Thursday 17 June 2021

UEFA EURO Analysis: Day Six (FINRUS, TURWAL, ITASUI)

The first matches in the second round of group stage matches offered no change in the general narrative of this EURO's officiating - good performances in not too-challenging games. Full breakdown of what happened in this post. 


Today we will work in chronological order, and begin with the Dutchman who opened the competition.
 

Danny Makkelie's team in Finland - Russia

Big Decisions




Incidents:

3' - Onside call by Jan de Vries corrected by VAR intervention
11' - Potential red card to Russia no.8 (SFP)
22' - Potential red card to Finland no.6 (SFP)

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Of the three missed offsides prior to goals so far, De Vries's was by far the closest. Despite it not being a crossover situation, I don't think we can blame him extensively for incorrectly determining the attacker's position. 

Both the potential SFP incidents are pretty borderline, but the correct outcome is determining them reckless - lack of force at 11', even more reckless tackle at 22', but not too-high hitting point, medium force only. 


Summary


In general, a convincing performance by Danny Makkelie. In one of the more visceral clashes of the EURO so far, the Dutchman used his cards astutely in the first half in order to 'secure' the game, and in the second steered it through to the end. 

Having missed the incident at 11', a verbal warning at 17' was good, before he clamped down on egregious play with three first half yellow cards. In this match more than others, it was important to guide the players towards fair play in a strict way, and Makkelie succeeded in that. 

According to his first half line, he ignored clear cautions at 60' (SPA) and 76' (tackle) in the second half, and it got slightly messy at the end when a teammate had to inform him about the reckless strike in 90' (you can decide for yourself whether from a few meters or a thousand miles away), and missed another altogether at +95'.

In general, I think UEFA will appreciate this performance - the necessary cards shown in order to keep the game under control. For me, it was just 'one too many' missed incidents in order to assess the performance as totally satisfying, but holistically, a good impression. 



Artur Soares Dias' team in Turkey - Wales

Big Decisions




Penalty area incidents: 

17' - Potential penalty to Wales (handling)
60' - Penalty given to Wales (tripping)

- 17' was a clearly accidental handling, correctly evaluated by the officials

- 60' was very well seen; I don't think you can blame Soares Dias for not running more leftward, you can see him even before the contact seeming to anticipate what might be about to happen, and he rightly awards a penalty, the contact was inside; well done

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The mass confrontation at 90' most certainly deserves special focus - one of the most furious I have seen at a major international tournament in a very long time (off-the-top-of-my-head, I can't recall a more aggressive one). 

In the incident itself, I don't think Soares Dias can reproach himself too much for not preventing the huge flair up, it was a simple freekick decision, and understandable that he didn't sprint to the scene on this occasion. 


The players cautioned were:

Turkey no.17 
Turkey no.10
Wales no.4 
Wales no.22


Soares Dias could have issued many, many cards in the mêlée, but I noted five key players who should have been sanctioned:

* Turkey no.17 - yellow card ||  pushes the face of the floor-residing defender whom had been fouled for the freekick given, not a violent conduct 

* Wales no.14 - yellow card ||  retaliates back by pushing Turkey no.17 to the ground, in yesteryear enough for a red card, but nowadays the expectation is yellow

* Turkey no.21 - yellow card ||  incredibly aggressive manner in trying to get at Wales no.22, very clear aggressive behaviour

* Wales no.22 - yellow card ||  the contretemps with Turkey no.21 in which he also behaves aggressively should see him in the book

* Turkey no.10 - red card ||  at +90:20 on the matchclock, you can see him violently hit out at an opponent with excessive force, he should be ejected


And actually VAR should intervene here - this is an open-and-shut case of violent conduct. It was at least something that assistant Paulo Soares saw it, informed his team leader, and a yellow card was finally sorted out, but actually that is not enough. 

We can talk about the big picture and so on, but you have to draw the line somewhere - just because it is the end of the game and just because you won't create a scandal by not doing it, is not a thesis to close both eyes on a crystal clear red card, sorry. 


That is part of a wider point - I wouldn't go too big on him for it, but Artur Soares Dias was a referee totally over his head here; his only concern was getting the game going again, and having chucked some pro forma cards around. 

The caution to Wales no.4 is de facto wrong, but becomes more understandable when it is obvious that is who the Turkey players believed pushed their no.10 over; so you can get why Soares Dias wanted to take him, despite him being more of a peacemaker in the altercation itself. 

Not at one point was the referee's aim to try and calm the game down, it is quite incredible really that he has to go and later caution Turkey no.10 on the advice of assistant Soares, because he hasn't even spoken to him before chucking the three cards out which he has decided for. 


Of course, at +90' in a EURO game, a debut no less, it is understandable that Soares Dias was less fussed about keeping everything in view, trying to reclaim control on the match. However, I am quite firm that we should not just excuse everything because it is the end of the match, and because the ref's course of actions kept him out of the headlines. 

This should be shown as an example of bad, not good practice. 


Summary


In the rest of game, Artur Soares Dias performed rather strongly! 

I was most impressed by his manner and presence in this match - until now, in UEFA matches, the Portuguese referee was not really able to synthesise staying in the background with his decisions (he doesn't have to 'at home'), with operating a convincing leadership style. 

Very early on (5', 7'), it was clear that Soares Dias would be able to succeed on that level in this game. His strong presence was a key feature of this performance. His lenient approach to disciplinary measures was good, always on top of the incidents, but his play on call (and missed SPA caution) at 31' was rather poor. 

His prevention of DtR offences was good (eg. 33') - however, if we would rather have a forty-five second long verbal warning rather than a yellow card and a clear, quick, gesture to get the game going, perhaps we lost sight of the point? To be fair, this talk (57') was effective. 

Turkey no.17 was even before the mass confrontation the game's problem player - dissents (eg. +46', 68') which the referee could have acted against, and his strike at 82', which at the very, very least had to result in at least a strong warning for him. 

After the 90' incident, it was clear that Soares Dias was not really in control anymore, look at the crazy obvious dissent which he just bares at +95'. It all worked out okay in the end, but the end was far from pretty. 


Most of this analysis is more development rather than praise-focused, but I hope that doesn't give an unfairly negative impression - in general, Artur Soares Dias showed sophisticated competencies, the one AR who was tested regarding offsides was fantastic (Paulo Soares), and this was a strong recommendation for higher tasks. 



Sergej Karasëv's team in Italy - Switzerland

Big Decisions




Above:

12' - Penalty area incident
19' - Goal disallowed by VAR intervention (handling)

We can be brief here - 12' was the first clear simulation of the tournament, and 19' was correctly solved, one cannot really fault the Russian for missing that in real time. 


Summary


Quiet night for Sergej Karasëv who repaid the trust that Roberto Rosetti put in him for this game. There were some small doubts in the first half (missed simulation caution at 12', control of a potential AB scene at 17'), but his performance in the second half was de facto faultless, especially in foul detection. Good job. 




Balance


Another good day for UEFA - the issues which did crop up in three widely good performances are far from the media focus; so far, the almost totally positive impression has continued as the group stage approaches its' halftime. 

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