my liverpool fc

LIVERPOOL legend Ian Rush has demanded the FA should take action against Chelsea following their ‘intimidation’ of referee Rob Styles at Anfield on Sunday.

Rush, who scored 346 goals for Liverpool, said: “I did see the Chelsea players moaning at the referee throughout the game.

“I don’t know if they’ve been told to do it by the manager or not, but the FA need to act now to stop it.

“The FA should rule that any moaning can only come through the captain, he should be the only player allowed to speak to the ref.

“They do it in rugby and it works – they never get problems like this.

“Chelsea’s constant moaning has influenced the referee, but if you’re a Chelsea supporter you’re happy because your players haven’t broken any rules, they’re just using gamesmanship – and it’s up to the referee and the FA to know what’s gamesmanship and what’s not.

“There’s so much at stake now that the result is all important.

“Sportsmanship and fair play just don’t seem to come into it.

“People have to look at what Chelsea are doing and be aware of it.”

Rush claims referee Styles is getting a reputation for making decisions without thinking.

Styles controversially awarded Chelsea a penalty which enabled them to equalise after Fernando Torres’s opener, before causing confusion by brandishing a yellow card at Michael Essien – who had already been booked – but insisting it was John Terry being booked.

And Styles’s all-round performance at Anfield was so bad he’s been dropped by the Premier League for next weekend’s fixtures, a decision Rush thinks is totally justified.

He said: “The penalty was never a penalty. In big games you’ve got to be 100% certain and I don’t know how he could have given that.

“It’s easy to look back with hindsight – but it didn’t even look a ‘nearly’ penalty at the time, so it’s very disappointing.

“But just as bad as that decision was the number of yellow cards he dished out. It was not a dirty game, but he still handed out nine yellow cards – and there wasn’t one bad tackle in the game.

“Rob Styles is getting a reputation for acting without thinking and on this occasion he’s let Chelsea off the hook. But it’s not the first time he’s done it and these are major decisions which he’s getting wrong.”

But despite disappointment with the referee Rush, talking on football website Fanbanta.com, thinks Liverpool have proved they are ready to compete with the top two.

“Liverpool fans were disappointed leaving the stadium,” he said. “And to see the Chelsea players celebrating at the end as if they’d won the game, just shows how far Liverpool have come.”