Halil Umut Meler with a deserved second appearance at EURO 2024, Poland - Austria.
POLAND - AUSTRIA
Referee: Halil Umut Meler TUR
Assistant Referee 1: Mustafa Emre Eysoiy TUR
Assistant Referee 2: Kerem Ersoy TUR
Fourth Official: Rade Obrenović SVN
Reserve Assistant Referee: Jure Praprotnik SVN
Video Assistant Referee: Paolo Valeri ITA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1: Alper Ulusoy TUR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2: Massimiliano Irrati ITA
UEFA Referee Observer: Lutz Michael Fröhlich GER
UEFA Delegate: Filip Popovski MKD
Referee: Halil Umut Meler TUR
Assistant Referee 1: Mustafa Emre Eysoiy TUR
Assistant Referee 2: Kerem Ersoy TUR
Fourth Official: Rade Obrenović SVN
Reserve Assistant Referee: Jure Praprotnik SVN
Video Assistant Referee: Paolo Valeri ITA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1: Alper Ulusoy TUR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2: Massimiliano Irrati ITA
UEFA Referee Observer: Lutz Michael Fröhlich GER
UEFA Delegate: Filip Popovski MKD
How far can Meler go with a good or very good performance?
ReplyDeleteAs for today in case of good performance, I would say booking a game in KO stage (possible Round of 16).
DeleteI think it would be perfect for him to see the quarter finals in a tournament where there are better referees than him, and I can say that it is his first big tournament. He was also good in the U20 World Cup, but he is still a young and talented referee, maybe he will not be a Çakır, but he is still a good referee.
DeleteBoosted referee tbf
ReplyDeleteI don't get the point of this gold kit. Yellow stands out more. Would've preferred a purple kit considering how many white vs red matches there are.
ReplyDeleteExactly like Vincic yesterday, white Italy red Spain. Yellow or blue would have been better. Purple would not be a good choice imo if a team has red.
DeleteExcept for Nyberg, was black used in another game?
Blue has been used 13 times so far this tournament.
DeleteGold three times (including this match).
Black once.
Yellow once.
Red twice.
I find the golden shirt is kitschy.
Delete16 minutes no penalty, arm closed, decision correct
ReplyDeleteYes, absolutely
DeleteNo doubt, absolutely correct decision.
DeleteOverall good control and no big issues in the first half.
ReplyDeleteSome observations
In my view Meler was taking a bit too much risk in the beginning.
Punishment of the same violations was not always sanctioned equally. (Consistency and predictability.)
Good assessment of possible penalty 16' with support of functional signaling.
Good mutual acceptance between referee and players with some minor deviations.
Missed Austria offside by AR 2 in 38', after not punishing a previous Austrian foul.
Conditions created for achieving a good performance in its entirety.
Fully agree, you presented a good summary of the 1H. Nothing to add to this.
DeleteTwo yellow card decisions were correct in 53 and 55 minutes.
ReplyDeleteGreat YC's, feeling the game might get heated but also 2 very obvious YC's.
ReplyDeleteAnother very clear yellow card at 61 minutes, bravo Meler
ReplyDeleteNow spotted stamp,YC again.
ReplyDeleteWith these 1 and 3/4 matches that he is whistling,Meler is at top of his game.
And now yc for elbow to Lewandowski.
ReplyDeleteBit harsh but all elements for YC are there.
Correct YC for Lewandowski. Very good.
ReplyDeleteA yellow card was given to the Austrian captain for her interference with the Polish player who wanted to start the game quickly.
ReplyDeleteBoth big elephants with YC
DeleteI think that YC for Lewandowski is supportable, the first contact is very close to reckless, but then it's true that the rest of action doesn't give the impression of more than careless, there are these grey areas in my opinion which can belong to a borderline decision, not booking player wouldn't have been a clear mistake, but maybe doing it was better.
ReplyDelete77' with this crucial decision even accepted by Polish keeper, I think that the Turkish referee boooked his name for a KO stage, indeed :)
ReplyDeleteAnd now crucial decision penalty and ycis correct decision .
ReplyDeleteEasy penalty + YC but watch his diagonal so he could see it, there were a few players in his vision before. Well done Meler!
ReplyDeleteDive by Sabitzer, Meler should be done after this match
ReplyDeleteIt’s a clear penalty, and not a dive. Why you are biased?
DeleteHahaha, I mean Szczesny offered not a word of protest and just wanted to make sure he got a yellow instead of a red. He pats Meler on the stomach appreciatively. And we've got people here saying it's a dive. Good grief.
DeleteKovacs and Meler-these 2 refs so far are the best in this year's EURO.
ReplyDeleteNot afraid to warn and book players, crucial decisions are on the spot.
So far, so good.
"Not afraid to warn and book players"
DeleteThat's an intresting concept to analyze.
You are right. He has a certain body language that suggests you, he will not be afraid of taking a decision, more in detail, he is not a referee who prefers to keep a certain management of the game, without taking the risk of exposing himself. That's extremely good for a referee. You notice that he will be always ready to enter into the challenge, not isolated / afraid. It's not a coincidence that a referee with such skills comes from a country like Turkey where many games are well-known for their nature, differently from other places in Europe.
Also we have to remember that he has been phisically assaulted, took couple weaks of a break,reseted himself and continued to be the best ref in Turkey.
DeleteVery big mental strenght if you ask me.
Same goes for Kovacs in terms of mental strenght.
Romanian league is no joke.
Passionate players, fans, coaches and other things that make this league "special".
That's why we saw yesterday's great performance and no problem in heated Balkan match.
@M I agree - superb mental strenght to keep going AND performing very well! I remember Swedish referee Anders Frisk quitting his career because of threats against his family - given the fact that Meler was physically assaulted, continuing and performing well is surely something that takes incredible mental strenght, all the best to Meler and his team!
DeleteI'm not really sure about this penalty.
ReplyDeleteAt first it was a clear foul for me, but there wasn't really any active contact from szesny towards the striker
If even de keeper himself accepts it immediately...
DeleteSeriously. He accepts it and just wants to make sure he didn't get red. The thought process exhibited sometimes in intellectual referee circles is baffling to me.
DeletePenalty expected for me. Obviously the attacker is searching for the contact but the GK is also coming out in his pathway. I don’t think this situation needs to be overcomplicated,
DeleteShould it Not have been a second Penalty for austria for Handball?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, yes
DeleteVery surprised to see no intervention by an Italian VAR for such a blatant handball...
ReplyDeleteWasn’t VAR stuff imo, but penalty better on field decision
DeleteI don't know... They really changed their approach regarding handball. While it was a typical 'blocking a pass' action by Polish defender, the arm was still close to the body and they rather don't want such handballs to be whistled this season.
Delete90'
ReplyDeleteAnyone still awake in VAR room?
While Austria was waiting for the penalty, the player intervened by covering his arms, the decision to continue was correct, I think it was a near perfect match, bravo Meler, I think VAR would have intervened if it had been a penalty
ReplyDeleteI highly doubt VAR would have intervened but I agree with you - a very good performance by Meler, he should be incredibly happy about his teams performance today!
Delete88' - PAI handball
ReplyDeletehttps://streambug.org/cv/fc9c7c
Correct play-on
DeleteEveryone missed it but the ball clearly hits the Polish player's jersey, it's definetely not a penalty. If you play it in slow motion it can be seen clearly.
Delete@MITM It really looks like it hits the shirt AND the arm, therefore a ”handball” by rule definition.
DeleteI am not sure about this one from Meler. From what I see, the ball hits first the player's elbow, then his foot then his arm again. Not really natural position of the arm and also the player does not protect himself (e.g cover the face). On the contrary, the arm is raised too high in my opinion without a valid reason. I would say that it is a penalty to be honest. I am really curious about the Italian standards for this one... But regardless, handball I think. A replay from the opposite side would be ideal.
DeleteMy first reaction was handball too but I kind of like the no call to be honest. One thing to note though @matei14, only the first contact of the arm can be punished in this situation due to the ”new” handball directives (clear trajectory change from own/teammates body = generally not punishable).
DeleteAbsolutely, the first contact is the one that should have been punished imo, the contact of the ball with the elbow. After that is not important, basic elementary laws of the game.
DeleteFrom the comments I see that it is indeed a grey zone controverse. What are the percents, 50% for penalty and 50% for play on?
I think it was a very difficult decision. After rewatching it several times, I still cannot say it was a clear decision either way. It's true that the player tried to tuck his arm close to the body, however it is also true that, while the rest of the arm was close to the body, his elbow wasn't, and I agree with MX and matei14 that this initial contact with the elbow is the punishable one. On the other hand, Meler seems to have been pretty convinced about his decision, according to his body language. Taking everything into account, I would support Meler here, without better arguments. And, like Euro Soccer Ref, I also think this is the expected decision by the Committee, at least according to my personal interpretation.
DeleteThat’s an interesting one not to review but also I understand why not. We can tick some boxes for sure but all the boxes?
ReplyDeleteIs he ‘larger’ - not overly
Does he make an expected play at blocking a cross - yes
Could he have avoided contact - he attempts to hid his arms
Are his arms in a unnatural position - yes
Is he in control of himself/arms with the movement - yes
Have we seen other decisions given for incidents like this - yes
Would it be harsh to be given and sent for OFR? No
Is that an expected penalty? I’m not so sure it is
This one actually is incredibly difficult to assess for me, close to body is the reason why it is not a PK for me but this is not really natural position, the arm is very high up and extended (although by small amounts) from the body. I don’t know about this one :p
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteOf course, more extensions there it’s a crystal clear PK, that is what makes the situation so difficult. Unnatural position vs arm not extended from body - difficult situation to assess (I would have expected a penalty to be honest) but I like that it’s not given tbh. Once again, difficult situation for me.
DeleteThe elbow is out but the arm is in. Probably the difference but it’s grey
DeleteVery difficult decision, to be honest. One can't say clear penalty and / or correct play on. At the end I'm convinced this one can belong to a grey area on which the committee doesn't want VAR to intervene. The fact that with that movement players tried to "close" his arms to body, aware of the coming of the ball, can play in favor of "forgiveness", but still, you have the movement and the ball is hit by an arm not 100% close to body. I would say a penalty by Meler in case, would have been supported by VAR, but nothing more than that. It can be indeed suprising that this decision came from an Italian VAR, but well, there can be indeed different instructions at this tournament. In serie A I admit, this would have been very controversial.
ReplyDeleteOne must also consider what Meler said, he made a gesture like for him this was an OK action, I think that Rosetti also specified that in such case, the intervention must be even 100% with evidence. In other words, without any reaction by referee, maybe an intervention was more possible, while Italian VAR didn't find 100% wrong what Meler saw.
I agree, very few times do I feel very clueless about the correct decision. This is perhaps one where it’s truly a gray area, supportable whatever the on field decision is/what Meler is communicating (like you said - he saw and assessed it which might raise the bar for VAR to intervene). Difficult situation nonetheless.
DeleteThe Polish player doesn't extend his arm toward the ball and keeps it close to his body.
ReplyDeleteThere is no clear indication that the arm goes to the ball instead the ball goes toward the arm which is close to the body of the player.
As such for me no penalty and good decision of Meler
As far as I know, the advice is as long as the arm does not exceed shoulder height. Not punishable.
DeleteBut indeed a situation where you will have many and different views
I like Meler's style. He is self-confident but modest, excited but calm, authoritarian but sincere. He has a strong mentality.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the penalty, I don't think anyone really questions that penalty is the correct call (as in it being the conventional and expected decision). That being said, one can't deny how incredibly soft these penalties are. It's borderline pure simulation when the attacker is already going down and easily could avoid the contact altogether. Surely no one actually thinks that the GK actually commits a foul in this situation, we've just accepted that it should result in a penalty (despite the goal scoring opportunity often being gone anyway).
ReplyDeleteYou can defend referees without ridiculing people who call out dives. I absolutely despise this common sentiment that the attackers are "smart" by diving for a penalty. And the lengths people go to defend it being rewarded time and time again.
I understand your arguments, indeed these are very clear penalties in the referees assessment, but in reality we have in most of the cases clever actions by attackers and keepers who can't do different than what they do. Very penalizing for them, but let me add, you talk about these situations, I think that some other incidents, assessed as very clear penalties, are just exclusive actions by attackers, who are very quick in getting contacts by deliberately putting them in certain positions, not trying to play ball but rather looking for the whistle by referee.
DeleteTo add, maybe the last referee who tried to fight against such situations, was Mateu Lahoz, but then you clearly know how much astonishment he caused by taking such (absolutely against the popular opinion) decisions...
DeleteNo of course, everyone expects (and most people want) to see attackers rewarded in such situations, rather than defenders/goalkeepers. Goals = entertainment. I just think that too often we err on the side of being overly generous with penalties in situations where it's completely disproportionate. These 1v1 situations is one thing and I can get behind the importance of timing a challenge well (GK late in this specific case). But it's the same pattern in many other areas. Take all the penalties we see for tiny tripping fouls, be it at the edge of the box with the attacker's back towards goal, people will support the very harsh decision of penalty because a slight touch to a toe because /there's contact/ - but why can't we draw a line at some point?
DeleteAnyway, that's a different discussion altogether. But I'm baffled if people actually think Szczesny actually commits a foul here. Without the head contact, is it still a foul for you? And if not, is that attacker-initiated contact seriously enough?
Bravo Halil. Very good performance by him. Expect him sure in round of 16!
ReplyDeleteI think it was a good performance by Meler overall. While in the 1H he tried letting the game flow a bit, thus taking a risk with some unbalanced calls (e.g. a soft foul in favour of AUT in 28' against some similar ones not given for POL), I don't think he really made any major mistakes. As Chefren said in his comment above, he is definitely not afraid of taking decisions and exposing himself when it's necessary and I praise him for such an approach. IMO, this had led to him earning respect from the players and he never experienced any serious issues in this regard, even when he tried to manage some dissent in the 1H (e.g. in the aforementioned 28').
ReplyDeleteDisciplinary management was the aspect of his performance I praise the most. He started with some good and early warnings in the 1H (6', to AUT15), but started to clamp down on fouls and any misbehaviour as soon as the game heated up in the 2H, thus presenting a good game feeling, at least for my taste. All YCs given were correct for me: 53' (POL24, SPA/LoR), 56' (AUT23, reckless tackle), 62' (POL8, reckless step on foot/ankle), 64' (POL9, reckless elbow to the head), 70' (AUT7, UB/DtR), 77' (POL1, DOGSO inside the box). 64' YC to Lewandowski was somewhat interesting as a rather borderline decision, but I actually praise Meler for this call, in accordance with his line and the context of the exact moment in the match. As for the KMIs, while the penalty given in 77' was correct and expected for me, the potential handball penalty for AUT in 88' is a very difficult decision on which I already presented a view in a comment above and would support Meler in lack of better arguments.
To sum up, a performance that really pleased me and I would deem it a very good one.
Highlights:
ReplyDeletehttps://files.fm/u/8hrxahhsu2
Can we get all the video clips of the games please?
ReplyDelete