
In the wake of Pascal Struijk’s unfortunate red card for a challenge on Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott at the weekend, many have jumped to the defence of the young defender.
One such pundit is Netherlands legend Marco Van Basten, who feels like the lack of intent from Struijk should have prevented him from receiving a red card. “You can clearly see this is an accident. Why does he get a red card?”
Van Basten may have a point; many initially thought nothing of the challenge, including the referee himself as he didn’t even blow for a foul. Upon seeing the severity of Harvey Elliott’s injury, the referee changed his mind and decided to send Struijk off without any intervention from VAR.
Another Dutch legend in Ruud Gullit agrees with Van Basten, saying the challenge was ‘not reckless’. Leeds have decided to appeal the decision in the hopes of absolving Struijk of his 3 game suspension.
