Mane's red card - Right or Wrong?

The tens of thousands of fans inside the Etihad Stadium last Saturday was witnessed to perhaps the biggest talking point of the Premier League season so far. In a game where two of the early front runners, Manchester City and Liverpool, faced off and the home side ran away convincing 5-0 victors, for one referee's decision to be across the back pages the following day, you know it had to be a big one. Okay, for those of you who have been living under a rock since last Saturday, here is what happened. Sadio Mane had only the day before been named the Premier League's Player of the Month, and looked to continue from where he left off before the international break. 1-0 down, but with the game certainly still in the balance, a long ball from the back was played over the Senegalese winger for him to chase. As Mane charged towards the ball, City's newest keeper Ederson came flying off his line to challenge the Liverpool forward, a complete 50/50. The Brazilian goal keeper won the race, with a strong clearing header, however he was met, a fraction of a second later, by the boot of Sadio Mane. Mane had jumped up to try and knock the ball around Ederson, knowing if he won the ball he was in for a guaranteed goal, but instead the full force of the attacker went flying into the face of Manchester City's shot stopper. Jon Moss instantly blew up, and without a second though, brandished a straight red to a bewildered Sadio Mane who instead of protesting his innocence, simply crouched down and looked on in disbelief. Gary Neville on commentary was adamant that the referee had got it wrong. where as Jamie Carragher voted it was the correct decision. So lets break it down.  

Okay just look at that picture for a moment and try and explain to me how it ISN'T a red card, I'll wait... 

Yes it is very true that ANY foul, in fact any tackle, can be made to look a lot worse then it is with the right angle, the right shot. In real time Mane's tackle looked a lot more inconspicuous than the picture indicates, but and as much as this pains me to say from a Liverpool fans point of view, it's impossible to miss why the referee gave the red card. Mane's foot is a whole 6ft in the air, and as soon as his standing foot also leaves the floor he is out of control. When both feet leave the floor in a more traditional tackle there is no argument, it's a straight red. The incident was simply an example of serious foul play, one of the seven offences that warrant a red card under the laws of the game. Do you want me to quote from the rule book? Of course you do! Law 12, under fouls and misconduct. 'A player is guilty of serious foul play if he uses excessive force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for a ball while it is in play. A tackle that endangers the safety of an opponent must be sanctioned as serious foul play. The second half of that statement is what has landed Mane a three match suspension. Whether intentional or not, at the height Mane's foot was when challenging Ederson, he is putting the opposition goal keeper in serious danger. And as the Brazilian spent the remainder of the day in a near by medical facility, I'm sure he'd be inclined to agree. Sadio Mane, while chasing down the ball and jumping for the touch, you'd imagine has an idea of Ederson's presence, and even though he couldn't back out of the challenge once he had left the ground, the didn't have to go in for it in the first place. Later in the game Jordan Herderson found himself in a very similar position, charging towards the substitute goal keeper Claudio Brave who had committed to coming and getting the ball. The Liverpool captain saw the danger early, and (perhaps with Mane's red card on his mind) proceeded to run around the goal keeper, preventing any sort of collision. Yes the Englishman was not up to speed the likes of Mane which had reached, but he showed that a bit of pre thinking could have been done to avoid the situation entirely. 

In the immediate moments following the red card I was CONVINCED that is wasn't a red, a foul yes, a yellow, yes, but not a sending off. Why? It's just as simple as my previous argument. Intent. 

Okay now look at this picture, it was taken milliseconds before the previous picture, look at Mane's eyes. Notice the concentration that is 100% on the flight of the ball, notice how all that could possibly be going through the attackers head at this time is 'if I get a touch, I score'. Coming from a man who has played the sport all his life, when in the situation Mane was in, you experience 'tunnel vision' all you're thinking about is what is directly in front of you, in this case, the ball. Notice how Ederson has already thrown himself into the challenge, head first, endangering himself, with Mane flying towards him. Now, cards on the table, giving a red card for this challenge is 100% justified, but it comes back to the age old debate. Have the men who write the rules ever played the sport? On BBC's Match Of The Day, Alan Shearer, Ian Wright and Gary Lineker all said that they would have made the same challenge if they where in Mane's boots. The reason for this is, as a striker, all you're thinking about is the next goal, and in this situation the next goal was potentially seconds away. From the point of view of three of the best front men England has ever produced, it was a 50/50 challenge that had to be made. Now in a 50/50 challenge, both men know what they're getting themselves into. They both also know, once they've committed to the challenge if either one of them was to pull out, they would certainly be coming out of it on the wrong end. If Mane was to drop his foot, the 6ft1 200 pound frame of Ederson would have came flying through him, causing potentially serious injury. Potentially also, Ederson's forward momentum could lead to the two men colliding heads, leading to potential concussions for both men, Mane could not back out. 

This scenario was one Ederson has been in several times already in his short Manchester City career, so much so that on Twitter, journalist Nooruddean Choudry predicted the goal keeper's injury a month before the game against Liverpool. Stating how he is quick to launch himself into the ball head first against an onrushing attacker. Simply put Ederson's action were reckless, and 30 yards off his line, he has to be treated the same way as an outfield player. And despite what you may think, this sort of challenge takes place week in week out, on the half way line, or the edge of the box, and rarely if ever is the red card awarded as a punishment. The very next day after Mane was given his marching orders, Matt Richie was shown a yellow card for a high footed lunge towards Swansea's Alfie Mawson. Like Mane, Richie had the run on the ball which brings in the argument of excessive force and endangering the opponent, and like Mane, Richie had eyes only for the ball, no intent to hurt the man. The only difference is that Mawson avoided the complete contact, Ederson did not. If the rules of the sport state that a challenge that endangers an opponent should be met with a red card, then the outcome of the challenge is a mute point. Ederson's injury, as horrible as it was, should not mean Mane deserves a red and Richie does not. Now if Richie had been sent off, and every high footed foul ever had been punished with a red card then this argument would be a lot less fruitful, but you simply can't make a decision as big as the Mane sending off, if all of your peers, the other Premier League referee's, aren't reading from the same play book. 

You could argue that I'm picking at hairs which in all fairness I am. I agree that in the rules of the sport Mane was RIGHTLY given a red card, I just think that it's sad how the sport has developed into one where players should restrain from giving their all as they're running the risk of being given their marching orders. Mane was only ever going for the ball, you see it on every pitch, Premier League or Sunday League, every day of the week. This one isolated incident has been over examined (sorry about that) and it has brought up the same points that always come up when a red card causes controversy. On one side you have the black and white rules of the sport, what is and isn't allowed between the white lines. And on the other, we have interpretation, what a lot of people would say this sport is built on. The cherished 'bar room debate' is built on interpretation, four days after the red card was given I sat in a pub with my dad and uncle, debating the red card. On a table across the room, they were doing the same thing. In a world where some referee's are more inclined to give a red card then other for an almost identical incident, we are bound to continue to have incidents like the one you're reading about today. We also have to take a step back and see what football is becoming, more and more it is becoming a non contact sport. Maybe that is a bit extreme, but the 'no slide tackling' rule you're given in the primary school play grounds is seeping it's way into the professional game. A simple shoulder barge is now considered a foul and a yellow card, jumping for a header along side a goal keeper is a foul, basic body contact and the play is stopped. It may seem like I'm trying to argue a case against Mane's red card but I'm not, I understand that under the rules of the game it WAS a red card. What I am arguing against is the culture that football in this country is becoming, the hard tackling ways of the 1970's and 80's is long gone, and has been replaced with... well, exactly what i'm writing about today!

I may have gone off on a huge tangent about the state of modern football, but it's an argument that needs to be said! But overall should Mane have been sent off? Yes, under the laws of football it was the right call for Jon Moss to make. Now every other referee in the world just has to follow the same rules and we're golden.