With Slovakia - Ukraine, Michael Oliver is about to officiate his second game at EURO 2024.
Game 21, Group E
Düsseldorf, 21 June 2024 15:00 CET
SLOVAKIA - UKRAINEDüsseldorf, 21 June 2024 15:00 CET
Referee: Michael Oliver ENG
Assistant Referee 1: Stuart Burt ENG
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Cook ENG
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Cook ENG
Fourth Official: Serdar Gözübüyük NED
Reserve Assistant Referee: Johan Balder NED
Video Assistant Referee: Bastian Dankert GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1: David Coote ENG
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2: Christian Dingert GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2: Christian Dingert GER
UEFA Referee Observer: Hugh Dallas SCO
UEFA Delegate: Adrian Ixari MDA
Very attentive AR1 4' offside. Clear, but you need to be attentive and easy to miss (definetly so early in the game)
ReplyDeleteAR2 with good offisde to 1min later hahaha. Both of to good start.
ReplyDeleteProbably been said before but is Gözübüyük only acting as a 4O this championship?
ReplyDeleteOnly 4O
ReplyDeleteWhat Ukraine player was in offside in 33'? Or mistake by the AR?
ReplyDeleteI think a mistake, or misunderstandig about interference between Oliver and AR2.
DeleteSlovak commentator say, that one of the Ukraine interfered SVK GK by clearly attempting to play, but he was like 3 meters of the ball. I think just error
DeleteThat's why I think it might be misunderstanding between AR and Oliver. Other player (not offside did interfere I think). But not a match desciding error.
DeleteNow when replayes are shown during halftime, I´m not sure if there wasn´t touch of player in offside position with GK on recovery after save...but still I think flag should stayed down.
DeleteOliver managing stopping the restart of play 39'. Very strong body language. I liked the way he solved the problem quickly instead of YC. Because that whould have taken longer, didn't feel necessary. So I think it's a good example of solving a problem without cards. I have seen this of Oliver in PL. I think it is one of his strong points. Don't know how other people feel about this?
ReplyDeleteI agree, good example of managing without cards. Ukraine didn’t want to play that fast anyways and still so early in the game at 0-0, a card would have been rather wrong. Good management and good way for Oliver to profile himself as well, now a yellow card later in the game will not be a surprise.
DeleteIndeed, very good prevention there!
DeleteNice easy game for Oliver - suits his style and accepted by players of both teams. A couple of wrong free kicks (45+1’ was really bad - I didn’t see anything wrong at all) but nothing major
ReplyDeleteA solid and convincing performance combined with empathetic leadership, leading to mutual respect, acceptance and largely fair play.
ReplyDeleteHe did what he had to do and was invisible when intervention was not necessary. Pleasant to observe.
Unfortunately, we cannot monitor headset communications. Then an assessment can be done even better.
Possible penalty in 30'?
ReplyDeleteOliver prefers to be in the background. Both teams behave well so far, therefore no problems. Three possible YCs for SPA forgiven (16', 37' - both by 18UKR and 42' - by 16SVK). In addition, an interesting penalty area incident (kicking) in 31':
ReplyDeletehttps://streambug.org/cv/1701ea
Interesting because almost no reactions, expected decision therefore is no PK/intervention. I think in general it would’ve been a little soft.
DeleteNever a foul. But the actual decision to give a corner was also wrong
DeleteCards can be given but must not be given. He prefers a tactically well-chosen step-by-step disciplinary management and keeps his ammunition dry for later.
DeleteIn my opinion, the "violation" in the 30' is too light to give a PK.
I get the decision not to intervene on a number of levels. But I don't get the "never a foul" assertion.
DeleteThe player is going to cross the ball and he is kicked from behind so he kicks it out for a goal kick instead. Seems like it's the literal definition of a foul.
Now, it would also be seen as a very soft penalty that no one was looking for. I agree there. But it's also very much a foul.
I have to watch the game later tonight to give any general impression, but I have to agree with usaref on the 31' incident: if a penalty had been whistled, it would have been a really soft one, also one that probably no one among the players and general public expected (at least that's my personal feeling). However, from a pure technical standpoint, the UKR player did commit a foul, to be honest.
DeleteAgree adding that giving a penalty that no one understands is asking for serious trouble.
DeleteOliver and Dubravka with an argument, maybe about if Pope is a better keeper than him ;-)
ReplyDeleteNice xD
DeleteGood performance but probably easiest game so far. Burt was very switched on as AR1
ReplyDeleteOnly I felt the extra time was not enought?
ReplyDeleteI expected 7 minutes at least
ReplyDeleteExcellent performance in an exciting match.
ReplyDeleteObserved some strong points:
Authentic leadership with excellent empathetic handling of players and situations. Exudes self-confidence, calmness and stands above the whole.
He prefers a tactically well-chosen step-by-step disciplinary management and keeps his ammunition dry. First card just in time and at the right moment 83'
Almost no stretching and pushing prior to corner kicks. Also good injury management.
Almost no unsportsmanlike behavior such as dissent and kicking ball away after game stoppage
Excellent tracking and position play with good in-between observation, allowing good assessment.
Ensures that play is resumed quickly after interruptions, where possible, so that the flow of the game is maintained.
Communication with assistants
Unfortunately, we cannot listen in on communication with the headset (64'), which makes assessment difficult in relation to the assistants.
Agreed with your analysis, a good performance by Oliver in a normal game. One thing I would like to point out is his proactiveness. He was always near when things could get heated, choosing his moments to ”explode” in the end of the game and really show himself to ensure nothing escalates. This preventiveness is something that I really liked from him today and he did it very successfully on top of the other things you wrote, well done!
DeleteAfter watching the game, I can only agree with your comments and join you in praising Oliver's performance yesterday. I think you highlighted the positive aspects well: stepped disciplinary approach which enabled him not to artificially inflame an otherwise easy and fair match; very proactive approach to prevention, especially in the latter stages of the game, when he used his presence to calm things down, feeling the need at just the right moment; good rapport with the players, ensuring his complete control over the proceedings. As Mr. W stated in a comment below, this was an easy game, but Oliver chose just the right approach to it, avoiding unnecessary complications with smart, sensible and empathic refereeing (e.g. potential DtR by SVK player in 39', which was dealt with in exactly the right way for such a game and situation, showing Oliver clearly understood and "felt" the game he was refereeing). IMO, it was of the best performances so far.
DeleteVery smooth and easy match with Oliver's relaxed attitude, probably the most relaxed game
ReplyDeleteI think Michael Oliver has been very proactive in these last minutes. Last goal kick is prime example of this. Running towards SVK player who had kept the ball, making sure nothing serious happens. Very smart, very attentive, proactive. These are things that people don't notice about a top class referee. But which should be mensioned, as this is what young referees should see and learn. This was an easy game. I think 1YC. But I think everyone who is a referee knows, is that easy games can easily be made difficult by the referee. Whilst a difficult game on paper or from minute one, can be managed perfectly. I think Michael Oliver showed how to manage an easy game. (There were some fouls that were soft etc. But tbh I have seen that in every game this EURO, so I wouldn't say that this makes his performance less good). He used the progressive disiplinary system perfectly (= keeping his ammunition) managed situations accordingly. I think Michael Oliver showcased how to manage an easy game. And I can tell you, that is also not easy. So I would like to give credit to this performance. I know he was not tested on any KMI (maybe that 30' PAI, but I don't think it's worth calling it that tbh).
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteProvocative reflection
ReplyDeleteApparently we as bloggers, Law 5 The Referee, are usually much more active during poor referee performances compared to better performances.
Are we too focused on what is not going well and do we have less interest in the many good things?
Do we have a well-balanced good/bad attention?
Example:
Number of responses to Vincic: current 139
Number of responses to Oliver: current 30
Of course, that is the nature of humans. We like to voice our complaints when things go bad but less often praise when things go well, this doesn’t affect the purpose of the blog (a quiet day = the best day for a referee). In this game there weren’t a lot of situations to discuss either (very calm game), it was in the middle of the day for Europeans and not really a high profile game.
DeleteI don’t see an issue with there being more comments in a game with more attention that had more situations and a worse overall performance?
I understand your reflection on this. It's the reason why I decided to post a comment praising his good performance even though it was an easy game. You can read it above. But I agree with MX, that I quiet game is a good game for a referee. There were also not many incidents to discuss (1YC, no real PAI or VAR stuff).
DeleteI know and understand that human nature.
DeleteThe question still is whether referee observers should follow this?
Nevertheless very happy with your reaction. Thanks
Now Austria -Poland. Enjoy
It's not provocative at all, but a really good question. Basically, I think we can all agree that positive points in a performance should be highlighted in the same manner as negative ones. It's important for a proper learning process, one of the main purposes of this blog (at least for me). I admit my contribution is missing today, but I still have to watch the game, which I will do during the night. On the other hand, MX is spot on in his comment about human nature: it's just the way people generally behave, especially on sites like this, and I think it's ok, we just need to accept that (as long as it's presented in a polite manner), especially if corroborated by facts. To be honest, my comment yesterday was one of the "negative" ones, but I stand by every word.
DeleteAlso 2pm vs 8pm on week day kickoffs makes a huge differnce as well as the game.
DeleteDo we think that Oliver has done enough in his 2 matches to earn himself a KO game?
ReplyDeleteClear yes in my opinion.
DeleteYes
DeleteI believe so. His first game was good (there seemed to be some controversy about the PK and YC or RC) But I think UEFA REFCOM will have been satisfied with his solving of those KMI. That match was a good performance, in a normal level game. This game today was a good (maybe better performance technically) but in an easy level game (He was challenged less). But I think it is important to see the little details of his referee performance today: The attentiveness to situation that could easily make this game more difficult (You could say he kept the game easy, by being proactive), he managed the game well. Choosing not to give cards for every possible YC offense. But going step by step toward the well chosen YC in 80ish minute. I think yesterday there was some criticism on keeping the cards in the pocket too much leading to frustrations of players. I think (know) this is also possible the other way around. Where you give too many cards too quickly that aren't necessary. I think Oliver had a good balance and good execution of this refereeing principle that we all learn from when we start as a referee (progressive step by step disciplinary action). So after going far too much in to detail hahaha, I'm sorry. I think he deserves a KO game. He got a QF in both EURO20 and WC22. I don't see why his performances where less good as last time. I think a game that is on paper easy but where there is doubt that this will be the whole game, is a perfect fit for Oliver. A clash that is expected to be heated should be left to a more assertive/strong personality referees (Makkelie, Marciniak, Taylor). But I believe there are niches for referee's to operate in and I believe Oliver is one of the best in this type of game (which is a typical PL top clash game, like Man City vs Liverpool).
DeleteAgree with everything you said But bringing up MC vs LIverpool was not a good reference. Oliver bottled it in injury time: clearly a PK which he ignored.
DeleteTime of kick off also, more will watch evening offering
ReplyDeleteExactly
DeleteSatisfied with Oliver performance. Booked place in knock out stages!
ReplyDeleteHighlights:
ReplyDeletehttps://files.fm/u/9jk87vevzh
Can we get all the video clips of the games please?
ReplyDelete