I highly doubt Balbuena didn't see Chilwell since he was in his visual field the whole time. Imo its a clear yellow but not a red. I wouldn't call the decision "idiotic" though considering refs recieved strict instructions regarding contacts in the ankle/knee areas.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

I also think it's a harsh red but i don't really understand the argument of "it's a normal kick, Chilwell just happens to be in front of him". You can't kick the ball the way you want when a player is close to you, you have to take that into account and I highly doubt Balbuena didn't see Chilwell since he was in his visual field the whole time. Imo its a clear yellow but not a red. I wouldn't call the decision "idiotic" though considering refs recieved strict instructions regarding contacts in the ankle/knee areas.

You can't kick a ball with all your power when there's a player close to you? Yeah... That's nonsense.

Defenders kick the ball like this to clear the ball in crowded penalty areas all the time... They do jumping volleys, wild swings, all sorts of shit just to get it out.

 

[snk123]

One of the worst decisions ever and they had 2 referees look at it and come to the same conclusion. Also, can anyone show any data on decision overturns when the referee goes to the monitor? Seems like VAR always says something like "go look in the monitor because I think you're wrong" and then the referee changes the decision.

It's a joke really - these people have probably never ever kicked a ball.

 

[calodo2003]

That honestly isn’t a piss take?

 

[Pow]

You can't kick a ball with all your power when there's a player close to you? Yeah... That's nonsense.

Defenders kick the ball like this to clear the ball in crowded penalty areas all the time... They do jumping volleys, wild swings, all sorts of shit just to get it out.

So ? You can't just kick a ball and then stud someone in the face with a follow through.

 

[Tomuś]

That's the sort of red that would happen if the robots refereed the game. Absolutely rubbish decision. No common sense whatsoever and if that happens WITH var then well..

 

[Nicolarra90]

Playing the devil's advocate here but I "kind of" agree with the view.

I think he needlessly drops his foot with power in front of him. I think that's deliberate, not to damage Chilwell directly, but as a sign of frustration.

A red card is too harsh, but is a foul for me. And if the ref sees it as an aggression then it must be a red.

 

[Tarrou]

that is absolutely ridiculous

if that doesn't get appealed and overturned the games gone

 

[Oly Francis]

You can't kick a ball with all your power when there's a player close to you? Yeah... That's nonsense.

Defenders kick the ball like this to clear the ball in crowded penalty areas all the time... They do jumping volleys, wild swings, all sorts of shit just to get it out.

As mentionned by a previous post, you can if you don't end up kicking anyone at nearly full power, otherwise it's a clear foul.

It's even stated clearly in the FA rules :

"PLAYING IN A DANGEROUS MANNER

Playing in a dangerous manner is any action that, while trying to play the ball, threatens injury to someone (including the player themself) and includes preventing a nearby opponent from playing the ball for fear of injury. "

 

[calodo2003]

So ? You can't just kick a ball and then stud someone in the face with a follow through.

That’s a wee bit different than catching someone in the calf one foot off the ground.

 

[Barnslig]

So ? You can't just kick a ball and then stud someone in the face with a follow through.

I mean you could. If the face of the opposition is on or close to the ground, or you're not making an unnatural movement, the opposition is. Just because it's a kick to the face doesn't mean it's a red?

Just like in this situation, we can't have people studding the opposition, but we can't have situations like this be reds either. We'll seriously end up playing most games 9v9 because this happens in a lot of games.

 

[Ted1985]

Ridiculous decision, its clearly not intentional. VAR is really doing an awful job at making the game better. What about New Castle today against LFC? That was insane. There has had been a lot of questionable VAR decisions lately...

 

[calodo2003]

I mean you could. If the face of the opposition is on or close to the ground, or you're not making an unnatural movement, the opposition is. Just because it's a kick to the face doesn't mean it's a red?

Spot on.

A lowered head that’s kicked isn’t always a dangerous play. See it quite often in clearances in the box.

Slow motion in VAR is ruinous.

 

[Harry190]

Think Valbuena knew what he was doing on this one. Been there, done that. Yellow, but can understand a red.

 

[manunited1919]

I’m not sure, but Balbuena seems to do this on purpose. If so, correct decision.
Have any referees given their opinion on it?

 

[Oly Francis]

Spot on.

A lowered head that’s kicked isn’t always a dangerous play. See it quite often in clearances in the box.

Slow motion in VAR is ruinous.

It's not spot on at all. Lets imagine a player falls on the ground, a defender sees him but kicks the ball hard without holding back and end up kicking the player on the ground in the head, it'll be a clear red.

Obviously if a defender puts himself in the way at the last second and if it's unpredictable for the other player, it won't be a foul but if it's obvious it's going to be dangerous, you can be sure refs will blow the whistle.

 

[calodo2003]

It's not spot on at all. Lets imagine a player falls on the ground, a defender sees him but kicks the ball hard without holding back and end up kicking the player on the ground in the head, it'll be a clear red.

If the player stumbles & falls down & is in on the floor not playing the ball, yes.

If the player consciously puts his head down to try to head the ball around waist level, no. Should never be.

 

[Pow]

That’s a wee bit different than catching someone in the calf one foot off the ground.

No but that's the premise he is arguing. He's cleared the ball so it doesn't matter where he lands. He's high He's studded his calf. I fail to see what the outrage is about.

 

[Pow]

I mean you could. If the face of the opposition is on or close to the ground, or you're not making an unnatural movement, the opposition is. Just because it's a kick to the face doesn't mean it's a red?

Just like in this situation, we can't have people studding the opposition, but we can't have situations like this be reds either. We'll seriously end up playing most games 9v9 because this happens in a lot of games.

Wtf are you even saying right now. Any sort of kick to the face is a red card offence