David Moyes is frustrated with inconsistent refereeing standards and claims professional match officials (PGMOs) are refusing to hold discussions with managers.
Fulham were awarded a penalty against Nottingham Forest after Douglas Luiz fouled Brazilian compatriot Kevin in the penalty area, with referee Anthony Taylor pointing directly to the spot. Raul Jimenez scored from 12 yards to help the team win 1-0.
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Ironically, just 48 hours earlier, the Toffees were awarded a penalty after William Saliba kicked Tieno Bari’s foot into the box in similar circumstances. On-field official Sam Barrott ignored it and even Michael Salisbury on VAR chose to ignore the incident.
“I almost choked up last night when I saw the decisions that were made and ours weren’t,” the Everton boss said. “It feels as if some clubs get these decisions and others don’t. We seem to be on the side of the latter.”
“There was one at Brentford earlier this season [Virgil] van Dijk was very similar and I think in the end it was given. We are disappointed that this information was not provided that night and we are looking for other information that has been provided. “
Asked if Everton planned to present their case to the Referees’ Association, Moyes said: “I really don’t know. Whatever you want, they’re not going to make it easy. They don’t really want to have a conversation about it. They will [one]but they don’t want to do that because they find it can be very difficult to explain things.
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“I think we just found out that the decision last night was probably no different than ours, but it was made. The referee on the field made the decision right away.”
Moyes further added that his concerns about refereeing standards go beyond what happened against his team. Moyes cited Jack O’Brien’s handball, which led to Victor Chokeres’ winning penalty for Arsenal, commenting on how the handball was missed by Barrot and his assistants and required a VAR review for a decision to be made.
“Surely the referee doesn’t need VAR to decide that Jack raised both hands?” Moyes said.
“That was me against my own team. Why did he need to wait for VAR to make a decision? He had to look at the pitchside monitor. What was the linesman doing over there? The linesman was in the back and he must have seen his arm raised but he didn’t make the decision.
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“What I’m saying is, they should definitely call. Maybe he didn’t see [William] Saliba kicks, but the consistency comes from the moves – do you see if he kicks through the back of someone’s leg or does he get there first?
“I don’t want to see soft penalties. I don’t believe in soft penalties and maybe that’s what I thought after the game. [Arsenal] game, but after what I saw last night, I want to say: ‘Well, if that’s the way it is, why didn’t we make the same decision? ‘”