Gary Neville slams Curtis Jones’ red card decision in Liverpool loss against Tottenham
In a controversial moment during the Liverpool clash with Tottenham, Curtis Jones found himself at the centre of attention, and former Manchester United defender Gary Neville believes the young midfielder stood hard done by when he was at the receiving end of a straight red card.
Neville, speaking on Sky Sports, expressed his belief that the red card was harsh and that Jones had gone into the challenge genuinely. Here is what Neville had to say via the Daily Mail:
‘His foot just slips. He’s gone to tackle the ball. It’s not a red card but he’ll probably get one and it’ll ruin the game. You can look at that one of two ways. You slow it down all day long and it looks like a leg breaker. It’s one of the ones where he’s gone in genuinely and his foot has slipped.
‘I’m never sure anymore. My initial reaction is that wasn’t a player looking to do the opposition player.’
The incident occurred in the 25th minute when Jones lunged in with a tackle on Yves Bissouma. Initially, referee Simon Hooper showed Jones a yellow card for the challenge. However, Hooper walked to the VAR screen, resulting in a significant delay in the game. After the review, Jones’s yellow card stood rescinded, and instead, the 22-year-old Scouser saw himself sent off.
The former defender’s commentary sheds light on the ongoing debate in football about how tackles are assessed and whether the intent should be the sole determining factor in issuing cards. In this case, Neville firmly believed that Jones’s intent was not malicious, despite the initial appearance of the challenge.
Was Curtis’ red deserved?
The incident, which led to Jones’s sending off, certainly added a layer of drama to the match, with both fans and pundits offering their opinions on the decision.
While some may argue that the red card was justified, Neville’s perspective underscores the complexity of assessing such situations in real time. However, the repercussions are only on Liverpool’s part as Jones can now not take part in our next three Premier League games. Heading into these tough games without one of our most important players is never going to be easy and it will give Jurgen Klopp a headache, and a bad one at that.
The nature of this red card shall continue to be a topic of discussion in the coming few weeks, at least in the Liverpool circles.
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It’s yet another example of the challenges referees face in making quick decisions, sometimes to the detriment of the game. In this case, it appears the referees may have made a rather questionable call.
