Arne Slot won’t be inviting Michael Oliver around for a cuppa anytime soon, we suspect…
The normally mild-mannered Liverpool head coach was unable to hide his displeasure at the referee at the full-time whistle in the Merseyside derby on Wednesday night, with the Dutchman’s frustration boiling over after his team were on the wrong end of some contentious and crucial decisions.
The 46-year-old shook the official’s hand vigorously and was promptly shown a red card, with that impetuous act by the whistler leaving the Reds boss utterly bewildered.
Slot will be fuming over double standards from Oliver
If Slot already felt peeved at that point, he’ll be incandescent when he discovers that Oliver has seemingly employed double standards.
The same referee was in charge of Liverpool’s 3-1 home win over Manchester City in November 2019, after which visiting manager Pep Guardiola pointedly shook the official’s hand in an aggressive manager in a clear sign of annoyance over some decisions in that game (as per @TheAnfieldBuzz on X).
Was the Spaniard then shown a red card, the same that Slot was for a similar action last night? Ha, no chance.
Pep Guardiola aggressively shakes Michael Oliver’s hand, no card. However, Arne Slot does it and he receives a red card.
Incompetent. pic.twitter.com/ALiwSctgaP
— The Anfield Buzz (@TheAnfieldBuzz) February 12, 2025
Look at Arne Slot’s handshake for Michael Oliver. pic.twitter.com/PpaWXUUwyQ
— Samuel (@SamueILFC) February 12, 2025
Why was Slot treated differently from Guardiola?
It’s unclear as of now just what the LFC head coach said to Oliver at full-time on Wednesday, but if it wasn’t that which prompted the red card but rather the handshake, it’s frankly ridiculous from the referee.
It also exposed that he’s treated two similar incidents differently – if Guardiola wasn’t red-carded in 2019, why was Slot given such a punishment (which means he must now serve a touchline ban against Wolves on Sunday)?
That wasn’t the only case of double standards which went against Liverpool last night. Despite a marginal offside from Abdoulaye Doucoure in the build-up to James Tarkowski’s equaliser, the goal was allowed to stand for a ‘built-in tolerance level’? Where was that for Sadio Mane when Jordan Henderson’s strike at Goodison Park in 2020 was chalked off by VAR?
Referees are never going to get absolute consensus on the countless subjective decisions that they make in every match, but all we ask as lovers of the game is for fairness and consistency, commodities which are often sorely lacking in the Premier League.
Hopefully the impact of losing Slot from the touchline on Sunday won’t impede the Reds’ quest for a much-needed victory at the end of what’s been a miserable week for the club.
The post Michael Oliver’s double standards exposed as Slot treated differently to top-flight counterpart appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.
