What our writers think of Haaland’s response to Simon Hooper
It’s the photo that defined last weekend’s Premier League action – and sparked debate around the world.
Erling Haaland reacted wildly on Sunday to referee Simon Hooper’s decision not to play an advantage in the closing stages of the 3-3 draw between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. Haaland was fouled in the City half but Hooper initially appeared to signal an advantage when Haaland released the ball but pulled the play back with Jack Grealish free on goal.
Haaland – and other City players – protested at Hooper on the pitch. The attacker also reposted a clip of the incident on Twitter with the comment “Wtf.”
City have now also been charged by the Football Association over the way their players surrounded Hooper, with the FA claiming that “the club failed to ensure that their players do not behave in an inappropriate manner.”
There has been a lot of discussion about refereeing in England in recent weeks, especially after Mikel Arteta’s reaction to Anthony Gordon’s goal in Newcastle midway through last month.
Here, The Athletics experts give their thoughts on the photo – and Haaland’s reaction.
It’s a terrible image. I understand the frustration, but when it boils over like this – shouting in a referee’s face, shouting “F*** off” – it is unacceptable and inexcusable. We can all explain the frustration easily enough as it was clear Simon Hooper should have played the advantage, but you can’t possibly excuse a referee being rushed like that.
The FA cannot allow this to go unpunished either. 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 into fourth official John Brooks’ face this year, the game must send a strong message that this kind of behavior cannot be tolerated.
It was one of those decisions that would drive you crazy. But players must 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 apart from missing a match through suspension, I would like to see offending players and managers required to referee a primary match as part of their sanction. It might teach them that it’s not as easy as they think.
Oliver Kay
(Neal Simpson/EMPICS via Getty Images)
Once upon a time there was a Sunday referee in the league.
The general feeling I had, especially at hectic moments in matches, was that you could forgive a lot of things during the first three to five seconds of instinctive annoyance, especially when as a referee you know you’ve made a mistake.
But in addition, players and coaches must be able to regain a sense of perspective. So the initial frustration – albeit imperfect in a still frame – isn’t a big deal for me.
The melodramatic unleashing of Haaland’s golden locks, his frenzied punch off the pitch and the subsequent ‘Wtf’ tweet (viewed over 50 million times), piling the pressure on a referee, probably requires at least a reminder of his responsibilities .
For what it’s worth, I’m not convinced that Grealish necessarily had the pace to run through and score, with a few defenders also sprinting back, and a more likely cause of City not winning the game on Sunday was sloppy defending and Haaland’s unusually erratic manner. finish.
Adam Crafton
The freeze frame looks bad, just like that of Klopp versus Brooks.
I have a certain sympathy for it because when you play you get caught up in the moment, it’s harder to control your emotions and it’s a shock to a decision that may deny them a victory. We are all guilty of it.
But no one can argue that players surrounding the referees is a good thing. They look like moody kids on a schoolyard.
One thing rugby union gets right that football doesn’t is the respect shown to referees.
Tom Burrows
To think that women have been told throughout the ages that we are the over-emotional ones…
I’m just kidding, but the photo clearly doesn’t look good. Maybe it’s just unfortunate timing. After all, any number of players or managers can be guilty of it – this isn’t just an Erling Haaland problem. But it does say something about the relationship between the football world and referees at the moment.
Referees are taking abuse at a level never seen before and we are losing too many in the game for it to be sustainable. At the same time, fans’ and players’ trust in them has never been lower, and the risks and rewards based on the outcome of individual decisions have never been higher.
Please send answers on how to rebuild the bridge of trust and respect between referees and footballers on a postcard addressed to Mr H Webb, PGMOL headquarters.
@tifofootball_ Referees now have their own TV show #Referees #VAR #Eredivisie #Football #Football ♬ 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 the intensity of it. There is a correct way to express yourself. But the emotional reaction is normal in that photo, and you shouldn’t be punished for that. That’s also partly why comparisons with rugby union don’t always work, because football is much more fluid and less stop-start.
That said, persistent negative reactions on the pitch and after the match (e.g. Haaland’s histrionics here or Arsenal’s statement after Arteta’s reaction to refereeing decisions) are where you probably need penalties.
In the City-Spurs game it is clearly a referee error. Hooper knows that. It’s a big mistake, but he doesn’t need to be attacked for it. It’s not like there weren’t other mistakes made during the match, such as missing an open goal…
The idea of a sin bin for dissent is a good thing in principle, but there is room for it to be abused. I recently played in a sin bin match in the Sunday league where someone was constantly and unnecessarily talking to a referee. The sin bin worked. When he got back on the field, he had cooled down and said nothing to the referee. The referee played an excellent match, which was easier to manage.
If you cross the line, you should be punished. In principle, that doesn’t happen enough in football. Enforcement of dissent has been too lax for too long.
Peter Rutzler
It’s a disgusting reaction and there’s no place for it, just as there was no place for Klopp’s tantrum at the fourth official. This stuff is important, it builds up and it seeps down the pyramid, a steady stream of percolating toxicity that ends with grown men shouting at teenage referees in the park on the weekend because their under-nines’ team didn’t get a penalty .
The referee has made a mistake, and it is a big one, but it is worth remembering that he has run over 10km at this point, that he is not being paid hundreds of thousands of pounds a week and that, as far as I remember, made as many glaring mistakes as Haaland that afternoon.
But what struck me most was that we’ve just spent two weeks whining about VARs and screaming for a return to the days when referees just refereed and we all carried on. Well, this was a referee being a referee and people are still crazy and whining about conspiracies.
Maybe the problem isn’t with the referees…
Iain Macintosh
How did Pep Guardiola react to the incident?
City manager Pep Guardiola defended Haaland but refused to criticize Hooper for the decision.
“Sometimes the referees drive me crazy, but not here. People can always make mistakes,” he said.
“I was surprised that he blew his whistle when Erling went down, but after he got back up and made the pass, the referee gestured to continue playing. But when the ball went to Jack, the whistle came.”
Asked about Haaland, Guardiola said: “It’s normal.
“He’s a little disappointed. Even the referee: if he were to play for Manchester City today, he would be disappointed with this action, that’s for sure.
“But I would say that’s why we didn’t draw.”
(Top photo: Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)