John Fleck got himself in a bit of a pickle with his tackle on Giovani Lo Celso last week, as Sheffield United lost to Spurs 4-0.
The Scottish midfielder appeared to step over Lo Celso before coming down with his studs on the Spurs star’s face. The mishap left a visible mark on Lo Celso’s cheeks, but for all the replays, it definitely looked an accident.
Spurs fans, of course, will disagree. In fairness to them, they do have a point when it comes to VAR and the current laws. We’ve seen so many times this season a player red-card for ‘follow through’. Why Fleck’s was seen any different, then, is a bit of a mystery.
And Spurs defender Eric Dier seems to have taken a small dig at Fleck and the referees with a post on Instagram today. A post he seemed to later delete.
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England teammate Jack Grealish clearly saw the funny side of things.
But Dier has clearly thought twice about the post since, given it’s nowhere to be seen on the social media platform anymore.
Does Eric Dier have a point with John Fleck and the tackle on Lo Celso?
Obviously, this is a bit of fun from Dier and is more a dig at the VAR officials than Fleck, we think anyway. But he’s clearly realised it will probably be more trouble than it’s worth, given he’s got rid of it.
As mentioned in this article, Dier probably does have a point. But he only has a point in that players have seen red for less or nothing this season.
Fleck didn’t mean the challenge at all. He simply tried to get out of the way and ended up colliding with Lo Celso. Anyone who thinks different is surely trying to just make something out of nothing.