It was a bright, clammy afternoon in August, and the clocks were striking one hundred and thirteen. Midway through the second half at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with the score 1-1, Chelsea engaged in a spell of concerted forward thrust, and with Liverpool adjusting to a double substitution, Trent Alexander-Arnold pressed the damper pedal for a moment.
The whole thing took about 10 seconds. Alexander-Arnold walked backwards, looked around, feigned a couple of throws, using the moment as a peg to reset his team's shape, to alter the balance of energies. The only really notable part of this sly but deceptively complex process, the football that happens in between the football, was the bit where Anthony Taylor came striding across to administer a thrillingly state-of-the-art booking, the card flourished with a kind of righteousness, a ceremonial rage.
Welcome to the latest version of our own dear old micro-engineered entertainment product, a place where referees are now present not just to keep the mechanics of the game working, but to police how football should feel and look, to decide what exactly can be deemed entertainment.
Enter the referee as TV floor manager, gameshow compere, glove puppet of the broadcast rights holders. Get that ball moving, son. Delete what you thought you knew about the deeper rhythms of this complex game of physical chess. We're all smiling for the cameras now.
This story is from the August 18, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the August 18, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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