The former referees’ chief Keith Hackett has called on Howard Webb to come out of retirement to improve the standard of refereeing, and accused Roger East of “guessing incorrectly” in dismissing Wes Brown instead of John O’Shea at Old Trafford.
East claimed there had been two fouls on Radamel Falcao in the 63rd-minute incident that helped swing the game Manchester United’s way and he had decided Brown’s was the more serious, though neither Gus Poyet nor countless television replays suggested Brown had done anything wrong. The referee also failed to explain why O’Shea was exonerated after pulling Falcao to the ground.
Webb retired last year to become the technical director of Professional Games Match Officials Limited, an organisation once headed by Hackett, who now thinks that, at 43, Webb still has a contribution to make on the pitch.
“Referees are making big mistakes, week in, week out,” Hackett said. “They need some leadership and the guy who is at the top [Mike Riley] needs to front up. I don’t know what Howard is doing behind the scenes but we should be encouraging him to come back as a referee.”
Hackett described the East decision as an error. “It was another refereeing error, we are seeing it pretty often,” he said. “I don’t know if the referee was trying to be too clever or naive. He’s guessed, incorrectly, and dismissed the player, which is a real cardinal sin.”
Sunderland will appeal Brown’s red card but East’s confusion gave a tedious game a prominence it scarcely deserved. But for the penalty incident there would have been little else to talk about. For Louis van Gaal the end justifies the means. United climbing to third place by beating a pallid Sunderland enabled their manager to turn a deaf ear to all the boos for backwards passing and concerns over the alarmingly scant contributions of Ángel di María and Falcao.
“I don’t agree that we are not playing well,” Van Gaal said, when it was put to him that picking up points while playing untidily is often the sign of a successful team. “You cannot reach third place by playing bad. That is not possible.”
As was the case when Van Gaal bemoaned his squad’s lack of a 20-goal a season striker while ignoring the fact he has been playing the most likely candidate in midfield, the manager’s logic seemed faulty. By any measure United are not playing well. Falcao is not being given the sort of service on which he can thrive, and United are not getting the best out of the £60m Di María, who continues to look as if he would rather be anywhere else in the world and managed only 45 minutes of a particularly unproductive afternoon before being substituted.
Yet the United being jeered by their own fans are on course for a Champions League place, as they have been for most of the season. Defeat at Swansea last week, the result that Van Gaal blamed for his side’s nervousness in the first half, was only the second in three months. United must be doing something right, even if the suspicion remains the chasing pack are not snapping at their heels aggressively enough. Tottenham and Liverpool both get the chance to take points off United this month and if they fail to take it they can have no complaints at the end of the season.
For a long time at Old Trafford it appeared Sunderland might be able to take points off United, though they seemed to want only a share and ultimately paid the price for not being sharp enough to accept a series of early chances presented by United’s carelessness on the ball. Connor Wickham and Jermain Defoe both brought saves from David de Gea after United had meekly surrendered possession, before Van Gaal’s introduction of Adnan Januzaj for Di María strengthened the home side’s sense of purpose.
Even then it took the penalty to break the deadlock, and though Van Gaal praised Falcao’s skill in turning O’Shea to win it, he did not attempt to disguise the fact that at the time he was preparing to send on Marouane Fellaini in his place. Rooney followed his spot-kick with his first goal of the year from open play to lend the scoreline a more convincing look, when United’s performance had been anything but.
Van Gaal expressed himself dissatisfied with United’s last home win, against Burnley, though at least Sean Dyche’s side provided lively opposition. With Defoe failing to menace an at times disorganised defence and Jordi Gómez and Adam Johnson anonymous in midfield, the only liveliness detectable from Sunderland was provided by their commendable terrace support.
Man of the match Ander Herrera (Manchester United)