The Liverpool midfielder is angry because of the new law in the English Premier League
One of the new things in the Premier League this season is that referees are allowed to deal harder with players with a reactive attitude. In particular, players are not allowed to raise their hands to ask the referee to give the opponent a yellow card. However, it seems that Chelsea and Liverpool players are not familiar with this new law, when they violated the yellow card in the opening match on August 13.
In the 85th minute, Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson led the counterattack but was fouled by midfielder Ibrahima Konate from a distance. Jackson raised his hand to indicate that referee Anthony Taylor had to show a yellow card to Konate. Mr. Taylor showed a yellow card, but only to Jackson himself for the above action.
Four minutes later, it was home midfielder Conor Gallagher's turn to foul just as Mac Allister counter-attacked. After falling, Mac Allister raised his hand for the referee to show Gallagher a yellow card, then pulled his hand away as if he realized his mistake. But immediately, Mr. Taylor again showed the yellow card to the Argentinian midfielder. He was hot-faced, rushing to try to round the referee, but captain Virgil van Dijk appeared in time to stop his teammates.
If the referee turns the referee, Allister may receive an additional yellow card because this action is also banned in the 2023-2024 season. Players are not allowed to run from afar to the referee to apply pressure, as midfielder Bruno Fernandes often did in Man Utd matches in previous seasons. In addition, players are also not allowed to make rectangular symbols indicating VAR intervention. Those actions will all lead to yellow cards and the referees may not be lenient.
Witnessing Allister making the same mistake as Jackson a few minutes earlier, Sam Dymond on Sun Sport commented: "The football player turned out to be not very wise."
Mr. Taylor was also strict this match, when he showed a yellow card to defender Trent Alexander-Arnold when he took a long time to throw in in the 68th minute. He also showed a yellow card to Enzo Fernandez and Diogo Jota in the 32nd minute when the two bridged. These players cursed each other and put their heads together after a dispute.
There are situations that Mr. Taylor handled that made coach Jurgen Klopp unhappy. In a late ball, the Liverpool player was fouled, causing Klopp to scream in disapproval, then kneeling with his head on the ground. On the Premier League forum on Reddit, the most discussed topic after the match on August 13 was: "Is Anthony Taylor the worst referee in the tournament?".
