In the previous Liverpool vs. Southampton, Ekitic took off his clothes to celebrate, so he was sent off. In his column, Dini criticized Ekitic's yellow card rule for undressing celebrations, calling the rule a "stupid rule" and thought it was sympathetic to be sent off for it.
Dini column
Seeing Ekitic leave after taking off his clothes and celebrating his goal with a red card (two yellows turn one red).
The rule for undressing to celebrate the yellow card comes from the International Football Association Council, which is said to be aimed at preventing delays, avoiding obstructing sponsors, and stopping provoking opponents.
In my opinion, this rule is simply stupid. To be honest, who is the hindrance of taking off a piece of clothing?
Of course, in some specific cases, I can still understand the reasons for the punishment.
For example, in 1995, Paul Tate of Birmingham scored the winning ball at Wembley Stadium. He took off his jersey and exposed the T-shirt inside, which read: "Birmingham City exploded Villa."
I have no objection to this behavior that I get a yellow card!
But after the goal, the player was ecstatic and couldn't help but take off his jersey and waved around his head. This was just a true expression of passion!
I also took off my top when I scored that final in the upgrade play-off semifinals of Watford against Leicester City. To be honest, I was lucky at that time because not only did I take off my clothes, but I also plunged into the fan club without getting the second yellow card!
Punishing players because of celebration will only kill the passion of the game, make football boring, and also make goals. The most wonderful moment of this sport loses that purity, unrestrainedness and unpredictability.
Instead of showing a yellow card that could lead to a ridiculous suspension or even being sent off directly like Ekitic (who was already yellow at the time), it would be better to be a post-match fine.
I think most players are happy to pay this fine, and of course, this may also restrain some players who don't want to pay out of their own pockets.
What's even more strange is that we have no objection to the players' behavior of taking off their clothes and exchanging jerseys after the final whistle. What is the essential difference?
Looking around, where are those classic celebration moves going? There are basically no four ways to celebrate in football today: Yorke's mask celebration, Haaland's meditation, Mbappe's arms folded, and Ronaldo's signature jumping and turning and shouting "Siu!"
Frankly speaking, these are a little monotonous. The world of football should be able to create better celebrations or recreate those classics. Robbie Keane's side-hand flip, Obafemi Martins' continuous flip... Have these celebration moves disappeared?
This makes people feel sad, football is moving towards an increasingly lack of personality, and players seem to no longer try to please the audience in a different or more imaginative way.
As for why Liverpool coach Slot responded so fiercely to Ekitic's costly celebration against Southampton, calling him "stupid" and being angry that he attributed all the credit for the goal to himself, in my opinion, there are two considerations behind his move.
First of all, he is actively managing the player's mentality and keeping him awake. Because Slot knew in his heart that once Isaac fully recovered and returned to his condition, Ekitic would have to give up his main position. He must not let Ekitic go from a self-proclaimed "King of Kop" to a spectator who can only sit on the sidelines. This psychological gap needs to be adjusted in advance.
Secondly, Slot knew that Isaac's current physical condition was not enough to support the entire game, so Ekitic's absence was tantamount to a heavy blow, which brought him difficult employment problems. Isaac will not fully recover after the next international match day, and he will need to be replaced in the 60th, 70th or 80th minute of the game in the coming weeks, so the team urgently needs someone to share the pressure for him.
So, Ekitic is suspended, who else can Slot expect in the short term? Chiesa is a good guy, but can he do it?
Slott understands that although Liverpool ranks first, its performance is far from the best, and the team needs to increase their horsepower. Maybe some people think his reaction is too harsh, but I can fully understand his disappointment with Ekitic.
This is just a way the head coach uses to hit the player and keep him focused and humble, as if saying to him, "Boy, I need you, but don't float for me."
