A former Premier League referee has questioned the decision to have Anthony Taylor take charge of Liverpool’s clash against Manchester City.
The decision to appoint Taylor for last weekend’s match was met with plenty of dismay from Liverpool fans. The Reds eventually drew the game 2-2 at the Etihad Stadium, with goals from Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane.
At the time of the appointment, plenty of Liverpool fans were quick to point out Taylor’s local connections to Manchester. The referee is from Wythenshawe which is just a few miles south from the Etihad.
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However, in the aftermath of the game some Man City fans were not happy with Taylor’s decisions. One of these included not sending off Thiago Alcantara, who was on a yellow card.
Former top flight referee Keith Hackett has explained why he thinks it was wrong for Taylor to referee Liverpool’s match against Man City. The ex-official went on to give his opinion on how the debate before the match may have affected Taylor.
“The debate in the days leading up to the game [about whether he should referee the match] means there is a possibility of a subconscious overcompensation,” Hackett told Football Insider .
“I wonder whether that meant he was going to take a lighter touch?
“Generally he let the game flow and he allowed a fair amount of challenges from both teams.
“I’m a bit old school, when I refereed I wouldn’t have refereed clubs in my proximity.
“That no longer applies now. You get Mike Dean from the Wirral, lives in north Wales, refereeing Liverpool. They’ve tried to overcome it.
“Ultimately at the end of the day, there were only two referees who I would’ve had refereeing this game would be Taylor or Michael Oliver. To be honest with you, I would’ve had Oliver on this game.”
