Howard Webb makes sure that....

[Swordsman75]

Too many people have been listening to Mark Lawrenson. He was slating Web for not sending off 2 Dutch players in the first half. If Webb had sent them off, Lawrenson would have slated him for loosing control and ruining the world cup final. Webb held the game together, and the entertainment value went up and up as it got towards the end. Tough game for any ref, I think he did well - and the right team won.

 

[viscount17]

where's the answer, simple - take a few lessons from Rugby.
kick the ball away - advance the free kick 10 yards; don't retire - same thing, time wasting - add double the time.
football has got itself in a bind by the instance on booking for silly little things, like taking one's shirt off - treat it as time wasting.
best of all the sin bin - a couple of the dutch sin binned in the first half would have sorted things, not that the spanish were angels by any means.
. . . and football has got to get the wrestling sorted out, throughout the WC it's been some of the worst and most blatant that I've seen .

 

[thecraw]

Webb spoiled the World Cup final by being incompetent and inept. He should have stamped his authority on the game from the off to stop the Dutch booting seven shades of shyte out of the Spanish.

How Webb can ever justify that brutal assault by Van Bommell (I think) the chest high full force kick into the chest and not produce a red card I will never know. It was a stone wall red card offence and he bottled it. 100% total bottle.

If on the other hand he had the balls to grab the game by the short and curlies early on it could have settled down into a decent spectacle.

Spanish deserved to win and I'm glad they did, the Dutch deserve no praise for their tactics and part in the final.

As for Webb, well its clear to see FIFA got that decision spectacularly wrong! You could see the yellow stripe running down his back.

 

[brendy]

Webb is a believer in flowing football, he tried to let as much of the game flow as possible. Perhaps he didnt want to send anyone off too early as that would virtually sign the match over to the other team.
If I was Webb, I would have been over to the managers and told them to sort their rabble out. They are allegedly in charge of the teams and to let them play like that was an embarassment to the game.
Can you imagine being a dutch fan and paying to go down to SA and see your team turn up with hobnail boots on determined to kick their way to a win, only for it to backfire bigtime.

 

[Redwood]

I'm a big believer in letting the game flow, but isn't this a big part of the problem with referee'ing these day - consistency!!!?

If the foul on Alonso was a red, which it was, he's GOT to send him off, end of, forget spoiling the final, it's the rules.

Another thing I don't get, is players insisting to ref's that if they foul someone and he's going to show a yellow, they protest that it is their first offence...tough, if it's a yellow mate, it's a yellow, you're in the book.

At the end of the day the referee's know what should be a booking and what should be a sending off. It isn't up to them to interpret those rules to fit the occassion, in my view.

 

[Ethan]

I think Webb did a good job in difficult circumstances. The Dutch were very disappointing with their intent to stick to dirty and aggressive play. I followed Holland in the 70s and thought they deserved a WC cup, and the teams of the late 80s/early 90s were great deserving teams too. This lot deserved a good collective arse kicking, and in the end, that is what they got from Spain.

 

[stevek1969]

Personally i think you could have put anyone to referee it and the outcome would be the same. Van Bommel and De Jong have got away with it for years,bearing in mind Van Bommels only playing because his father in law is the manager.

They had there chances but Casillas was up to it and thats the type of keeper he is ,he uses all his body and has done for years,the Dutch were not themselves they changed there style of play for one game why ?

The Spanish were the best and thats the way football should be played its the way i tell the kids to play always look for the pass and let the ball do the work and for the amount of big name players in that team they played as a team, very refreshing to see.

 

[CrapHacker]

If Webb had sent anyone off in the first 20 minutes he'd have been accused of ruining the game. He punished the fouls as best he could without resorting to a red card. After that he was relying on the players to play the game properly.

The blame is on the players and the managers.

I think, in hindsight, he would have been better off sending off De Jong, but at the time he was expecting a yellow card to make sure De Jong resisted his natural urges to kill and maim. What he wasn't expecting was for the Dutch to take it in turns to try to ruin the game.

I think the 'spoiling tactics' were premeditated and calculated to give the Dutch the best chance of kicking Spain off the park.

Personally I believe their manager should have a 6 match ban for promoting such tactics. Like Shearer said - if it had been a first round game, Webb would have happily sent one or two off. The Dutch knew he would have instructions to try to keep the game the showpiece it should be, and they deserve to be kicked out of the next tournament, but of course they won't receive any punishment for it.

That sort of performance has no place in the World Cup.

The only genuine mistake I saw was not giving the Dutch a corner late in the game. Everything else relates to not punishing players by the letter of the law. But then we're the only country that actually doesn't give the refs any leeway with that. Every other country allows the refs to be lenient if it keeps the game even.

 

[CrapHacker]

PS

Nice to see the correct interpretation of the offside law.

How many time in this tournament have we seen offside given the old fashioned way ?

Another positive to our guys.

 

[freddielong]

The english are not a forgotten race at the World Cup by making sure he has a cock of a performance tonight and costing the Dutch the chance of the trophy by missing stonewall penalties/free kicks and corners.......best ref in the world my arse,he is just another overrated product from an overrated league.

I always say you can only comment if you watch the game, you obviously didn't - the Dutch were horrible if anything he helped the Dutch by leaving them with 11 for so long, and he shoud have sent Robben off near the end.

 

[thecraw]

If Webb had sent anyone off in the first 20 minutes he'd have been accused of ruining the game. He punished the fouls as best he could without resorting to a red card. After that he was relying on the players to play the game properly.

The blame is on the players and the managers.

I think, in hindsight, he would have been better off sending off De Jong, but at the time he was expecting a yellow card to make sure De Jong resisted his natural urges to kill and maim. What he wasn't expecting was for the Dutch to take it in turns to try to ruin the game.

I think the 'spoiling tactics' were premeditated and calculated to give the Dutch the best chance of kicking Spain off the park.

Personally I believe their manager should have a 6 match ban for promoting such tactics. Like Shearer said - if it had been a first round game, Webb would have happily sent one or two off. The Dutch knew he would have instructions to try to keep the game the showpiece it should be, and they deserve to be kicked out of the next tournament, but of course they won't receive any punishment for it.

That sort of performance has no place in the World Cup.

The only genuine mistake I saw was not giving the Dutch a corner late in the game. Everything else relates to not punishing players by the letter of the law. But then we're the only country that actually doesn't give the refs any leeway with that. Every other country allows the refs to be lenient if it keeps the game even.

So you agree he bottled it then! Does it matter it was the WC final? No! Webb bottled the decisions that needed to be made, the correct and obvious decisions, he clearly got them wrong and in the process ruined the world cup final with his inept display.

What does it matter if it was the first or second round or the final. If a player deserves to walk for breaking the rules, he deserves to walk. Simple.

Webb endangered the careers of 22 individuals, with his shocking display.

 

[Redwood]

Webb endangered the careers of 22 individuals, with his shocking display.

I'm not so sure the Dutch were in any danger!!!

 

[brendy]

I think that was a little dramatic, Id say Howard was in a no win situation, where the Dutch automatically put themselves in a lose lose situation by their own decision to play dirty and not persue the game.

 

[Redwood]

I think that was a little dramatic, Id say Howard was in a no win situation, where the Dutch automatically put themselves in a lose lose situation by their own decision to play dirty and not persue the game.

OK, but what if the Dutch would have won. He would have been slaughtered for leaving Van Bommel, De Jong, Sneijder on the pitch and giving the Dutch an unfair advantage when they arguably should have been sent off.

He should have done his job, which was to officiate (is that a word?) the game to the rules, and he did not do that.

 

[toonarmy]

Iniesta gets Heitinga booked for him (Iniesta) stamping on Heitinga's foot, a fact completely ignored by all commentators. He then gets him booked again and dismissed for taking a swan-dive after minimal contact.

Webb books a Dutch player *after* the whining of the Spanish for something he didn't even award a free kick for or see.

He penalises Robben for the only time in his life that he was honest and stayed on his feet by not awarding the free kick and sending off Puyol.

He misses a huge deflection off Fabregas AND a save by Casillas and gives a goal kick on 115min, shortly before Spain's goal.

He bottles the obvious foul on Elia immediately prior to Spaion's goal as it was close to the area and he was clearly unsure if it was in or out and obviously did not want to give a penalty, so chose not to give anything.

Iniesta takes umbrage at Van Bommel's foul (and if refs during the tournament let VB get away with it, he's going to carry on doing it...) and exacts off-the-ball revenge and isn't booked.

Several Spanish players were clearly seen to be brandishing imaginary cards, which is in itself still an automatic booking, and none of them were.

Graham Poll said Webb did a great job. Poll gives players three yellow cards - 'nuff said.

I didn't care who won last night. However, with the constant diving and surrounding of the ref by the Spanish, the usual Howard Webb favouring the 'bigger' team, the anachronistic drivel of Hansen and the fact that Holland did exactly what Mourinho does every time he plays a better opponent and it's apparently genius when he does it but thuggery if someone else does, all contributed to me hoping the Dutch would win in the end.

Actually, I really wanted a penalty shoot-out just to see two rubbish penalty teams go at it.

Spain - a bit like Barcelona's reserve team. Similar style of play but without the goals or same level of joy to behold.

Holland - any team that plays Kuyt can't really be allowed to win a World Cup. And I still remember Rotterdam, so fudge 'em.

Oh, and a note to Guy Mowbray - Spain are not a 'great footballing nation'. Prior to 2008, they had never got past a major tournament's Q-Final stage. Winning two comps in two years does not give them a history, just like Chelsea.

World Cups are still the mutt's nuts though. Don't let the money men convince you that club football is better - it isn't. When it's your country, it means so much more (unless you play for England it would seem...)

 

[Redwood]

Don't let the money men convince you that club football is better - it isn't. When it's your country, it means so much more (unless you play for England it would seem...)

Great, I've got a Mag putting it in writing that he prefers to watch England than his beloved Toon!!!

 

[Deleted member 1418]

Actually thought the World Cup final was rubbish, so switched off after 20 minutes and watched Top Gear!!

 

[BROOKIE]

Its typical that the most boring match of the world cup,its the referee who gets the blame,the dutch never came to the game..end of story..thugs is word that comes to mind

 

[birdieman]

Actually thought the World Cup final was rubbish, so switched off after 20 minutes and watched Top Gear!!

The final is always rubbish in terms of beautiful football but it's the sheer tension from the glory of the awaiting prize that is palpable. The game was really tense and very enjoyable because it was close. Webb tried to let the game flow but couldn't. Maybe he should've been harder but as others have said FIFA wanted a spectacle, not a debacle. I think his hands were tied in that respect. The Dutch perhaps knew that and tried to exploit it which wasn't in the spirit of the game.
Re the Mourinho comment he doesn't send teams out to physically assault the opposition, he sets them up defensively, there is a difference.
It's an event that comes round only every 4 years and every one of those Spanish lads will be legends in their own country forever more.
The sheer joy on the winners faces is wonderful.

 

[Nikki]

Well, to me the dutch were playing a Feyenoord style play, so they lost...

Whereas in 98 they (in my eyes) they should have won, when they were playing a more Ajax style football...

This is the thought of a Ajax fan living in Rotterdam region (not a good idea)...

Some thuggery on my behalf...