Another woeful performance from him, apart from the obvious tackles from Barry & Rojo was some of the frees he gave were just ridiculous. I can recall a couple of free kicks given away against Martial particularly one in the first half when Coleman was clearly tugging at Martial's jersey inside the box. Anyone else think the free kick given against Zlatan on Coleman was a free to United when Coleman turned right back into Zlatan, its not Zlatans job to get out of the way. I've found the general standard of officiating appalling this season.
Michael Oliver
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Is a comment that could be said about any of the last three or four seasons....
He's done Utd a big favour by claiming that he saw the Ibrahimovic Coleman incident.
If he said he hadn't seen it Ibrahimovic would be facing a 3 game ban.
If he said he hadn't seen it Ibrahimovic would be facing a 3 game ban.
what? Why?
Why what?
Why would him falling into Coleman be a three match ban is the obvious question?
There's a perfectly good video of the incident on YouTube, the last part isn't unintentional.
Anyway that's not the point, the point is Oliver who apparently hates Utd has done them a huge favour by saying he saw it. The FA were ready to look at it but Oliver has saved them the trouble and likely saved Ibrahimovich a ban.
Maybe he doesn't hate Utd after all.
Normally to kick someone you'd expect some sort of, you know, kicking motion? Which is strangely absent from your perfectly good video.
I know Ibra's good, but expecting him to be able to work out whilst tumbling backwards exactly how his foot is going to come down with his body in order to make it look like an accident is a stretch. The far more likely explanation, and one I can't believe has to be argued over really, is that it was an accident.
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He's Glaston #2, just ignore it.
You don't know if it's intentional or not. It would have been a joke if they had banned him for that, particularly after nothing was said or done about Adrian's challenge on Zlatan in the League Cup.
I find the part in bold very hard to be certain on. Maybe he did drop his heel a bit, maybe it was an accident. I'd of been extremely surprised if the FA became the thought police on that situation. Besides, the furore over it was stupid, Coleman was hurt from the hyper-extension of his shoulder, which caused him to go off. I don't think he even cared about the foot to the head.
If Barry had have been booked for that challenge early on then I don't think he'd have seen out the 95 minutes. He was arguing, moaning, niggling all game and an accumulation of that would have seen him off.
There is no doubt in my mind that he knew he cocked up with Barry and that he felt he couldn't send Rojo off because of failing to book Barry. He was well positioned for both incidents and it's baffling how he arrived at both decisions.
I think it was a penalty, there wasn't a lot in it but if it had been one of our players we'd be screaming for a penalty - so would Jose.
Oliver is normally a half decent ref but that just shows that by giving a bit of leeway you set the tone for virtually the entire game.
There is no doubt in my mind that he knew he cocked up with Barry and that he felt he couldn't send Rojo off because of failing to book Barry. He was well positioned for both incidents and it's baffling how he arrived at both decisions.
I think it was a penalty, there wasn't a lot in it but if it had been one of our players we'd be screaming for a penalty - so would Jose.
Oliver is normally a half decent ref but that just shows that by giving a bit of leeway you set the tone for virtually the entire game.
Rojo should have been sent off in my view. Paddy Crerand said as much and if he believes a United player should have been sent off, then that says it all really. Gareth Barry though, well, he was very lucky to last as long as he did without getting booked. Didn't see the Ibrahimovic incident, so no comment there. The late penalty may have been soft but i'm sure United fans, players and coaching staff would have blown up if they weren't given that penalty if the roles were reversed. I don't rate Oliver as a ref.
It doesn't bother me one way or the other if he was charged or in this case not, and to be honest I don't think there's a great deal in it, plus I would rather see the better players playing not watching. But IMHO he definitely did it on purpose and if you are honest if Coleman was Ibrahimovich and visa versa most of you who say he did nothing would be up in arms screaming about it.
My point isn't about Ibrahimovich it's about Oliver, he could easily have let the FA look at this if he is so anti Utd, but he didn't.
He is a terrible ref though, but clearly not anti Utd.
Its bad enough he is a terrible ref without being anti United on top of it to be honest. How Rojo only got a yellow is bewildering.
Maybe we would maybe we wouldn't. Football fans are inherently biased so I'm not sure that's the best way to judge it.
All I know is if Zlatan had managed to actually do what he did intentionally it's by some distance the most impressive piece of skill he's pulled off all season. It's far more likely an accident.
As for the last sentence then, sure, I agree. It's just a weird point to make on a call he got right given the numerous ones he got wrong at the weekend.
But he didn't get it right, it was definitely intentional on Ibrahimovic's part, he 100% knew what he was doing.
Aguero, Gerrard or somebody similar or a Utd player as the victim and you'd all be going nuts and slamming Oliver for his handling of this, and this is why claims that people like Oliver are anti Utd are so skewed.
He's not anti anybody, he's just an extremely poor referee.
I repeat that I'm not witch hunting Ibrahimovich on this, I don't care one way or the other what happens or doesn't happen to him. I'm just using it as the point of showing that Oliver or any other refs aren't anti Utd or anybody else, they are just crap.
Perhaps he said it because, you know, he saw it?
Refs are looking in the direction of most things they don't see when they realise they've got it wrong. Sissoko at Bournemouth, Aguero against West Ham this season being a classic examples.
Okay, so the automatic thing is to assume he didn't see it and is saying he saw it just to save United. Right.
You miss the point, a lot of people here claim he's strongly anti Utd, if this was the case Ibrahimovich would be facing a charge and possibly a ban and Rojo would have been bathing on his own.
Not sure how many times I have to say that my point isn't about Ibrahimovich, it's about Oliver not being anti Utd, and is just generally awful.
Jesus christ man, if you're going to bang on this drum still then explain to me how you know Zlatan intentionally kicked somebody else without making any sort of kicking motion whatsoever and with their foot falling perfectly in line with how they were falling?
Because it seems to me that you're delving into the realms of mind-reading. There's absolutely nothing in the video evidence to support your viewpoint.
Whats quite funny is you seem to be willing to absolve Aguero of blame in regards to actually trying to injure another player because 'footballers aren't robots' but don't seem to have the consistency to think that that might also mean that players aren't always in control of their body parts when they're falling because, as it will not surprise you to learn, they're not robots and that accidental collisions do happen.
Perhaps I should be lecturing you about bias because it seems pretty obvious that you're warping events to fit your own pre-conceived notions.
Besides, what is the most staggeringly daft thing about what you're saying is if you'd chosen to make your point that Oliver is not 'anti anybody and just an extremely poor referee' from the very same game you could have used Rojo not being sent off as an example you'd have got not a word of criticism. Instead you decided to put a conspiracy whacko angle on it by claiming that Zlatan definitely kicked him on purpose (even though you can't possibly prove that) and that Michael Oliver lied to the FA because of reasons that you'll have to forgive me because I don't understand.
I think most just say that he's a shit ref, haven't seen anyone saying that Rojo shouldn't have been sent off for example.
You need to consider how his fouls affect the game. The handball, for example, looked like a counter attacking opportunity for us. Had he been carded as early as he should have been, certain situations, within the game, change - that's my biggest issue with this Barry fouling episode.
I never defended Aguero's actions at all, I said players aren't robots and they boil over sometimes, not once did I say he shouldn't have been sent off.
If you watch the replay of the incident with an unbiased eye it's clearly intentional, those who have played the game like Gary Neville knew straight away that he got away with one. As I say I'm fine with that as football is better when the better players are in the pitch.
The Rojo one was a clear mistake, turning a blind eye to Ibrahimovich when he could have got him banned IMHO proves that the allegations of a Utd agenda are a nonsense, that is the point I'm trying to make, not that Ibrahimovich was a naughty boy.
But explain to me why, if Oliver thought it was a red card and hadn't seen it, he would lie and say that he had? Your missing that huge logical leap.
Beyond that your choosing to believe a vastly more elaborate and complicated story rather than the much simpler, and perhaps more well supported one from the video evidence: Michael Oliver saw it and didn't think it was a red.
We hadn't done too well off of Mr Oliver before Sunday had we? Maybe he underwent a conversion to our favour on Saturday evening.
The Ibra kick is a grey area one - you can't actually tell for me. Maybe Olly saw it, & thought he couldn't decide & had been gruesomely awful enough for one afternoon already.
Does he do an abnormally high proportion of our games? It seems like either him or Clattenberk atm & THEY BOTH HATE US !!!!
The Ibra kick is a grey area one - you can't actually tell for me. Maybe Olly saw it, & thought he couldn't decide & had been gruesomely awful enough for one afternoon already.
Does he do an abnormally high proportion of our games? It seems like either him or Clattenberk atm & THEY BOTH HATE US !!!!
You accuse me of believing a vastly elaborate story yet the consensus on here is 'he hates us and has an agenda against Utd' hmmm.
Not quite. I'm accusing you of believing a story that only makes sense if you believe that Oliver has a pro-United agenda because you're so keen to argue he doesn't have one against United.
He doesn't have one, simple as that.
FFS! It's not an unnatural movement of the foot, there's no force behind it and Zlatan isn't even looking there, but in the direction of the ball. It is possible that it's very slyly executed, but there's absolutely nothing in the video to claim it was intentional, and to ban him for it.
Oliver was awful, but against both teams. So just generally inept.
Oliver was awful, but against both teams. So just generally inept.
Zlatan with a cnut's trick. That's a red all day long because of the intent.
Anyone thinks Zlaton didn't mean that is totally deluded. Not the first time this season he has done something nasty and won't be the last .
It's completely inconclusive, interpretation in this instance is mainly based on the perpetrator.
If it was Mata, nobody would've taken notice
If it was Mata, nobody would've taken notice
Watching it, I'd lean towards saying it's intentional but it's not as clear cut as most of these type of lashing out/off the ball incidents, I'd give the player the benefit of the doubt if the footage is inconclusive.
Looking at it again,I'm inclined to think he done it, but can say he isn't looking & possibly/probably get away with it. Oliver can't say he didn't see it, cos he's stood there watching it. Goes to blow his whistle just after Z boots him. So... who knows?
I think it was intentional but I think it was mischievous rather than malicious.
He's definitely looking right at the incident, but I think the angle we get shows it clearly. It's hard to tell if Oliver can really see the connection and the way Zlatan brings his foot down, with both Zlatan and Coleman having their backs to Oliver.
I reckon if the assistant was on this side of the pitch, rather than the opposite, he is communicating what he sees to Oliver, and it's a red card. I think Zlatan knows what he's doing. Unnecessarily nasty IMO.
Has he actually shaved 2 little gangster lines into his hair?