Football
Arindam Rej, Man United Correspondent 8y

Man United's Jose Mourinho: Grappling rules must be treated consistently

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho says he wants referees to implement grappling rules consistently.

New directives have been drawn up to cut out grappling in the box, with referee Mike Dean awarding two penalties for that offence -- one for each side -- during Manchester City's 4-1 win at Stoke City on Saturday. 

Speaking ahead of United's game against Hull City on Saturday, Mourinho said: "My problem with new rules is always the consistency or inconsistency in the decisions.

"If the penalty that favoured Man City is always a penalty for every team, that's fine. The only problem is if it's a penalty for Man City and is not a penalty for Watford.

"If the referees can find that consistency, we will have dozens and dozens of penalties, for sure, but in a consistent way."

He said midfielder Marouane Fellaini currently suffers with referees' decisions in the penalty area.

"Every time Fellaini wants to jump, he can't jump," he said. "That is another story. Body, shoulders. I think football has to be [a contact sport] and, in this country for cultural reasons, it has to be that more than in other places.

"But the grab, the pull of the shirt, not looking at the ball and just at the player to grab them -- this is a penalty, but it has to be a penalty every time, with every club, with every player."

Mourinho says the new rules could change the way the game is played and lead to managers changing their approaches too.

He said: "Probably the players will stop grabbing and attacking players will have more freedom, more space, more free headers, more goals. Probably managers will make the decision not to defend man to man and defend zonal. If there is consistency, that's OK.''

Information from the Press Association was used in this report.

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