Chelsea Boss Enzo Maresca Expresses Frustration Over VAR Inconsistencies
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca expressed his frustration not due to Moises Caicedo's dismissal during the match against Arsenal on Sunday, but rather because of perceived inconsistencies in officiating.
Maresca's concerns are valid. Last month, Tottenham's Rodrigo Bentancur received a yellow card for a foul on Reece James, a decision upheld by the video assistant referee (VAR). However, when Caicedo was cautioned for a similar challenge on Mikel Merino, it resulted in a red card after VAR intervention.
"It’s a red card, but why wasn’t Bentancur’s challenge against Reece (James) also a red card when we played at Spurs?" Maresca questioned. "As managers, we struggle to understand why decisions are judged differently. Moises' tackle is a red card, yes. Bentancur's is also a red card, yes. Why wasn’t he shown a red card? We find it difficult to comprehend. The reality is that it’s a red card. But why the differing judgments?"
The differences in outcomes can partly be attributed to the VAR official involved, complicating the quest for consistency. No two fouls are identical, and there are nuanced distinctions between them. Bentancur's challenge was more of a stepping-in action, while Caicedo's involved a jump with a higher point of contact.
Additionally, Merino experienced a noticeable buckle of his ankle, a sign that VAR officials look for to indicate excessive force, which contributed to the decision. In Bentancur's case, the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel supported the yellow card by a vote of four to one, unanimously agreeing that no VAR intervention was warranted, stating the challenge was low, slightly late, and reckless.
The KMI Panel will likely support the decision to send off Caicedo, but it won't be long before a similar tackle is deemed merely a yellow card. Since the start of the 2023-24 season, the KMI Panel has recorded 12 errors in serious foul play reviews.
Clarifying the VAR Process
The situation surrounding Caicedo's yellow card was initially perplexing. Was referee Anthony Taylor instructed by VAR to issue a yellow card for review? The explanation is simpler.
Taylor allowed play to continue for Arsenal as Eberechi Eze pursued the loose ball. Once the ball went out for a throw-in, the referee returned to book Caicedo, who was receiving treatment for an injury. Referees are advised to wait until the offending player is back on their feet before showing a card.
The delay was not due to VAR checking the foul but rather because Caicedo was attended to by the physio. The VAR will assess the tackle but will not communicate with the referee until a decision has been made regarding the card. In this instance, VAR official John Brooks can determine that the necessary force for a red card exists, but must wait for Taylor to reveal his decision. Once Taylor issued a yellow card, VAR promptly recommended a review due to the ongoing assessment during treatment.
Play resumed with a throw-in because Taylor had played advantage. Had he not done so, it would have resulted in a free-kick. Thus, VAR protocol inadvertently penalized Arsenal for Taylor's failure to issue a red card.
England Rejects Red Card Review
On the same day, for only the second time in Premier League history, a referee declined to review a red card at the pitchside monitor. Darren England did not call a foul against Jhon Arias, leading to a free-kick for Aston Villa instead of a penalty for Arsenal. VAR official James Bell believed Arias' two-footed jump endangered Boubacar Kamara's safety.
Although Arias made contact with Kamara's boot, the force was insufficient for a red card, even if the tackle was not ideal. A more egregious example occurred last season when Manchester United's Lisandro Martinez escaped a red card after a challenge on Crystal Palace's Daichi Kamada, where Martinez jumped in with both feet but avoided a dismissal due to a little-known guideline stating that a player should not be sent off if the tackle stops before the opponent.
The KMI Panel unanimously supported the decision not to upgrade Martinez's yellow card to a red, expressing strong feelings that such challenges should not occur on the pitch.
Controversy Over Chelsea's Goal
Another weekend brought another round of contentious offside calls. Referee Chris Kavanagh ruled out a Wolves goal due to Arias being offside near goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, drawing comparisons to Andrew Robertson's offside at Manchester City a few weeks prior, although Arias' offense was clearer.
However, a potential offside on Chelsea's goal seemed to go unnoticed. After a corner from James, Trevoh Chalobah scored with a header. The issue arose with Enzo Fernandez, who was in an offside position and very close to defenders Piero Hincapie and Cristhian Mosquera.
Did Fernandez influence the defenders’ decision-making? If he had not been present, might there have been a better chance of stopping the header? Although Fernandez did not play the ball and was not directly engaging with Mosquera, he had his arm on Hincapie's back. A strong case for offside could be made, raising questions about consistency once again.
The VAR team reviewed the situation and concluded there was no impact on the defenders. Perhaps if Robertson's decision had not been made, we would not be discussing offside on this goal.
Should Hincapie Have Received a Red Card?
This incident occurred shortly after Caicedo's red card. Hincapie contested a ball with Chalobah, resulting in Chalobah sustaining an injury from contact with Hincapie's arm. "I asked the referee, and he told me it wasn't an elbow," Maresca recounted. "Chalobah ended up with a black eye and ice on it at halftime, but they judge things differently."
Referees should not base their decisions solely on potential injuries; however, it can happen occasionally. An injury can arise from various challenges and collisions, making it impractical to judge solely on that basis.
Similar to serious foul play, referees follow a checklist when assessing a possible elbow. They consider whether the challenge was unnatural, if the player had a clenched fist indicating aggression, and whether the elbow was raised to generate force. None of these factors were present, so a yellow card was deemed appropriate.
A clearer example of a red card was Lewis Cook's dismissal at Sunderland, where he raised his elbow to the head of Noah Sadiki, demonstrating a more aggressive action.