Quote Originally Posted by krimewave View Post
I reckon Mike Riley was either clearly out of his depth, or was making a point of showing bias against Utd in response to previous accusations from the media of him being pro-Utd in the past.
In both cases it could be argued that he doesn't deserve the aforementioned respect, because he should either be reffing at a much lower level (in the former case) or not reffing at all (in the latter case).

It really was one of the most shockingly one sided reffing displays I've seen in years.
I'm not trying to blame the result on it, a draw was a fair result and his decisions had less bearing on actual contentious incidents and more on the fact he was dishing out cards to Utd like it was Xmas, but letting the rent boys get away with murder.

As for the game itself, I think Utd let Chelsea off the hook a bit by taking their foot off the gas at 1-0. As a result, Chelsea pummelled them a bit in the second half (although Utd could have been more effective with their counter attacks).
Tbh there were plenty of reckless tackles made in that game more so from United. Neville could of easily been off if Ballack had gone down. He literally flung himself in there, Rio @ the end on Drogba.

I think United were frustrated in the 2nd half, chelsea were the more dominant and the United back 4 were under pressure and under attack for most of the 45. This frustration i reckon showed in the tackles that were being made.

Still though Riley is a bell... Always has been and always will be...

I do not mind seeing the boot being on the other foot with united, i can think of many many moments that it has gone in there favour. Mascherano, Wigan end of last season. Mikel @ Old Trafford...