Alan Shearer backs Diego Costa over challenge, goes behind the scenes of Match of the Day
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Coral football ambassador Alan Shearer spoke exclusively to us about Chelsea striker Diego Costa’s challenge on West Ham United goalie Adrian while on a yellow card during Monday Night Football.
Shearer also had his say on being behind the scenes on Match of the Day while Gary Lineker presented the show in his underwear…
“Costa well within his rights to go for that ball”
I thought the quality of the football in the Euros was poor but the standard of refereeing was excellent, and I really hope these standards are kept up by our refs in the Premier League, in particular, the idea that every tackle does not have to be a yellow card.
On Monday night, in the Chelsea v West Ham match, I know Diego Costa was on a yellow card, but he was well within his rights to go for that ball with the goalkeeper.
The keeper was messing around, he miscontrolled it, and Costa went for the ball and it was a mistimed tackle. Not every mistimed tackle should be a yellow card. I thought he was entitled to go for the ball, it was 50/50, and I was pleased that he wasn’t shown another yellow card and sent off.
It was a tough call but I thought it was a call that the referee got right. Sometimes these things look a lot worse in slow-motion, or on a still photograph of the boot hitting the leg. The referee has to make a decision at match pace, and at match pace when I was watching it I didn’t think it was a yellow card.
Lineker “terribly nervous” about MOTD
Saturday night’s Match of the Day was great fun, as we were just taking the piss out of Gary in his pants. He was terribly nervous. He just didn’t know what reaction to expect. I mean let’s face it he is a 55-year-old so to stand up there on live television takes some balls but he did it. He kept his promise up so well done him.
He was determined to present the show properly, even in his underwear. He’d lost the bet, and he had to keep his promise, but he wanted the show to be as normal as it could be. But it was very weird watching him stand there, with a microphone around his neck with just his pants on.
And other than a little mickey-taking he wanted to keep everything as professional as it could be. It worked out well with Leicester being the first game, so we could do our analysis, with him still in his pants, and then he could get changed and the show could get back to normal.
The show itself went really well. It helped that it was the first day and there were some big talking points, Leicester getting beaten, Joe Hart being dropped for Manchester City and plenty of goals.
This season it might be tricky on occasions, as you might have a Friday night game, games on a Sunday even a game on a Monday, and be left with just four or five games on a Saturday to cover on MoTD. But I enjoyed the first programme immensely and there was a lot to get stuck into.
