Liverpool

Mac Aillister red card has been overtuned by English fa

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1 year ago

August 22, 2023

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Alexis Mac Allister red card OVERTURNED

Alexis Mac Allister‘s red card against Bournemouth has been overturned upon an appeal from Liverpool to the FA.

Mac Allister was dismissed with half an hour remaining in Saturday’s 3-1 win, in what was his home debut for the Reds.

Referee Thomas Brammall brandished a red card following his challenge on Ryan Christie, and VAR Paul Tierney failed to either overturn or even have Brammall review footage pitchside.

News of the three-match ban being overturned is a huge boost for Liverpool, meaning the Argentine will be available for the forthcoming games against Newcastle United, Aston Vill and Wolves.

An FA spokesperson said: “An Independent Regulatory Commission has removed Alexis Mac Allister‘s three-match suspension following a claim of wrongful dismissal.

“The Liverpool midfielder was sent off for serious foul play during their Premier League game against Bournemouth on Saturday, 19 August.”

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, August 19, 2023: Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister is sent off after a high challenge on Bournemouth's Ryan Christie during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and AFC Bournemouth at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

On Monday, Dermot Gallagher, a former Premier League referee and now part of Sky Sports’ coverage said:

“I think the problem here, for me, is the referee thinks it’s a high tackle, but it only becomes a high tackle because both players are there.

“If you look, the boot actually catches him on the ankle. If his foot was on the ground and he still catches him in the same place, it’s not a high tackle.

“Not a red card for me.”

The news means Jurgen Klopp could field his new look midfield of Wataru Endo, Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai against Newcastle on Sunday.

This shows once again that the issue isn’t with ‘VAR’ but with the quality (or lack thereof) the officials using VAR or refereeing Premier League football matches.

Meanwhile, one of the VAR officials from Saturday’s game – the infamous Constantine Hatzidakis who assaulted Andy Robertson last season – has been appointed as assistant VAR again for the match at Newcastle. Make sense of that one.

Liverpool submit ‘verbal offer’ for midfield signing No 4 after rising star makes transfer desire known

Andre of Fluminense

Liverpool have made a verbal bid to try and sign Brazilian midfielder Andre from Fluminense, with a report detailing exactly how much the Reds are willing to pay for him.

Liverpool have lost a host of midfielders this summer, with James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita leaving on free transfers and Fabinho and Jordan Henderson heading to Saudi Arabia. So far, Liverpool have improved their midfield ranks with the captures of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Wataru Endo.

Liverpool sporting director Jorg Schmadtke pushed hard to replace Fabinho with either Moises Caicedo or Romeo Lavia. Incredibly, though, Chelsea managed to beat him to both transfers.

Chelsea smashed their own Premier League transfer record by paying Brighton £115million for Caicedo, while also spending £58m to sign Lavia from Southampton.

Those moves forced Schmadtke to go for a more left-field option, as he eventually brought in Japan captain Endo from Stuttgart for around £16m.

But Endo is 30 years old, which means he is not a long-term solution. Liverpool could therefore do with landing a younger midfielder to become his deputy, which is where Fluminense star Andre comes in.

READ MORE – Exclusive: Ryan Gravenberch chooses next move as Man Utd, Liverpool both hold talks

On August 5, it emerged that Andre was ‘sold’ on a move to Anfield. However, Brazilian source Globo then revealed that Fluminense did not want to sell the 22-year-old until the conclusion of their Copa Libertadores campaign.

Globo have now provided the latest on Andre’s situation. They claim Liverpool are taking concrete steps to bring Andre to the Premier League, as Schmadtke has sent a ‘verbal offer’ worth €30m (£25.5m) for him.

Liverpool eye Andre as Wataru Endo deputy

The bid has not been officially sent just yet, though it seems that will happen very soon. But the problem for Liverpool is that £25.5m will not be enough to get Fluminense to part with the star.

Fluminense have made it to the quarter-final of the Copa Libertadores and are still hopeful of winning the coveted competition.

The second leg of Fluminense’s last-eight clash against Olimpia will take place on August 31, the day before the transfer window shuts in the UK.

As such, if Fluminense make it through to the semis, then they will hold firm on Andre. And Liverpool will have to bid way more than that £25.5m figure to strike an agreement.

Even if Fluminense are knocked out of the competition, it may be too late for Liverpool to finalise a deal and get the transfer to reach completion before the September 1 deadline.

As such, it would make sense if Liverpool put their swoop for Andre on hold for now and reignited their interest in him during the January window.

While Jurgen Klopp would rather land an understudy to Endo immediately, the new arrival does not tend to get injured too often. This means he should be able to play a majority of Liverpool’s games until Andre potentially arrives to provide backup in the winter.

Meanwhile, a Liverpool target has been tipped to hand in a transfer request in order to force through a move from an English rival.