Game 8, Group D
Düsseldorf, 17 June 2024 21:00 CETAUSTRIA - FRANCE
Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano ESP
Assistant Referee 1: Diego Barbero Sevilla ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Ángel Nevado Rodríguez ESP
Fourth Official: Mykola Balakin UKR
Reserve Assistant Referee: Oleksandr Berkut UKR
Video Assistant Referee: Juan Martínez Munuera ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2: Tiago Bruno Lopes Martins POR
UEFA Referee Observer: Hugh Dallas SCO
UEFA Delegate: Adrian Ixari MDA
Assistant Referee 1: Diego Barbero Sevilla ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Ángel Nevado Rodríguez ESP
Fourth Official: Mykola Balakin UKR
Reserve Assistant Referee: Oleksandr Berkut UKR
Video Assistant Referee: Juan Martínez Munuera ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2: Tiago Bruno Lopes Martins POR
UEFA Referee Observer: Hugh Dallas SCO
UEFA Delegate: Adrian Ixari MDA
And again: blue! Where other colors would have made more sense.
ReplyDeleteYess again and again haha ... t
DeleteThe Black one is a beautiful jersey.
The red one is not a good one for the refs.. a lot of clubs has a red tricot
Well, tonight black, orange and yellow were not possible due to team/GK colours. And the French kit has nearly no blue, so in this case, I understand the choice.
DeleteWhat is that grey tool on Manzanos pants? (Right were the belt would be in front)
ReplyDeleteIt should be the receiver/transmitter for the communication system.
DeleteNo, that one is black and on your arms. What I mean looks like a pedometer
DeleteGood start by Manzano. Well-played advantage, good yellow card in a match that doesn't seem to be easy.
ReplyDeleteHow can you not give a corner there? Crystal clear one in 36‘.
ReplyDeleteThat’s an insane miss for me
DeleteYeah, very obvious but in the end pointless
DeleteMore clear than on Felix's match.
Delete+1
Deleteyes, that was very clear and GM was in a good position.
Deleteotherwise good performance, not hesitating to give YCs and as always very fit!
Ball goes 2 metres in the air after it passes the goalkeeper, what the heck did the referee think happened to it? Now France go and score...
DeleteIt's not pointless at all for an elite ref. I understand some mistakes, but missing such a blatant corner? What a blunder that shows Manzano in a very bad light! I'm sure Rosetti is thinking "WTF"!!!
DeleteMistake by Gil Manzano. Corner kick for Austria would have been
ReplyDeleteBlatant corner not given 36' or have I missed something?
ReplyDeleteAn elite ref cannot miss this corner! Way too blatant. Gil Manzano's performance is already tarnished.
ReplyDeleteHow did that happen? He missed a clear corner, the goalkeeper saved it
ReplyDeleteManzano really had an impact on the score, if she had given the corner, France would not have been able to score, how did Manzano really miss this?
ReplyDeleteAustria had possession in between, so IMO it doesn't make sense to draw a connection between the mistake and the goal.
DeleteAnyway, it's an inexcusable mistake!
DeleteI did not see Austria taking possession of the ball after the position, but even if they did, I think the mistake was effective in the goal that came 1 minute later.
DeleteNow missed foul 39'
ReplyDeleteYC for Kante?
ReplyDeleteOne has to praise the committe's choice to appoint Gil Manzano to this high-paced game. Excellent fitness of the Spaniard really helps today. The missed corner kick is really blatant but understandable - due to the ball strange way of moving, he thought the ball hit the attacker after being cleared by GK. The rest was very strong, also his management skills what was not always the case in the past.
ReplyDeleteAgree, I like the appointment strategy so far.
DeleteWe can really see that the appointments by the Refcom are not random at all. They are aware of the teams and style of playing. And they’ve selected referees based on that, taking their background, personal style and obviously fitness into account.
The reason for the corner mistake is obvious - the spin on the ball convinced Manzano that the ball had ricocheted back again off the attacker and out for a goalkick. It was NOT so blatant a misperception as it looked. Overall decent 1H but not an optimal technical accuracy in a fast-paced match.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry but FACEPALM!
DeleteFully agree with your comment, that should be the exact reason for the miss. I also have to say that viewing the subsequent goal as a direct consequence of this mistake is just wrong. Much time has passed, Austria actually regained possession and can only blame their player's mistake for resulting in a promising attack for France.
DeleteApart from the corner mistake in 36', I think he also missed a YC for Kante in 40', at least according to the previously established disciplinary line, which I actually like. IIRC, there was also a missed impeding foul for France in 30', and these mistakes may point to a good, but not flawless performance. His fitness is superb though, he managed to follow play in a fast-paced game without any issue. I can also say his player management is also good tonight, a nice "surprise" in my opinion.
Very unlucky that France scored in the action after the missed corner, but still, not a direct influence. We should think about a real mistake only in case of goal scored from a wrong corner, the rest is not strictly connected. Lack of attention by AR2 and Gil Manzano in that situation. Huge discussions by fans because it's always something that VAR can't manage and a goal is scored afterwards, but committee shouldn't consider this as crucial mistake.
ReplyDeleteI understand it's not a crucial mistake, but Rosetti should be asking himself how can he trust a ref who misses this!
DeleteExcellent decision on advantage leading to big chance to score: 1 comment.
ReplyDeleteBlatant wrong corner with no real connection to own goal afterwards: 16 comments (and counting).
We really are our own biggest enemies sometimes...
Next missed corner by Manzano..
ReplyDeleteAnother corner mistake...
ReplyDeleteDoes Manzano know what a corner is? xD
ReplyDeleteWhat is going on with Manzano? Another stonewall corner kick missed, this time for France. Overall a good performance, but one cannot ignore such blatant mistakes, right in front of AR2.
ReplyDeleteThis one was actually more blatant than the first, at least for me. A blackout for both Manzano and AR2, and it creates a bad image being two same mistakes in very similar situations. One mistake could be forgiven, but two are somewhat annoying.
DeleteBoth are terrible mistakes, but the first one takes the cake...
DeleteAfter missing corner kick in favor of Austria in 1st half, Manzano decided to "annul" it by not giving CK to France in 2nd half. 2 incredible blackouts.
ReplyDelete30' according to new guidelines, Thuram should have been booked for simulating a face/head injury after a check against his chest
ReplyDeleteWhich new Guideline? Red Card for simulating? Never heart of it. But yes, refs should punish simulating
DeleteYellow, not red. Chefrens transcript of Rizzolis pre tournament press conference:
Delete5) A player simulating a serious injury for making his opponent booked, will be booked. That's will be interesting to check, I think it's hard to detect and you have to read the attitude and the mind of the player involved.
Rosettis*
DeleteMissed 2 corners - two clear corners not even debatable he gave goal kicks. That is sent home form.
ReplyDeleteIf he wanted to get the final at the moment its not looking good for him.
ReplyDeleteNo, we are not our biggest enimies, we are discussing the performance of a ref considered to be elite in Europe.
ReplyDeleteAnd we saw this mistake and an imbalance showing YC (40' Kanté).
Hitting the nail on the head.
DeleteAt this level, it's very hard to accept those stonewall corners missed!
No crucial mistakes, but two blatant corners missed. Let alone Kante not being booked 40'.
ReplyDeleteToo inconsistent.
Come on, at fault for this second missed corner is Senor Nevado Rodriguez, not necessarily the most convincing linesman over the years either… if you want to fault Gil Manzano there is no verbal warning after 9’, missed blocking 30’, no foul (borderline to YC) at 40’. But the Spanish ref has handled the game well and the criticism/praise ratio in the comments isn’t proportional to performance’s quality, by any means.
ReplyDeleteI like the performance to be honest. Gil Manzano has a good connection with the players, foul detection is okay, he shows YCs when necessary, proves natural feeling for the game (advantage, handballs, no penalty in 62) and is often well positioned.
ReplyDeleteBut of course two blatantly missed corners are not good, but overall still minor issues.
In 62' PLAY ON is good decision, I would say. Attacker looking for contact, a penalty call would have been supported by VAR. This is a good case for understanding when UEFA VAR has to intervene and when not.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Actually, I think a penalty would be wrong in this instance: not just was the attacker looking for contact, but I think he also started to fall before any significant contact occurred. Therefore, a good decision in the end.
DeleteI hope, that the EURO referee knows better than me, but isn't the dropped ball just wrong, because Griezmann touched the ball before and after Gil Manzano's touch, so there wasn't any change in possession?
ReplyDeleteReferee smartness, taking the expected decision.
DeleteHow is that a YC to attacker? Slid in. Feet/Legs on floor. Plays the ball with front of foot. GK comes out and is awarded FK, then YC for attacker too. The game has gone mad!!
ReplyDeleteCrazy...
DeleteAttacker gets the goalkeepers leg to the head for his trouble as well!
DeleteCorrect YC for me. He sees that the gk is coming out and there is no need to slide in feet first. It's just extremely dangerous and him playing the ball first doesn't make it less dangerous.
DeleteWas yellow now more for foul or protest?
ReplyDeleteCause both contributed.
Should have been two YCs
DeleteYou must be fun at parties.
DeleteGil manzano in the way, a feature of the officials so far this tournament. He was right to stop the game as he clearly impacted Griezman.
ReplyDeleteYou mean making it up as you go along? Impacting a player isn't a dropped ball, Griezmann gave the ball away on his own.
DeleteWe saw Nyberg earlier and Oliver the other day with excellent, alert stopping of play for a head injury and getting medics on. This was really obvious and poor teamwork, someone must have noticed the head injury! Mateu Lahoz used to be excellent at this too, play had to be stopped immediately
ReplyDeleteI agree, better injury management would have been optimal in this situation. Would not have been fun if Mbappe got a more serious injury.
DeleteHe should have stop the game before on the head contact with Mbappe
ReplyDeleteVery stupid from Mbappe and fairly deserved YC.
ReplyDeleteGil Manzano making a mess by not allowing the subs, now a needless but correct YC for mbappe
ReplyDeleteBig discussion between ref, 4. Official and Referee Observer in 88'-90'? 4. Official shouts at Gil Manzano?
ReplyDeleteSeems like 4. Official was shouting at GM before substitution around 88. Minute
DeleteManzano losing the plot here, why didn't he allow the substitution when the ball initially went out of play...
ReplyDeleteWhat is 4th official doing????
ReplyDeleteLot of blood and head injuries tonight. Many knockdowns.
ReplyDeleteVery messy ending… lots of injuries. Lots of stoppages which is putting focus on Gil Manzano.
DeleteMost challenging game so far?
ReplyDelete90+5, a clear handball, he missed again, I can say that it is the worst management after Turpin, this is my personal opinion, he made a mistake in the corner and contributed directly to the France goal, the mistake that affected the result and generally a middle management, there is no future for Manzano.
ReplyDeleteOf course, we should not forget Meler, she can also be considered bad today.
DeleteAverage performance by Manzano. Not so good control of the match, clear handball missed,to mutch inconsistency, and, for me 7.8 performance.
ReplyDeleteNot a disaster from Manzano and his team but much room for improvement. 2 missed corners which cannot happen at this level. Missed foul/YC (40'). Other problems in foul detection and the Mbappe YC at the end which was totally avoidable if he'd allowed the subs when the ball was out of play. Good no penalty call in 62' however and good fitness in an end-to-end match.
ReplyDeleteBy far the most challenging game so far and, though many people will deem it otherwise, a good performance by Gil Manzano; ‘selling points’ of chatty-approachable demeanour on the pitch (top elite management skills!) and of course outstanding fitness. Decision-making not at the top, but still at a generally good level.
ReplyDeleteThe discussions that, according to merit, Jesus Gil Manzano shouldn’t be selected for the Euro were quite far away from reality imo, and this evening showed that. No reason why he can’t reach quarterfinal, semifinal in this tournament! (La Roja notwithstanding).
Humorous remark: Orsato could retire after this game if he was the referee :D.
Mikael W, you are too cosy with Gil Manzano. I saw a lot of false decisions, some by his fault, some by AR2.
DeleteBad management at the end of the game (YC for Mbappé).
Imbalanced YC display.
In questionable decisions a tendency in favor of France - maybe not on purpose, but still recordable.
The fact that some posters here praise Manzano because of his physical fitness makes me laugh. Manzano is a professional; on can expect him to be fit enough for refrreeing a match at the EURO.
If this was Manzano's last game - I would not miss him for the rest of the tournament.
This is Euro 2024 - elite football. He made errors and will be sent home.
ReplyDeleteSo Turpin home, Oliver maybe home, Vincic home as his AR got one wrong, Meler home, you will have no refs left.
DeleteIts Euro 2024 its not Full Members Cup or reserve football. Elite - the highest level. You cant in a tournament like this miss blatant corners, lose control of subs process and miss a handball in key area of field and expect to continue. If they award him another game and he makes same mistake it makes his bosses look stupid.
DeleteNo mistakes at this level - nil.
It’s Euro 2024, not Sunday League yet players have made mistakes that even amateur footballers wouldn’t make. Reality is that referees will make mistakes, because they are human and making mistakes even at the highest level is sometimes okay. The incorrect goal kicks is what concerned me the most, the other two situations weren’t optimal but wasn’t anything major. The performance vs critique today is not fair in my opinion.
DeleteThere is no way he will come off the field happy - Manzano. He may well struggle to sleep tonight as he will know things were not totally clean. Anyone who is a ref knows if you miss clear corners and clear handballs (in key attacking phase of play) it plays on your mind.
ReplyDeleteNot the best match of his career for sure
ReplyDeleteHe stopped play after the ball hit him (this has happened too much in the tournament) BUT he was not going to stop it as possession had not changed. Then he stopped it - it was unclean and very untidy.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI can understand posters defending refs (we are all human) but to appear in the comment section to only bash a referee after a decent performance in a challenging game is really poor...
ReplyDeleteDecent? Which game are you writing about?
DeleteWhy are you attacking an established member of this blog in an almost aggressive, cynical way?
DeleteYou’re allowed to express your opinion and everybody else is entitled to his or hers.
Tonight it seems there are quite some readers very much engaged and very much motivated to make an IMO decent (and yes, I watched the AUT-FRA game) performance look like a scandalous one…
I think it was not perfect, but definitely not as bad as some people say. In by far the most challenging match so far.
@Refwatch
DeleteIn fact - I feel the assessment "decent" as a provocation in sight of the number of the ref's faults tonight.
I nowhere used the word "scandalous" in my remarks here.
If you want to defend Gil Manzano or Euro Soccer Ref or whoever else - you are free to do so. But do not accuse me of a wording I never used.
I’m pretty sure the assessment “decent” is not a provocation, but simply an opinion of a blog member.
DeleteAnd in the second part of my comment I didn’t mean to say that anybody literally said the performance was scandalous, just that some readers (not even you actually) made it look like it was scandalous.
Fair to say.
DeleteAnd I see with interest, that you just degraded Euro Soccer Ref from "an established member of this blog" to a simple "blog member" - apparently just like everybody else (me, for example).
So let's agree to disagree about today's ref's performance (in fact - it was already yesterday ;-)).
I for myself take our little quarrel as sign to control my words in a better way in the future. Since - that is my belief - this blog is for discussing and not for tussling.
Actually that was the only point I hoped to make, because I totally respect your opinion, even more now you have extensively argumented it. I was only triggered by the wording you used in reaction to ESR, which felt like provocative and cynical. I was not bothered at all by your opinion itself.
DeleteLastly, to address the qualification I used in my first comment. It was not intended to make a distinction between blog readers in terms of quality. Established means as much as “having existed or done something for a long time and therefore recognized and generally accepted“. I think we can all agree this description fits ESR. And I used the qualification to underline that we shouldn’t use the provocative, cynical oneliners to a blog member who showed for a longer period of time to be a respectable, serious and impartial contributor (actually we shouldn’t do so at all).
So no, I haven’t degraded ESR and still consider him an established blog member compared to others. This doesn’t imply however that as a mere consequence of being established I rate the quality of his opinions higher than those of any other blog member. That goes opinion by opinion and based on arguments.
So I’d absolutely echo the last passage in your previous comment and hope you keep expressing your opinions in order to have proper discussions!
So in the end we find ourselves on the same side of the fence - very much to my contentedness.
DeleteI would like to joyn you in your general judgement about ESR and pay my respect to his expertise.
I was just triggered by his assessment without adding any arguments for his point of view. So to me it looked like defending a colleague out of a reflex without falling in with the critical moments in the game.
I hope he will forgive my audacity.
Wasn’t a clean referee performance tonight by any means compared to what we have seen in the tournament so far. He will get another appointment for sure will probably have a big name watching over that appointment
ReplyDeleteMixed feelings. I recognize the level of difficulty and intensity. Very dynamic and open game. Some other games were real snoozefests compared to this one!
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the big picture was a bit chaotic/messy and I had the idea that Manzano contributed to the chaoticness with his (almost) funny personality and foul selection - Lahoz vibes.
No major mistakes. He will get another game.
Furthermore, I can already tell that Netherlands will have a hard time against Austria (MD3). Surely that will be another very intense/dynamic game.
DeleteOn another note, somehow I think Spain v Italy and Netherlands v France are not the most challenging games of the bunch.
I expect top refs are needed in Croatia-Italy, Turkey-Portugal, NL-Austria. Slovenia v Serbia not to be underestimated. And depending on standings in Group-F, we can foresee the importance of Czechia-Turkey as well (but too early to conclude :))
To be fair: REFEREEING IS FAR BELOW EXPECTATIONS! Many mistakes that are not expected from European top level refs. For me the worst big tournament in sense of refereeing so far for many years. If no VAR, great number of mistakes would stand as final and wrong decisions.
ReplyDeleteHmmm ... please don't exaggerate.
DeleteEven though I strongly critizise Gíl Manzano's performance today and though I found Turpin far below average - you are generalizing. We have seen some real good performances as well.
I dont see any reason to send a ref home, who just made only a few clear, but not match defining mistakes. The 2 missed corners were really strange, Gil Manzano has a problem with one of his linesmen. His management of head injuries was not good, and he maybe missed a YC, but his disciplinary actions were satisfying. His fitness is great, his communication was good, he was fully accepted by the players and successfully prevented the match from getting too heated, which could have happened easily. So all in all good average.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSorry András,
DeleteI cannot l cannot let you get away with this.
Gíl Manzano is a professional sportsman; I can expect a ref of European elite to be fit enough to be a referee in a EURO-match.
He was NOT accepted by the players, they just kept their mouths shut (which I appreciate) because auf Rosetti's disciplinary policy. And was his sub management, as you put it - a part of "successfully preventing the match of getting to heated?" Did you see what happened betwenn the French staff and the fourth ref? Probably not ...
I saw an imbalanced YC card display, a lot of false decisions (handball at the end of the game, corner detection - you name them.
If you think, Gil Manzano's performance was "in all good average", as you put ist, then we have strongly differing opinions, what "average" is.
Hago, absolutely!
DeleteExactly!
Delete"his communication was good" - No, there was a lot of trouble in communication at 88'-90' minute between Gil Manzano, 4. Ref, French Staff and UEFA deligate
“Gíl Manzano is a professional sportsman; I can expect a ref of European elite to be fit enough to be a referee in a EURO-match.”
DeleteAll refs present at Euro’s are professional sportsmen. Still Gil Manzano IMO outperformed all other refs we saw so far in the aspect of fitness and movement. So it’s fair to give him the credits for that aspect of refereeing I think.
Did anyone really expect a flawless performance? Manzano has never been a euro standard referee.
ReplyDeleteI actually agree with Euro Soccer Ref: a decent performance by Gil Manzano. "Decent" is a perfect description for me.
ReplyDeleteTechnical aspect wasn't faultless, far from that. In the 1H, we had a missed blocking in favour of France in 30', missed foul by Kante in 40', that "famous" corner missed in 36'. 2H brought another missed corner in 51', again in cooperation with AR2, who is actually more to blame in both instances, IMO. Analysing the disciplinary aspect, I can immediately point out the missed YC for Kante in the aforementioned incident in 40'. All of this leads me to conclude that this performance had its issues. Manzano is also certainly "messy" in his game management sometimes, and it showed tonight, both in some late reactions on head injuries and in that sloppy management of substitutions in 89'. However, let me be clear in this: it is not Mbappe's job to manage substitutions, and I was actually really, really pleased to see him getting a YC there (a nice welcome "gift" from Manzano for the next season). Of course he could have handled the situation more efficiently and "smartly", but it's a minor negative remark, not something match-deciding. The same can be said for missed corners: it was annoying, it was certainly a mistake and it has to be highlighted in any serious analysis, but it was in no way a big or match-deciding error. Viewing the mistake in 36' as a direct cause for the 1-0 by France is just simply, plainly wrong; I have to be direct in this remark.
On the other hand, I really liked Manzano's player management and interactions tonight: friendly, chatty, smiling whenever possible, but also serious and commanding when need arose, and it actually surprised me pretty much, knowing his usual deficiencies. Of course he's not Orsato or Marciniak and he sometimes appears a bit funny when trying to stamp his authority, but in this game he actually succeeded: there was no instance of a loss of control, the game was never in any "jeopardy". I think we can't expect more from Manzano in this aspect, and I also don't believe we should. He did his job. Disciplinary management was also mostly good: apart from the missed YC in 40', I think all of the rest were correct (33', 56', 78' (yes, this one is correct for me as well, although many disagree), 84', 89', 90+3'), and I also cannot remember any other mandatory card missed. Of course he could have shown two YCs to AUT20 in 84', he was really testing the limits with his protesting, but I don't think it would have been a smart decision, nor would it have benefitted the game in any way (it would have actually inflamed it, as the player in question calmed down after the incident). The assessment of KMIs was actually spot on for me: no penalty on Sabitzer in 62' (his fall starts before any actual contact), no penalty for Austria again in 90+2' (just a head collision). The potential handball in 90+6' was again a good decision, at least for my taste (everyone is free to disagree): Kounde actually tries his best to move his hand away and hide it behind his body, the ball was also fast and shot from a short distance. Lastly, a word about Manzano's fitness: it is not my intention to praise an Elite referee for his mere ability to run. However, the speed and stamina of Manzano are praiseworthy; it was not an easy task to follow play so efficiently in such a high-paced game, the most difficult one so far IMO. Therefore, it is a minor positive aspect that should be noted.
Continuation of the analysis:
DeleteTo sum up: taking into account all the positives and negatives of tonight's performance, my conclusion is it was a decent one. Not faultless, far from the best performance he ever had, but mostly good, with clear deficiencies that stay as clear areas for improvement, but minor ones. There was no big or match-deciding error, I strongly think so.
Lastly, I never imagined I'd find myself in a situation where I'll have to "defend" Gil Manzano. To be completely honest, I never liked him as a referee. To me, he is just an excellent athlete with a whistle and a pair of cards. And yes, if I had to choose one referee whom I wouldn't send to this EURO, it would have been him. However, I admit I'm biased in these remarks. Speaking objectively, I cannot deny that Gil Manzano is a lot better referee than he was in the past. His skills are certainly not on the very top, his refereeing has certain issues, but he still managed to lead this game in a decent way. Not excellent, not even very good, but decent. Therefore, I cannot really understand all the negativity and bashing he received tonight. And believe me, I would be the first to criticise him as harshly as possible if he gave me enough material to do that. However, he didn't and I give him a passing grade, but with a clear note of his mistakes in this (too long) analysis.
Very good analysis of Gil Manzanos performance tonight. You summarized things very well, it wasn’t a terrible display with Manzano doing an ”acceptable/decent” job. Excellent fitness, decent game management but sloppy in technical aspects. This sloppiness put Manzano in the spotlight and I wish he solved/got those decisions right. However the KMI’s were spot on for me although they weren’t too difficult to assess imo. All in all - decent but sloppy, don’t think anyone would have made the remarks of his performance being terrible if he hadn’t missed the two corners and managed the injury/substitution better at the end of the game.
DeleteThank you for your extensive analyses throughout this Euro’s. Especially tonight, when this blog was in desperate need of a nuanced and realistic voice among many rather empty shouts. Ofc there are more valuable contributions/contributors, which I praise along with yours now.
Delete100% agreed.
DeleteBtw, don't you find suspicious that many users weirdly appeared here just today to find any mistake in Gil Manzano's performance and make it as big as possible?
Thank you, Dukat192, for your opinion.
DeleteAs I agree with most of your mentions, but they lead me to another conclusion.
I think, Manzano's performance was - all in all - below average. I cannot follow you - agreeing with all the faults you numbered obove - that you would "give him a passing grade". There simply were too many faults for en elite ref in a top tournament.
The chaotic sub management - why did he not let the French make their substitutions while he allowed the one for Austria? And he would have let the French wait even longer and continue the game, though the ball was out of play. That was the reason, why Mbappé entered the pitch, so Manzano was forced to interrupt the game. It needed this paradox intervention by the French captain to force the ref to do his job properly.
Do you believe, Manzano's YC policy was well weighed? I certainly do not. And some of the players - mostly Austrians - were frustrated by that. (That does not mean the YCs against the Austrian defenders were not accurate. They were, and Posch would have deserved one in the first half, too.)
And please: Let us stop to praise a professional referee for being physically fit for the most important tournament in Europe. If he were not - he would not be a pro.
Yes, I agree with you, there is no connection between the false corner detection and the own goal - cristal clear. And yes, I think that there was no PK to be given for Austria in any situation.
And I gladly accept your invitation to disagree with you about the handball situation in 90+6. The French player clearly played the ball with his arm moved away from his body. And he was not "shot from a short distance" as you want us make believe.
But it's this handball stuff all the way; Before IFAB finds a solution and settles this case, the discussions will go on.
So I am all in all glad to have this discussion with you and others here - no matter, that we disagree every once in a while.
:-)
In my opinion @HaGo, you are being unrealistic to push down the overall performance for the whole game because of two corner kicks and an injury management not being ideal.
DeleteAnd of course we can and should praise officials for having excellent fitness. The same way fans can praise players for being absolute fitness monsters, referees can be too, while some players don’t run a lot but still suffice at the professional level (just like Orsato for example). Your argument that they wouldn’t be pro referees without having excellent fitness doesn’t take away the fact that there are levels to fitness and Gil Manzano showcased good if not excellent fitness in todays game.
As I stated before, two corners and not managing something like we at home might feel was optimal does not decide the game, nor should it lower Manzanos overall performance so much to where his performance goes from decent/good to poor. And while I do feel like Manzanos refereeing style is not really optimal for my taste, he got the job done today and credit has to be issued where it’s due.
Big discussion about this game even if at the end nothing really extra ordinaty happened. It seems that this is the classic trend of Gil Manzano, at least in recent games, if compared to the referee he was in past. You have always the idea of a shaky performance and never of a full control. He can do things in a definitely good manner, but he will look always in a certain way. I think the fact that this was a very open game until the end, with the circumstance of the unlucky own goal scored a few after the missed corner, made the perception even worse for many people. But if we look at the reality we can't say that this was a very poor performance by referee, he could have done better, starting from the corner kicks and other stuff, but apart from that, he was close to a regular performance.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, for the reasons I wrote above (my opinion) and the recent past of the Spanish, he will not go that far in this tournament, very likely an appearance in KO stage and nothing more, but hard to think that he could have officiated the final, even in case of excellent performance in all games before, apart from the Spanish national team that could be there until the end.
In my opinion, the Spaniard‘s performance fits perfeclty in the trend of other performances we have seen so far in Germany: Very good management and interaction with players which led to a decent acceptance but quite many mistakes technically (I also think of Turpin‘s 3 VAR interventions, Soares Dias‘ shaky foul recognition, Orsato‘s leniency towards dissent vs. the new guidelines and so on). The referees so far have shown great personality but I strongly hope that decision-making will improve as the tournament goes on.
ReplyDeleteIndependent from the actual evaluation of the performance, which seems to widely differ, it is a fact, that it was the most controversial game regarding refereeing so far.
ReplyDeleteAnd that itself could be a problem for Gil Manzano, I think. Especially, if the other referees continue to have good/solid performances without much to talk about.
Maybe he will get the del Cerro Grande treatment from EURO21 and continue with a low-profile MD2 game (GEO-CZE maybe).
But I don't see him going far in the tournament at the moment.
Highlights:
ReplyDeletehttps://files.fm/u/qjnt7e7949
Can someone put a link to all the video clips of this match please.
Deletethank you ESR for your work !! Do you have the clips eventually ?
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