This is the image that defined Premier League action at the weekend — and sparked debate around the world.
Erling Haaland reacted fiercely to referee Simon Hooper’s decision not to play advantage in the final moments of Manchester City’s 3-3 draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. Haaland was fouled in the City half but Hooper appeared first to signal an advantage as Haaland released the ball, only for play to be clawed back when Jack Grealish was out on goal.
Haaland — and other City players — objected to Hooper on the pitch. The striker also reposted a clip of the incident on Twitter commenting “Wtf”.
City have now also been sued by the Football Association for the way their players surrounded Hooper, with the FA saying the club “failed to ensure their players did not behave in an inappropriate manner”.
There has been much debate about refereeing in England over the past few weeks, particularly after Mikel Arteta’s reaction to Anthony Gordon’s goal being allowed at Newcastle in the middle of last month.
here, The Athletic’s Experts give their thoughts on the photo — and Haaland’s reaction.
It’s a terrible picture. I understand the frustration, but when it boils down to that — yelling in a referee’s face, yelling “F*** off” — it’s unacceptable and inexcusable. We can easily explain the frustration, as clearly Simon Hooper should have played the advantage, but you can’t excuse a referee being chased like that.
Nor can the FA allow this to go unpunished. Like when Manchester United players chased Andy D’Urso in 2000, like when Gianluigi Buffon shouted at Michael Oliver in 2018, like when Jurgen Klopp shouted in front of fourth official John Brooks this year, the game needs to send a strong message that this behavior will not be tolerated.
It’s one of those decisions that will make you angry. But players need to learn that if they confront the referee as Haaland did — and as Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva and most other Manchester City players did not — they will be punished.
And, aside from not playing due to suspension, I’d like to see abusive players and managers required to referee a grassroots game as part of their punishment. It can teach them that it’s not as easy as they think.
Oliver Kay
(Neal Simpson/EMPICS via Getty Images)
Once upon a time, I refereed the Sunday league.
The general feeling I have, especially in furious moments in games, is that you can forgive a lot of things in the first three to five seconds of natural anger, especially when you know as a referee that you made a mistake .
But beyond that, players and coaches must gain a sense of perspective. So the initial failure – although not perfect with a freeze frame – wasn’t a huge issue to me.
The melodramatic letting go of Haaland’s golden locks, his frantic stomping on the pitch and the subsequent “Wtf” tweet (viewed more than 50 million times), the heaping of pressure on an official, perhaps demanding, even somehow, a reminder of his responsibilities.
For what it’s worth, I’m not convinced Grealish needed to run in and score, with two defenders also sprinting back, and a more likely reason City didn’t win Sunday’s game was sloppiness that defense and Haaland’s unusual error. graduation
Adam Crafton
The still image looks bad, like Klopp vs Brooks.
I have a level of sympathy because when playing you are caught up in the moment, it is more difficult to control your emotions and it is a shocking decision that may not be their success. We are all guilty of doing this.
However, no one can argue that players surrounding the refs is a good thing. It’s like petulant kids in a school playground.
One thing rugby union is entitled to that football doesn’t is the respect shown to referees.
Tom Burrows
Come to think of it, over the centuries, women have been told that we are the overly emotional…
I’m just kidding — but the picture is clearly not good. Maybe the timing was just unlucky. After all, any number of players or managers could be guilty of this — it’s not just an Erling Haaland problem. But it says something about the relationship between the world of football and referees these days.
Referees are taking abuse at levels never seen before and we are losing too much from the game for it to be sustained. At the same time, the faith in them from fans and players has never been lower when the risks and rewards based on the outcome of single decisions have never been higher.
Please send answers on how to rebuild the bridge of trust and respect between referees and footballers in a postcard addressed to Mr H Webb, PGMOL headquarters.
@tiffootball_ Referees now have their own TV show #Referees #VAR #PremierLeague #Football #Soccer ♬ original sound – Tifo Football
Nancy Froston
Haaland and his City teammates surround Hooper (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
You can’t kill the emotion of the game and its intensity. There is a right way to express yourself. But the emotional reaction to that picture is normal, and you shouldn’t be penalized for that. That’s also why the rugby union comparison doesn’t always work, because football is more fluid and less stop-start.
That said, the continued negative reactions on the pitch and after the game (for example, Haaland’s histrionics here or Arsenal’s statement after Arteta’s reaction to the refereeing decisions), is where you probably need penalties.
In the City-Spurs game, it was clearly a refereeing error. Hooper knows that. It was a bad mistake, but he didn’t need to attack for it. It’s not like other mistakes that aren’t made during the game, like missing an open goal…
The idea of a dissenting sin bin is, in principle, a good thing, but there is scope to misuse it. I recently played in a game with sin bins in the Sunday league where someone kept giving a referee a chat, and it wasn’t necessary. The sin bin worked. When he returned to the field, he was cold and did not speak to the referee. The referee has a great game, which is easier to manage.
Step over the line and you must be punished. Basically, not enough is happening in football. Disagreement enforcement is too long.
Peter Rutzler
It was a terrible reaction and there was no place for it, just as there was no place for Klopp’s tantrum with the fourth official. This stuff is important, it accumulates and it trickles down the pyramid, a steady stream of trickle-down toxicity that ends with old men shouting at teenage referees in the park at the end of the week because their under-nines’ team didn’t get a penalty.
The referee made a mistake, and it was a big mistake, but it’s worth remembering that he ran more than 10km at this point, he doesn’t get paid hundreds of thousands of pounds a week and, as I recall, he made the same number of glaring errors that afternoon as Haaland.
But what surprises me the most is that we’ve only had two weeks of whining about VARs and clamoring for a return to the days when referees just referred and we all got on. Well, it’s a referee’s referee and people are still losing their minds and howling about conspiracies.
Maybe the problem isn’t the referees…
Iain Macintosh
What is Pep Guardiola’s reaction to the incident?
City manager Pep Guardiola defended Haaland but refused to criticize Hooper for the decision.
“Sometimes I lose my mind about the referees, but not here. People can always make mistakes,” he said.
“I was surprised by the fact that he whistled when Erling went down, but after he stood up and made a pass, the referee made the gesture to play. But then when the ball goes to Jack, then the whistle comes.”
Asked about Haaland, Guardiola said: “It’s normal.
“He was a little disappointed. Even the referee — if he played for Manchester City today, he would be disappointed with that action, that’s for sure.
“But I will say we didn’t draw because of that.”
(Top photo: Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
