Last weekend was dominated by Manchester United’s thrilling comeback against Chelsea. But I would like to focus on another equally interesting part of that game - the officiating.
 
Howard Webb gave two penalties in the game, the first of which I agree with, but the second absolutely not. I thought he had a very shaky game, overall.
 
Now, many people believe that Webb is the best referee out there. But in my opinion, he is anything but that. I think it stems from his traumatising experience in the 2010 FIFA World Cup where he was the referee for the Final.
 
Any referee would have a tough time in a match of that stature, but yet he still did not perform well - the most obvious mistake of all was his failure to send off Nigel De Jong for his flying ninja kick on Xabi Alonso!
 
I think he is still traumatized by his performance in that final, and his officiating since then has been really poor.
 
In the match between Manchester United and Chelsea for example, he had the chance to send off Gary Cahill but he did not. Another contentious decision a few matches ago was also the game between Manchester City and Tottenham where he failed to send off Mario Balotelli for his stamp on Scott Parker.
 
You really need to have a big temperament to officiate these big games, one of which is coming up this weekend between Manchester United and Liverpool.
 
Maybe a suggestion to ease the pressure off the referees and to make sure there are no claims of biasness would be to get foreign referees for these big games, though I am quite sure the football association would be strongly against it.
 
What referees need to be is mentally stronger and more consistent. That being said, I believe that the referee needs all the help he can get, and this includes the linesmen. In today’s modern game, the linesman also performs as an assistant referee. And I think that they need to be brave enough to make important decisions, and highlight infringements and when they have seen something.
 
But it seems that the referees themselves have not been strong enough to make the right decisions on their own, for fear of making a contentious decision, perhaps? At times they act like nothing has happened to spare themselves from making a hard decision.
 
For now, I think the best solution is for the referee, assistant referees and the 4th official collaborate closer and officiate matches as a team. Then their understanding would become better and it would be easier to understand each other’s nuances and decision making.
 
Inevitably, I know the debate of replays and goal line technology would surface, and truth be told, the subject is tiresome. But I still have to say this: it is disgusting that with the modern technology that we have at our disposal, sadly football is one of the few sports that refuses to embrace this technology to better the sport.
 
It’s extremely stupid and I believe games would be better with the help of technology. You could say that technology would ruin the sport, but look at tennis and rugby and you will see that these games have not been affected. Those games still flow and it offers spectators a new dimension to experience the matches
 
What is the point of letting a stamp like Mario Balotelli’s to go unnoticed but then suspend him for 4 games later after a review? Why close the doors after the horse as bolted? This is something that the dinosaurs at FIFA really have to look into.
 
At the end of the day though, the referee is still the match official and is the one making the decisions.
 
Let us all just hope that for the sake of the sport that match officials will be braver and have the conviction to make the right decisions.

Catch Shebby Singh on ESPN and his insights during ESPN’s presentation of the Barclays Premier League highlights.