Webb's big match blues

Today we had another of the encounters between two of the so-called 'big four' clubs - Manchester United vs Chelsea. And, yet again, it was refereed by Howard Webb. This is the seventh such encounter so far this season, and the fifth which Webb has refereed. The two exceptions are the reverse of today's fixture, which was whistled to extinction by Mike Riley, and Chelsea vs Arsenal, which Mike Dean handled well. Now, Webb is definitely our best referee at the moment, but for him to have such a monopoly over the big games can't be good. It implies that no-one else is capable of doing them, and should Webb get injured or something similar, then the authorities would have a bit of a problem. Over-reliance on one referee to do the games can be dangerous. Furthermore, there must be other referees who deserve a shot at refereeing one of these games. What must others think they have to do to receive such an appointment?

More of that later, and to the match itself. The first half undoubtedly contained the most action, and several talking points. Webb set an early marker with a harsh yellow card to Frank Lampard for a tackle which was wildly overexaggerated by Cristiano Ronaldo. The game was quite tense, which probably necessitated frequent interruptions, although Webb could have let things flow a little more, and missed several advantage opportunities. However, Webb then had a couple of big calls to make, both of which would have sent out a message to the rest of the footballing world. And he didn't make them.

Rewind seven months. Austria vs Poland, Euro 2008. An English referee by the name of Webb gave a late penalty for the offence of holding by a defender at a set piece. Fast forward again. So why didn't the same referee give a penalty today, when Carvalho clearly impeded Ronaldo at a Manchester United free kick? I don't know. The offence committed by Carvalho far surpassed any committed by Ronaldo, who was penalised for something - I don't know what. Both then received rather unnecessary yellow cards for a minor altercation. I fail to see that Ronaldo did anything wrong (and I am not a fan of his at all!). Here was a chance to give a high-profile penalty award for such an offence, but Webb wasn't brave enough.

Worse was to follow. Bosingwa was doing a good job of shepherding the ball out of play near his own goalline, when Rooney came in and hacked at him. Foul, and Webb gave the free kick. Possibly a yellow card for the foul, but perhaps not. But Rooney then decided he didn't like the decision, and in one of the worst shows of dissent we have seen all season, berated Webb. Webb tried to pacify him, and eventually Rooney calmed down, but only at about the fourth attempt. Respect? There was none from Rooney. He is a great footballer, but his temper gets the better of him all too frequently. The only way he will learn is if he is disciplined for it, which means yellow and red cards. I know Webb was trying to manage him, but it was clearly failing, so he should just have given up and showed him yellow. Later in the same half, following an incident which I will discuss shortly, Rooney dissented in a similar way and received no sanction - he could have been receiving a second yellow at that point. If Rooney's dissent is seen to be acceptable, then players on parks all across the country will do the same in their next game, giving grief to all those referees at grass roots level. This was exactly what the Respect campaign was designed to sort out, but here Webb has missed a big opportunity to enforce it, in a game watched by millions across the world.

The later incident I referred to above is the rather bizarre one which occured just before half-time. Manchester United tried to play a clever trick from a corner, by letting Rooney take it short, and then waiting before Giggs took up the ball. It is best seen on video. The officials disallowed the goal which was then scored from Giggs' cross, as the corner was deemed not to have been taken properly. It had been, but I understand that Darren Cann, the assistant referee, thought it hadn't been. Had Rooney informed him that he was taking it early, then the problem would have been solved. I would probably have done the same as Cann in the situation, although what United did was legal. In the end, they scored from the retake anyway, so it matters little.

The second half was much less eventful, albeit littered with yellow cards. Apart from the Ronaldo penalty and the corner incident, I felt United got the rub of the green (as they often do at Old Trafford). I think some of the cards Webb gave were avoidable, and he missed some opportunities to let it flow. United deserved their win over a lacklustre Chelsea.

In one word, I'd describe Webb's performance as "safe". His attitude to the game, the early yellow card, and his unwillingness to make the bigger calls described above were all "safe". And by that I don't mean good. Our top referee should be making those calls. And herein lies the problem with the appointments situation. They say that familiarity breeds contempt, and I think Webb is too familiar with handling these big games in a safe way. He errs on the side of caution all the time - if he doesn't do them all, then he might be less afraid to make some of the bigger calls. He doesn't want to upset the clubs involved as he knows he'll meet them again soon. Its time for some fresh blood on these big games - a fresh approach, and someone who will make the big calls. Today, Webb didn't do that. He shouldn't be excluded from getting these games, but they should certainly be shared around a lot more.