London Derby spirals out of control at the hands of referee Mike Dean

English Premier League referee Mike Dean has left his card’s at home, wait no, Mike Dean has left his brain at home.
In what has to go down as one of the worst overall performances by a match official this season in the BPL, referee Mike Dean put on a clinic in Monday’s London Derby between Arsenal and Chelsea. It was a clinic on how not to officiate a match.
We certainly hope The Football Association, UEFA and FIFA are taking notes on Dean because under different circumstances a heated match could spiral out of control under the supervision of Dean.
The match, played under a steady rain and slick field conditions, saw a series of ruthless and poorly timed tackles between both sides, most of which inexplicably went unpunished by Dean.
It was a miracle nobody was stretchered off or seriously injured.
At least six players, three on each team, should have been issued red cards for dangerous play, repeat fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct.
In this case for Dean an ounce of prevention would have provided a tonne of cure for the match which was hamstrung by repeated incidents of violent conduct.
As the fouls continued to mount and in a clear cut case of tit-for-tat revenge, we wondered when Dean would give someone their marching orders.
Nope. It became clearly obvious as the match went on that the players new full well they wouldn’t be punished for their actions and took full advantage of the situation.
Chelsea’s John Mikel Obi, Ramires, Branislav Ivanovic and Frank Lampard all should have been dismissed for dangerous play while Arsenal’s Tomas Rosicky, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil clearly deserved their marching orders as well.
Here is a breakdown of why Dean’s performance should be reviewed by the F.A. The evidence speaks for itself:

35th Minute – Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta bundles over Chelsea’s Ramires near the centre circle and as he collects the ball and passes it off, Chelsea’s John Mikel Obi comes lunging in with a wild studs-up slide tackle sticking Arteta on the side of the shin.
Arteta hits the turf writhing in pain, and while the incident was in full view of Dean he chooses to do nothing.
36th Minute – moments later Arsenal’s Theo Walcott deserves to be yellow carded for his theatrical dive in an attempt to draw a penalty kick which convinced few, even Arsenal fans.
40th Minute – Arsenal’s Tomas Rosick makes a late knee high challenge on Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta and Dean again refuses to reach for his pocket and at least issue a caution.
62nd Minute – Ramires deliberately cleats Arteta at the top of his foot as the Arsenal midfielder releases the ball. While Arsenal fans chant “off-off-off” Dean finally reaches for his pocket and produces a yellow card.
65th Minute – Still hurting from the reckless first half challenge by Rosicky, Blues’ Azpilicueta is again chopped down on a similar play this time by Theo Walcott. Dean does issue a card on this play while commentators argue that this foul was infact a case of simulation.

Sweet Chin Music to Mesut Ozil! #ozil #ivanovic #wwe pic.twitter.com/sIYIgLu74Y

— JayGuja (@JayGuja) December 24, 2013

67th Minute – This is where the match really begins to unravel, someone needed to go here. As Ozil moved into to collect the ball on a throwin from Kieran Gibbs, he is clipped with a head-high challenge by Chelsea’s Ivanovic. The two players clash and a shoving match erupts in the corner with Ivanovic and Ozil appearing to head butt each other. Surely someone needs to go after this right? Wrong. The match has now completely unravelled due to a lack of discipline and poor judgement by Dean.
68th Minute – Chelsea’s Frank Lampard gets off Scott free for his brutal chop to the legs of Arsenal’s Sagna after the defender released the ball.
69th Minute – Rosicky comes flying in with a sweeping tackle on Ivanovich. Obviously some more revenge and frontier justice here and finally Dean reaches to his pocket and produces his third card of the match.
74th Minute – While Ramires and Arsenal’s Ramsey collide going up for a header, Ramires is hit in the ribs with a clear elbow by Ramsey. Instead of blowing his whistle and suspending play Dean allows the match to continue until Ramsey gains possession of the ball and boots it out of play himself.

After Mike Dean’s horrendous refereeing performance yesterday, here are his stats for matches he’s refereed: pic.twitter.com/WkTxhVaUPZ

— UberArsenal (@UberAFC) December 24, 2013

The match could have been a classic but it clear that the fouls and dangerous play robbed the fans of what could have been a great match. The attacks of both teams were severely stunted by Dean’s inept decisions. We are certain that his official will win some votes in our popular poll for worst referee in the EPL: