Clash of the Titans

It was billed as the biggest game of the season so far - the top two clubs in Europe meeting at Stamford Bridge. Indeed that match was just one of the key fixtures of an eventful weekend, which also saw one of the worst gaffes yet witnessed in the world of refereeing.

But lets start at Stamford Bridge. England's most experienced top level referee, Mike Riley, was in charge as Chelsea met Manchester United. The game itself was a bit of a disappointment. Although it had its moments, it was stop-start and rather scrappy. Unfortunately Riley didn't really help it as a spectacle either.

He elected to employ, from start to finish, safe refereeing, penalising every minor infringement in order to retain control of proceedings. In terms of retaining control, this succeeded, and there were no major flashpoints. However, in terms of allowing a free flowing game of football, this approach was stifling. At various points I was shaking my head at the softness of the decisions Riley was giving, and doubtless the players were frustrated too. It appears to be Riley's style - he handles things in a way more often seen on the continent, and in Spain and Italy that sort of performance would be the norm. But in England, players and fans like to see an open, free-flowing game, and Riley's style is not suited to this.

Another advantage of the safe approach is that it should reduce the number of cards needed to keep control. Yet Riley showed eight yellows, including seven to Manchester United. Some of these were undoubtedly harsh, and it could possibly be said that if he was totally consistent in his approach he would have reached double figures. Some of them I agreed with - Ronaldo's booking, for example, for actions which showed a blatant lack of respect, as he appears an arrogant know-it-all who is far from perfect, taking at least one clear dive earlier in the game. However, the game didn't really have many bad tackles, and so for it to end up with eight yellow cards you have to feel that something has gone wrong somewhere.

At least the one big decision Riley had to make he got correct. It was the penalty appeal for Van Der Sar on Malouda, where Van Der Sar takes the ball, so I think no penalty is the correct decision.

Controlling games is one of the key skills of refereeing. Knowing when to let things go and when to clamp down is not easy. Its a delicate balancing act between interfering too much and losing control. Riley did not strike this balance at all, and didn't even give the game a chance to flow. If he'd given it a chance, seen it going out of control and then clamped down, then fair enough. However, he didn't, and its something that we've seen from him before, and is why he is not one of my favourite referees on the Premier League. Mike Dean is perhaps my favourite referee at the moment, and I always enjoy watching him. He handled the West Midlands Derby well, and although there were frequent stoppages and probably a similar number of fouls to the Chelsea game, it didn't seem that way because of the way in which Dean refereed it. He played (as always) stacks of advantages, and gave the impression that he could strike that balance better. It may not have been perfect, but it was an improvement. As referees, we need to contribute to the spectacle and not make life difficult for the players by being overbearing. Rio Ferdinand's frustration at the bizarre conclusion to the game said it all. Not a disastrous performance from Mike Riley, but certainly not a good one.

At least Riley didn't give a goal that clearly wasn't a goal, and in fact didn't go between the posts! For those of you who haven't yet seen the incident, take a look here. Referee Stuart Attwell bizarrely awarded a goal on the advice of his assistant Nigel Bannister. It is a baffling decision by the two, and while the assistant was fooled by an optical illusion, it mystifies me how the Premier League's youngest ever referee could not see that the ball didn't go anywhere near the goal. The referee takes ultimate responsibility for all decisions, and I don't why he didn't intervene and overrule his assistant here. What harm it will do to his chances of continuing the rapid progress he has been making remains to be seen.

We are not finished yet - next there is the controversial disallowed goal at Anfield in Liverpool's match against Stoke. It appears to have been ruled out for offside, with referee Andre Marriner taking the view that one of the Liverpool players interfered with play, even though he didn't touch Gerrard's free kick. Thats not an unreasonable interpretation, although the initial offside decision is marginal. It was probably wrong, but for Liverpool to blame their defeat on this one incident is ridiculous - they did after all have 88 minutes to still try and score and yet failed. Typical Benitez - an excellent result one week, a poor one the next.

I went to see Nottingham Forest play Charlton this week, and saw a distinctly unimpressive performance by young Football League referee Karl Evans. He looked out of his depth, turning down a Charlton penalty claim and harshly sending off Forest substitute Matt Thornhill in an incident-packed game. He, like Riley, was far too fussy for my liking, and Forest boss Colin Calderwood said that he felt like both teams were playing against 12 men! I could extemporise at length about Evans's performance, but I think that's enough discussion for one week! Lets hope I don't have to write as much next week!