Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate escaped a second booking during the Reds’ win over Wolverhampton Wanderers and a theory has emerged to explain why that was the case
The decision not to dismiss Ibrahima Konate during Liverpool’s win against Wolves came after a pre-season directive to referees was reinforced in January.
Konate was already on a yellow card when he went into a challenge with Wolves’ Matheus Cunha. The visitors were awarded a free-kick, but their calls for the Frenchman to receive a second booking were ignored by referee Simon Hooper.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot took no chances after the let-off, substituting Konate at the break. Jarell Quansah took his place, and delivered an important late intervention to keep the Reds in front after Cunha brought Wolves back from 2-0 to 2-1
Former Premier League official Peter Walton has acted as a refereeing analyst in recent years, keeping tabs on changes and instructions given to those currently taking charge of top-flight games. And he has indicated the Konate decision is part of a recent trend following on from that recent message to refs.
At the start of this season, Premier League referees were encouraged to raise the threshold for physical contact that should be considered a foul,” Walton wrote in The Times. “It was only a subtle change, but it was intended to reflect the fact that English football is known all over the world for allowing more intense physical contests.”
He added: “That directive was given to referees last summer, but it was reinforced at the start of January, and I have noticed in recent weeks a shift in the way matches are refereed. More contact is being allowed, and it is really helping the spectacle. In theory, the threshold for showing yellow cards should not have changed but because stronger challenges are being allowed in general, there has been a knock-on effect on the number of cards.”
Since the turn of the year, the average number of cards per Premier League game this season has dropped from 4.7 to 3.5, and Walton wondered aloud whether the instructions played into the mind of referee Hooper on Sunday. “It was clearly a foul, and of course some referees may have given a yellow card for it, but in this new climate I can see why Simon Hooper decided not to,” he wrote.
It wasn’t the first time Slot has made a half-time change at centre-back, with Quansah making way for Konate on the opening weekend after a nervy 45 minutes against Ipswich. Speaking after the latest victory, he argued he had no choice but to make the change he did this time around.
“Yes, I took him off because of that. Because I saw him getting his first yellow, that was for me a soft yellow. If he would have got the second one for a shoulder push, that would again be a soft yellow, so then he would have been sent off by two soft yellows,” Slot told reporters.
I think the referee felt the same – that’s why he didn’t [show a second yellow]. But I’ve watched football so many times in my life and I know that a player and a referee is then under pressure, so every next foul will lead again to maybe a referee that thinks, ‘Maybe now I should give him [a yellow].’
“I think back on three days ago. But for Ibou, it’s so difficult to play 45 minutes of football against such a strong Wolves team. So, I had to take him off because you can’t play football knowing in your head you can’t make a foul and playing against such good players Wolves have.”
