UEFA EURO Analysis: Day Nine (HUNFRA, PORGER, ESPPOL)

The last day of EURO action with three matches delivered us two good performances by the two English referees, and an Italian in quite choppy Sevillian waters. A close look at all how the trio of games were officiated. 

Reverse chronology has our review beginning in Iberia. 

Daniele Orsato's team in Spain vs. Poland

Big Decisions

Above:

2' - Potential penalty to Poland (tripping)

19' - Potential penalty to Spain (charging)
25' - Offside call by Alessandro Giallatini corrected by VAR; goal (*1-0) given
49' - Striking incident involving Spain no.7
54' - No foul call; goal (1-1*) given
55' - Penalty given to Spain (tripping) + YC (reckless)

81' - Potential penalty to Spain (tripping)

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The three biggest incidents are bolded. 

Giallatini was the first assistant to incorrectly disallow a goal - the call was quite tight, and more-difficult-than-average in this particular scene given where the ball was being passed from; somewhere between the clearer Danos/Alonso Fernández mistakes, and the very tight De Vries decision which was an error. VAR correctly intervened. 

Poland's goal might well not have stood - Lewandowski does charge Laporte, with the defender seeming to have initially read the flight of the ball than his opponent. By the book, it is more of a foul than not I'd say.

However, given the lighter nature of the actual contact, the general football consensus was that Lewandowski's actions constituted normal penalty box play by attackers; Orsato had to blow up instantly, or he had lost his moment. 

With the ball in the net, to disallow the goal would have been very controversial. By the same token - especially as the Italian referee had the whole duel in his visual control, in addition to the still partly ambiguous nature of the potential offence, Massimiliano Irrati was correct not to intervene. 

The lead VAR at the last World Cup final was correct however to summon Orsato to the review area a very short while later - the on-field referee should have detected this reckless stamp foul on his own accord. The review process was quick and everyone could accept this decision. 

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My views on the remaining incidents:

2' - attacker puts his leg across in order to generate the contact himself; correct play on. 

18' - given that the two players were fighting for the ball horizontally as we see it from the live sequence, the charge of the defender is justified and a fair one; correct play on

49' - rather close to a red card(!); personally, I would go with yellow - the attacker was being clearly held and this strike was an attempt to release himself

81' - tricky scene, it looks better to play on to me

Managing the Game

Daniele Orsato struggled quite significantly in this challenging game. He used his experience and personality to avoid a real disaster, but if I had to describe this (8,0 - 8,2 level) performance in a word, it would be "messy". 

Orsato never really got his 'eye in' during this match. On a foul selection level, the Italian couldn't really decide if he was going to call it tight, or let the game 'breathe', at least at the right tines (eg. 5', 22', 29', 46', 66'). The result was that infractions were often penalised with a short delay, which did not calm the players; it only inflamed them. 

There were a number of key scenes in disciplinary control:


29' - a crystal clear dissent by Kamil Glik, fully in the sight of assistant referee Giallatini; the officials chose to ignore it, this was crucial as Glik was the game's problem player, we know the tournament guidelines, but a strong warning was actually totally needed here. 

Glik was hit by a reckless treading foul at 22' from which Orsato played advantage, and the Poland was involved in most of the hot moments which followed; warned here, much of that would probably have been prevented. 


36' - a very good card after a deliberate charging foul (PI), but such non-mandatory, taking the initiative cautions are the exceptions, not the rule at this EURO. Orsato couldn't really keep that sort of line up, for instance a similar such offence, at 50', did not result in a caution. 


59' - I understand why the Italian ref chose to play on in the prior foul scene (impeding), but I don't think he was correct, the Poland player had won the position fairly before being tripped. This insensed the Poland players in a very delicate part of the match for the referee. 

Then, his caution to Jóźwiak was good and actually appreciated his manner in this scene - if cautions for mobbing are de facto off the table, at least in anger, Orsato showed everyone who was in charge. Modern refereeing generally is cast in a rather different image, though. 


66' - missed foul(s), Orsato's line had totally deserted him in this scene, and he was fortunate not to have totally lost the game here. 


And finally, in additional time at the end of the second half. The deliberate tactical foul, no card, at +91', showed that Orsato had lost control of the players' actions by the end. He tried to get that back at +93' with an instant whistle and yellow card, but actually that was more of a missed advantage which further irritated the players. 


Insofar as it a point worth mentioning at this point, referees were blatantly instructed to ignore kicking-the-ball-away offences (4', 75'). My thought process now goes back to Juventus - Porto, and perhaps UEFA wanted to do everything in order to avoid a repeat at this EURO? 


Balance: Between the Paris - Bayern quarterfinal return and this game, we can conclude that very dynamic games which are tricky on a foul detection / selection level are not Daniele Orsato's strongest suit in UEFA competition.

While considerable personality skills ensured that one of the most challenging games so far did not get too out of hand, with the crucial decisions not really counting too much in his (team's) favour either, this was one of the weakest performances at this EURO so far. 

Anthony Taylor's team in Portugal - Germany

Second consecutive performance by this English trio that was more-or-less totally convincing. Three calls stand out:

05' - great teamwork between Taylor and assistant Gary Beswick to determine that Gnabry was a) offside and b) active
59' - correct play on in a trickier penalty area scene
67' - again Beswick-Taylor took the correct decision on the pitch in a non-routine offside call which resulted in a goal

Otherwise, Taylor served the most exciting match of the EURO so far very well with his unobtrusive way of refereeing. He used his cards well according to the tournament guidelines - no card for Müller's tackle at 36' was too much for me; nothing for Sanches at 90' is ridiculous, but that is UEFA's wish. 

Both Beswick (5', 13', 39', 67') and Adam Nunn (8', 15', 34', 44', 51', 60') as assistant referees were brilliantly faultless in very challenging matches for them. Overall, very good impression from Taylor's team, third appointment will follow. 

Michael Oliver's team in Hungary - France

Good job by the younger English referee in the early game.

Oliver's early card choices, caution at 10' for persistent infringement, no card at 19' for a deeper tactical foul, proved effective. Besides a missed stamp at 39', his approach to disciplinary measures was good. 

I was impressed by the English ref's player interactions (23'), and ability to change his manner (68'), in conjuction with his ultra-unobtrusive approach. 

Isolated decisions that stand out are a delayed whistle at 72', and a correct no penalty call at +94' - (clip). Overall - good impression. 

Balance

It will be interesting to see how UEFA deals with Daniele Orsato after this performance, balancing one of the weakest performances in the tournament with one of their most sophisticated referees. Both English referees had strong afternoons respectively. 

In general, the bigger picture remains good for this EURO, still after the completion of the second round of group matches. 

Refereeing highlights:

SPAIN - POLAND

PORTUGAL - GERMANY

HUNGARY - FRANCE