Ashley Young and Dele Alli got away with a particularly ridiculous bout of macho posturing at the weekend. If you didn’t see it, it was that thing where they go forehead-to-forehead, almost but not quite head-butting each other. On the day, the referee didn’t feel the need to hand out cautions, which, in my opinion, was a mistake. Allowing players to effectively get away with this particular form of aggression sends the wrong message to everyone who plays football, from under 10’s, to adults on the local park.
I am very much in favour of retrospective action by the FA, to punish behaviour which the officials have either not seen or dealt with properly on the day. This forehead-to-forehead nonsense is easily identifiable, and the FA can decide whether both players are equally guilty, or whether one player has tried to back away and should escape punishment.
I believe the offense should merit a mandatory yellow card, awarded retrospectively, and if the card would have effectively meant a second yellow for that player in the match, then he should also receive the usual one match ban.
If we are going to carry on awarding yellow cards for over-excessive goal celebrations, it is a no-brainer for me that this specific form of aggression requires retrospective justice from the FA.