<a href="https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Webb.jpg"><div><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-112788" src="https://media.worldsoccertalk.com/wp-content/2014/08/Webb-600x374-600x374.webp" alt="Webb" width="600" height="374" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px"></figure></div></a>
The most entertaining game of the weekend came at the King Power Stadium, where Leicester came back from 3-1 down to win 5-3 at the expense of <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/2014/09/22/manchester-uniteds-august-september-progress-report/">Manchester United</a>. There is no escaping that United’s defense were all over the place. It was naive at the best of times, but the decision to award Leicester a penalty at 3-1 was extremely poor officiating. Being a United fan, its easy to dispute this decision, but from an official’s perspective it was a shocking decision. Firstly, Rafael is shoved over by Jamie Vardy. Mark Clattenburg waved play on, only to give the Foxes a penalty for a lesser offence. Vardy’s arm was raised in the first challenge, whereas Rafael used his shoulders in the second in order to defend. It wasn’t the reason for United’s downfall, but certainly changed the game and gave the home side the impetus to keep attacking.
Clattenburg correctly awarded Leicester’s second penalty after Tyler Blackett tripped up Vardy in the box. The red card that followed cannot be argued. &nbsp;The biggest game of the weekend came at The Etihad. Mike Dean was the man in charge and overall he was pretty picky with his yellow cards. This was highlighted by Pablo Zabaleta’s first booking which wasn’t even a foul in my view. Hazard just ran into him. The second yellow was justified though. A late, clumsy challenge, which was dealt with consistently from Dean, which is a positive. It would have been nice to see the game flow a bit more however.
West Ham goalkeeper, Adrian was involved in two incidents during the Hammers’ 3-1 victory over Liverpool. The first incident came after a challenge with Mario Balotelli. The pair exchanged words as well as handbags and both were correctly cautioned by Craig Pawson. In the second half, a ball was played through to Fabio Borini and Adrian charged out of his goal to claim the ball. He gathered the ball but raised his leg in an unnatural position, with studs showing and made contact with Borini’s leg. I can’t believe that he stayed on the pitch. It was a nasty foul that was certainly worth a second yellow at such an important time in the game, with the home side 2-1 up.
Stoke’s first goal at QPR surprised me somewhat. Peter Crouch had his arms pushing down on Rio Ferdinand. Nobody appealed for a foul which was strange as it was a definite infringement. Martin Atkinson should have spotted it. Poor decision.
Wilfried Bony’s appearance against <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/2014/09/19/southamptons-august-september-progress-report/">Southampton</a> was over before the break after two reckless fouls, both on Maya Yoshida. The first was a charge on the Japanese international, where Bony was shouting into the challenge. Bizarre to the the least. Jon Moss then dismissed Bony for a hack from behind. No question that the correct call was made. Consistent officiating.
Moving to <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/2014/09/21/evertons-august-september-progress-report/">Goodison Park</a> where there were two more penalties, this time awarded by Michael Oliver. The first went in favour of Palace when Tim Howard bundled into James MacArthur. Correct decision and a good one too, especially with the amount of bodies Oliver had to look through. Oliver was again put on the spot in a similar incident, but this time Palace defender Scott Dann brought down James McCarthy. Again, a good decision by the leagues youngest official, who has the ability to be a Champions League and World Cup referee.

Reviewing The Premier League's Key Decisions From Week 5

Reviewing The Premier League's Key Decisions From Week 5 - World Soccer Talk

If today’s PFA Player of the Year shortlist shows us anything, announcing the player of the year with almost 6 weeks of the season left looks a stupid decision. With only Steven Gerrard not from Manchester United on the six player shortlist, it just shows how quickly things in football can change. What if Frank Lampards goals fire Chelsea to a treble this season? What if Arsenal win the Champions League? Could Manchester United miss out on the Premiership, F.A. Cup and Champions League yet have a player win the PFA award?
Has Edwin Van Der Saar really been the best Premiership goalkeeper this season? Surely Mark Schwarzer’s contribution for Fulham has been more important between the sticks, as perhaps Shay Given at Newcastle and Manchester City this season can claim too. Manchester United could play a snowman in goal sometimes and no-one would notice.
Liverpool have now only got one chance of silverware after Wednesdays classic Champions League Quarter Final say Chelsea edge them out, with Lampard once again dragging the Blues through. Lampard has now scored 19 goals in all competitions, 2 less than Gerrard and Ronaldo but has set up more goals for his team mates than those two put together.Ferdinand has been superb all season, Vidic has seen his form drift away since February.
I don’t understand why the PFA awards have to be announced so soon and the voting to be concluded before all the major trophies are handed out. Last season, it was obvious that Ronaldo was head and shoulders ahead of anyone else, won all the domestic player awards and then failed to deliver once again for Portugal, spent all Summer flirting with Real Madrid and then missed the beginning of the season through injury and still won the World Player of&nbsp; The Year Award.
This year, there is no stand out candidate, but for Lampard to be omitted is beyond a joke. During the final weeks of Scolari’s reign at Stamford Bridge, Lampard carried them single handed it seemed to try and keep them in as many competitions as possible, showing&nbsp; guts and determination throughout the chaos that seemed to be going on all around him. Are professional players that daft that they couldn’t see that?
The Young Player of the Year award seems even more ludicrous, only 3 of the candidates have truly played well all season. Ireland, Rafael and Lennon have been head and shoulders above the other 3 candidates, with Ireland being the stand out nomination. Of the other 3, Agbonlahor has scored 3 goals since Christmas, has Jonny Evans been that good all season&nbsp; and Ashley Young has been so inconsistent as to be almost laughable to be included in the final six.
How two Aston Villa players could be included when they’ve won 3 games out of their last 15 matches makes me think that the nominations must have been done on New Years Eve because Villa have fallen away so far and are in danger of finishing 6th when they had a good chance of finishing 3rd. Are there so few young players kicking around? Where’s Jack Rodwell? Mark Noble and Jack Collinson from West Ham have both had excellent seasons yet don’t feature at all.
Hopefully Ferdinand and Ireland will win the awards, but the nominations themselves just don’t make any sense at all. It’s time to move them to the end of the season when it actually matters.

The PFA Player Of The Year Shortlists Are A Joke

The PFA Player Of The Year Shortlists Are A Joke - World Soccer Talk

Latest news from Rafael. Find out about all the news related to Rafael on worldsoccertalk.com

ALL POSTS TAGGED "Rafael"

News

Reviewing The Premier League's Key Decisions From Week 5

News

The PFA Player Of The Year Shortlists Are A Joke