Reece James has just been given a straight red card for kicking out at Brighton player Joao Pedro, who had just fouled him twice in two seconds.
The ref didn’t see it, but VAR summoned him over, and from that moment it always felt like James would walk.
Sure, without doubt it’s very silly and petulant from Reece James and he can only blame himself. But let’s be real, it wasn’t dangerous or even very violent. It was more of a frustrated push. The double foul from Pedro on James which caused him to go down was at least as dangerous and violent.
Surely if you’re going to go through the hassle of making a ref watch it so many times, they should have the discretion to decide between a petulant kick or a truly dangerous piece of violent conduct?
Still, James just doesn’t need to do this. It’s not the first time this season either.
You can see the incident in the clips embedded here and decide for yourself whether it was worth a red:
Reece James red card.
Injured all season. Played few minutes and gave an assist last game, hyped as best RB of England😂https://t.co/fCWT1dARAC
— THE RED ARMY (@nischal_15) May 15, 2024
Just compare it to the NFL block from Tariq Lamptey in the first half that VAR didn’t take issues with:
So Reece James gets a red, but not this guy? pic.twitter.com/MJVkjMVxOR
— Adefuye (@emmanueladefuye) May 15, 2024
VAR are maddeningly inconsistent! And it happens week after week. Everyone can accept if the on-field referee misses a call here or there, but for VAR to send the ref to the monitor on James and NOT on Lamptey is farcical. At least let him see the play again and make his own decision. For a player to receive a blow to the head resulting in a potential concussion and for it not to warrant a closer look makes VAR look like a joke.
If I’d been out for three months, I’d have also tried to protect myself from being trampled on.