I suppose it had to happen someday, although I wasn't sure that I would ever see
it in my lifetime. A television football pundit who actually consulted the Laws
of the Game before opening his mouth, and then agreeing with not just one but
two decisions by the referee.
Ally McCoist, the affable former Scottish
footballer, was giving his opinion on two incidents that occurred in the
Blackburn v Arsenal game on last Saturday' night's ITV's Premiership programme.
One incident favoured Blackburn, which was criticised by
Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal Manager, and the other against Blackburn w^as vehemently
condemned by their Manager, Graeme Souness. No change there then.
In the first incident Brad Friedel, Blackburn's American goalkeeper, had the
ball in his hands and as he went to drop kick it back into play, Thierry Henry
flicked out his foot which took the ball away from Friedel, and Henry was able
to put it into the open goal. 'No goal' said the referee.
Ally McCoist showed two possible references in the law. The actual clause which says 'an indirect free
kick will awarded if a player, in the opinion of the referee, prevents the
goalkeeper from releasing the ball from his hands,' and the more general indirect
free kick offence of 'playing in a dangerous manner'.
Although agreeing with the
decision, McCoist was quick to dismiss the dangerous play angle but it is worth
considering a little deeper. Friedel was halfway though his kick, when Henry put
his foot where the ball should have been. If Friedel had followed through he
could have kicked him instead. That would have been his hard luck, it might be
thought, but the law on dangerous play works both ways.
Take for instance a player who dives to head the ball just above ground height, when a defender is
trying to kick clear. It is the diver who is penalised for putting himself in danger.
The same ruling could be said to apply to Henry's action.
Advice on the application of the laws to referees, tells them that kicking or attempting to kick
the ball when it is in the goalkeeper's possession is considered
dangerous; raising the foot to block the ball as he kicks it from his hands is equally
dangerous.
Arsène Wenger's contention was that Friedel had already released the ball
from his hands in order to kick it. However to kick it clear he has to do that, a
goalkeeper can't actually kick the ball out of his own hands without releasing it.
If you don't believe me, try it. Had he put the ball on the ground prior to kicking
it, that would have been a different situation. Then he could have been said to
have released the ball.
The other incident was when Henry was flattened by a Blackburn's Craig
Short, running into him. The comments of the Blackburn player interviewed
after the game on television were interesting. 'The replay quite clearly shows
that I didn't touch him with my hands,' he said, 'so I shouldn't have been
penalised for pushing.'
This is an illusion that many players share, that pushing
is only with the hands. Pushing can be with almost any part of the body. A very
common push is with the chest. You can see this very often at what we call the
5 to 9 situation. In other words an attacker being closely marked by a defender.
When a high ball comes over, the defender pushes the forward, with a little
nudge of his chest. It's pushing. The Blackburn defender didn't make a tackle on
Henry, he simply ran into him, pushing him off the ball with his body.
I've always enjoyed Ally McCoist on my favourite television programme, 'A
Question of Sport', now I'll be able to take him more seriously as a football
pundit.
Dick Sawdon Smith