Hackett demands big Premier League change as Collymore shares damning Chelsea v Man City verdict
Keith Hackett has heaped praise on Antonio Mateu Lahoz for his old school refereeing performance in the Champions League final between Manchester City and Chelsea.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-FIFA and Premier League official called on English top-flight officials to copy the Spaniard’s style of showing his personality.
High-profile pundit Stan Collymore also lavished praise on Mateu Lohoz on Twitter for letting the game flow.
The game passed without major controversy and Chelsea lifted the Champions League trophy for the second time after their 1-0 win over City.
“I’m coming from an era where that’s what we used to do,” Hackett told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“I was personally encouraged to use my own personality and my own style. Nobody said ‘You can’t do that, you’re over-exuberant.’ They just allowed you to referee the match.
“What we’ve gone to is taking away the personality and the only one with any personality is Mike Dean. The rest are scientific in their approach and there’s no personality.
“Think of a guy running a sweet shop, youngsters come in to buy sweets and he’ll be chatting to them all the time. A good salesman chats. That’s what referees need to do. They need to sell their decisions.
“That’s what this referee was doing. I agree with Stan Collymore that this was an old-fashioned approach. He didn’t interfere too much and allowed the game to flow. Good on him. With that came the confidence of the players.”
In other news, Chelsea have been told to offer these three big names in part exchange for Harry Kane after a huge reveal.