“We cannot understand the referes rules have changed the are always against me- Rodri furiously reacts to Premier league referee after getting his 7th booking of the season
Rodri, a star player for Man City, questions Premier League rules and referees’ choices, saying, “We cannot understand.”
Rodri, a midfielder for Manchester City, says it’s hard for him to control his feelings during games. He also complained about the poor quality of referees in the Premier League and the complicated rules that players are having trouble understanding.
The Spanish player got his seventh yellow card of the season at Newcastle on Saturday. He already had one red card, which was against Nottingham Forest earlier in the season. He now has three yellow cards and is one away from his third ban of the season.
Chris Kavanagh got him a yellow card at St. James’ Park for tackling Bruno Guimaraes, who had just fouled Rodri in the middle circle. The Brazilian had already been given a yellow card for his challenge, so it looked like he should have been given a second one. However, play went on and Rodri then fouled his opponent.
And Rodri said that City’s players “don’t understand many things that happened” in the 3-2 win at Newcastle. He also said that “the referee today was unbelievable in a negative way” and asked why there has been more leniency this season, which has led to more yellow cards being given out.
“I have eight yellow cards [one in the Champions League] with two or three tackles, the others are like, I don’t know what, but it is what it is,” he stated.
“We don’t understand something.” I got a foul and a contact that wasn’t a yellow card, and then Bernardo got a yellow card for the next thing he did. That’s just how the referees decided to do it.
“Let’s try to forget.” But trust me, it’s hard sometimes.”
When asked if it was hard to stay calm at times this season because of the choices made by the referees, Rodri said, “It’s hard.” Because you want to win, it’s very hard. That team doesn’t want to move quickly; they’re content with a win or a tie. But we want to keep pushing, and the referee doesn’t help much. We don’t want the help; it’s just fair in both ways, and I didn’t think they were today.
A lot of rule changes have made some players confused, and a war on protests has caused more cards to be shown during games. Also, John Stones and Ederson were hurt in City’s last two away games because the offside flags stayed down so that VAR could review the play. The flag went up after the chance was gone.
He said, “I agree” when he was told that no one knows the rules right now. We got hurt because of this problem, which we’ve been trying to fix for years. I believe it is silly.
“The ball goes in behind a 30-meter run, and it could have been worse. Luckily, it was just a kick, but a lot of people are hurt in this situation.” So we need to see if that’s the best way to watch the game.
When Oscar Bobb scored the game-winning goal in extra time—with only three minutes added on—it was clear how angry City was on Tyneside. Newcastle had wasted time when they were ahead.
On the bench, Bernardo Silva waved three fingers at fourth official Tim Robinson and the Newcastle bench. After the game, the Portuguese player and Rodri looked like they were talking about the officials.
When there were 17 minutes left, City was still behind 2-1. But Kevin De Bruyne came off the bench and scored a goal and set up Bobb for the winner. Rodri praised both players.
“Kev, with no physicality right now he has the talent to do these amazing things,” he stated. “Everything is easy when Kevin is around.” The truth is that we need him. We need him now after all these years. He’s going to be very important.
“I told him his season starts now and it will be very important for us. Then there was Oscar Bobb. I was so happy for him because he’s a kid for the academy. The goal he scored was crazy. He’ll be very important in the coming years.
