‘He has a record’ – Ex-refs chief blasts Anthony Taylor after what he saw in Chelsea vs Arsenal
Anthony Taylor left a lot to be desired following the referee’s performance during the Premier League clash between Chelsea and Arsenal.
That is according to former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, who exclusively told Football Insider that the referee needed to take more control after handing out multiple sanctions.
Moises Caicedo was rightly sent off during the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, 30 November, with seven other players going into Taylor’s notebook before the full-time whistle sounded.
Some supporters believe that Piero Hincapie was fortunate not to walk following an elbow on Trevoh Chalobah, and these incidents somewhat overshadowed the talent on show.
Anthony Taylor disappoints after Chelsea vs Arsenal scenes
Chalobah opened the scoring for Chelsea, despite the Gunners’ one-man advantage, before Mikel Merino got the visitors back on level terms during a thriller in West London.
The spotlight was fixed firmly on Bukayo Saka and Estevao in the lead-up to kick-off, but once the game was finished, debate continued over which players should have faced a harsher punishment.
Despite Hackett feeling that correct decisions had been made over Caicedo and Hincapie, there was still room for improvement in the referee’s performance, to say the least.
Four players were booked before the 30-minute mark, with another two being sanctioned, including Caicedo, before the half-time break, and Taylor could have made a bigger impact in stopping this.
Howard Webb sent a clear message about Taylor’s performance
Hackett, exclusively speaking to Football Insider on The Final Whistle, said: “I think we can always expect a fiery London derby. There’s no question about these two teams when they come together.
“There’s a lot of history. It’s easy to be wise afterwards, but the reality is, I wish Anthony Taylor had put his foot on the ball. What I mean by that is, at times, slow things down. Bring a bit of control.
“You want a degree of calmness. He has a record of issuing yellow cards rather quickly; he tried to keep them in his pocket, which is a credit to him.
“I do think I’d like him to stop the antics and impose his authority a little more strongly, to get players playing football and not the indiscipline that we saw.”