Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenberg has weighed in on the Virgil Van Dijk red card with a surprising take on the situation.
It must have been opposite day in the ESPN studios yesterday after Liverpool‘s sickening win over Newcastle United.
Former Liverpool player Steve Nicol was in the studio testifying about how Virgil Van Dijk was right to see red after bringing down Alexander Isak on the edge of the area.
Steve Nicol was 100% adamant that Van Dijk should be sent off
ESPN host Dan Thomas asked the question, for all he clearly didn’t buy into what he was saying, that should he have been let off as Isak wasn’t in control of the ball – much like Jamie Carragher‘s take on Sky Sports.
Steve Nicol wasn’t having any of it, saying: “I don’t understand how that can even come into play that he didn’t have control of the ball. A – because he didn’t have the chance to control the ball. B – He wouldn’t have controlled the ball anyway he’d have let the ball run through which would have put him through.”
At that point Dan Thomas chimed in with: “Mark Clattenberg text me and said I understand the call that it’s a foul the referee thinks it’s denying a goalscoring opportunity. I never thought red at the time and I still do not think it’s a clear and obvious red card.”
Newcastle fan Mark Clattenberg didn’t agree with the ref on Van Dijk
Later in the show Thomas said that former Premier League referee Clattenberg also agreed that Trent Alexander-Arnold didn’t deserve a second yellow either.
Mark Clattenberg is a Newcastle fan so it seems very strange that he’d be the one saying Van Dijk shouldn’t have been sent off, especially as it’s a former Liverpool player who agrees with the decision.
It sounds like Newcastle were lucky Clattenberg wasn’t allowed to referee any of our games if that’s how he sees things.
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