21 November 2023 , 22:30
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Harry Maguire has urged the Premier League to sort out the “ridiculous” mess over penalties.
Manchester United defender Maguire slammed decisions which have led to controversial spot kicks being given in the English top flight and also the Champions League this season. Maguire made it clear that he was not just talking about awards against his own club but football in general and says it is time Prem bosses took a stand.
The Premier League has been littered with controversial penalty appeals this season, such as Fabio Silva’s foul on George Baldock when Sheffield United beat Wolves and the handball against Arsenal defender William Saliba in his team’s draw at Chelsea.
Maguire was caught up in controversy himself when he gave away a penalty for handball in United’s Champions League defeat at FC Copenhagen with UEFA ordering referees to give spot kicks for any kind of contact in European competition.
England centre half Maguire said: “For me, penalties in the last six months, a year or so, especially in the Premier League, all over the world really, the Champions League, they are given for anything. They are so soft.
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Maguire played for England in their 1-1 draw with North Macedonia (Nikola Krstic/REX/Shutterstock)“They are making life so hard for defenders to defend the way it should be. You should be able to defend, you should be able to move your arm, you should be able to move your body, you should be able to make contact, you should be able to move your hands and get there.
“Nowadays, penalties are given for everything. Absolutely for everything. It’s such an important part of the game. I understand it’s an important part of the game, what should be a penalty, what shouldn’t be a penalty but there’s far too many soft penalties given at the moment.
VAR continues to be a hot topic in football (Jürgen Fromme/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)“I think the threshold of giving penalties definitely needs to change. And I think the Premier League, the biggest league in the world, needs to start it, need to come up with something because I’ve seen some penalties in the Premier League since the start of this season which, for me, are just ridiculous.
“It’s not just at my club, watching them each weekend, I see them given for handballs where I don’t know where lads are supposed to put their arms, minimal contact, it’s a contact sport, starting with the biggest league in the world, which is the Premier League, they need to set the standard and the threshold needs to be a little bit higher than it is at the moment.”
Maguire’s comments are certain to spark another refereeing debate amid more VAR controversy with stricter rules in the top flight this season.
PGMOL boss Howard Webb wanted a crackdown this season to improve standards - but it has often ended up upsetting Premier League managers with more controversial spot kicks given.