No. Stop it. The obvious implication was that the performance was deemed poor (though I don't agree) and assignments have subsequently been affected. You introduced the club, the country, suggested a referee's career was being "destroyed" and then demanded evidence to support a theory you invented. We're not going down this path.
Actually, I'm not even implying that the performance was deemed poor. In fact, it is entirely possible that it was deemed acceptable by the referee observer. However, no matter whether one thinks his performance was acceptable or not, it was certainly controversial in the sense that it generated a lot of discussion and placed the spotlight firmly on the refereeing. I totally understand why UEFA might have made the decision to keep him away from further controversy, even though they didn't have a problem with his performance. I never suggested anything along those lines. True, and I think Kuipers has the advantage that he hasn't been involved in any recent big controversy, while Eriksson just did in the Man City - Barca match. The fact that Pellegrini spoke out certainly did not help Eriksson's cause. (Again, I'm not saying that this should matter, but I think that it does matter.) In past years as I remember, the final referees have been relatively free of recent controversy. The exception to that goes back to Hauge in 2006, who did a R16 Chelsea - Barca, and we all remember how the Arsenal - Barca final went...
Some interesting appointments for the return legs in the Europa League Round of 16. This is always an intriguing stage, because you need a lot of referees and there are some big name teams trying to stay alive. It's a mix of some big name Elite names and then some up-and-coming referees, getting an opportunity: Anzhi : AZ - THOMSON (SCO) Valencia : Ludogorets - SIDIROPOLOUS (GRE) Plzen : Olympique Lyon - MARCINIAK (POL) Benfica : Tottenham - SKOMINA (SVN) Fiorentina : Juventus - WEBB (ENG) Real Betis : Sevilla - PROENCA (POR) Salzburg : Basel - GRAFE (GER) Napoli : Porto - ATKINSON (ENG) The Napoli, Betis, Fiorentina and Benfica games also had Elite referees on the opening legs, so UEFA has treated those as marquee assignments. The match in Anzhi is also now in doubt. Pretty big game for Grafe, too. Really just the other two are tests/experience for the lesser known names.
Masterful performance from Kuipers and team in Manchester. I think you're going to see this crew doing at least one major final this year.
I agree. Watched Kuipers on numerous occasions of late and been really impressed. He, along with Webb and Skomina, is someone I would most like to have for my team on an important occasion.
I definitely think they are the two best on merit right now. But each will probably get one more game before the Final, so they have the chance to encounter controversy. Plus, if Chelsea or Barca got there, not certain you can go with Eriksson. So I'd still count some of the others I mentioned above as wildcards. But I definitely concur that Kuipers and Eriksson are the two best in Europe right now. I imagine Eriksson gets Spain v Netherlands at the World Cup, too.
I can see Rizzoli getting Spain vs. Netherlands. This might be just a coincidence, but since the 2009-2010 UCL season every referee that has done the Final did not previously do a Final. In 2010 Webb never did a semi-final in his CL career before. Kassai never did one before in 2011. Proenca never did one before in 2012 and Rizzoli never did one as well.
Maybe. There are several options. For all we know, FIFA could go outside UEFA and give it to Nishimura (if he doesn't have the opener). But I'll stick with Eriksson as the favorite. By, "a Final," do you only mean the Europa League? If so, I'm not sure it tells us anything at all. Very few referees have ever received multiple Finals in UEFA club competition (ignoring Super Cup for a moment; though even that was more of a "reward" to a senior referee for awhile). In fact, a guy like Collina got the UEFA Cup Final after he got the UCL Final. There was a period in the middle part of last decade where a couple referees like Busacca and Michel got UEFA Cup and then the UCL a few years later--but that seems to be the exception, not the rule. In fact, the argument that the Finals usually get spread around is one reason why, in the past, I'd argue against Kuipers. But under the Collina regime, merit seems to be the #1 criteria above all else (with the exception, possibly, of the Rizzoli appointment last year notwithstanding). Every single semi in 2007, 2008 and 2009 had an English team in it, though, so it was impossible. And in 2006 the English UCL refs were Webb and Riley. Rizzoli had the 2010 Europa League Final.
That's also not true. Proenca did a UCL semi in 2011. Webb I already explained; it was impossible. Kassai had a meteoric rise going into and at the World Cup, where he got a WC semifinal, so that accounts for that (though, yes, technically he didn't get a UCL semifinal). It's really only Rizzoli that had been in the UCL knockout pool awhile and didn't get a semi--when he could have--before the Final.
One of the Barca - Atletico quarterfinals looks perfect for Cakir. Huge matches between two Spanish teams.
I think that makes sense. He didn't see a Spanish team once in the group stage. Lots of forward planning (and review of the past) needed to make these assignments, but I could see something like: Manchester United : Bayern - VELASCO CARBALLO/ERIKSSON Barcelona : Atletico - CAKIR/RIZZOLI PSG : Chelsea - SKOMINA/PROENCA Real Madrid : Dortmund - MOEN/CLATTENBURG That would be under the assumption that Kuipers gets the Final and you set aside Webb, Kassai and some others for possible semis (though you could repeat a name or two, as well). Probably will look nothing like that, now that I've spent time thinking about it and jotted it down.
There were a lot of interesting plays yesterday in Europa League. Very early red card against Basel might be one worth discussion (though I agree with it completely). However, the one incident I caught that I think is very intriguing involves our friend Howard Webb. He had already issued a red card (obvious second yellow) to Fiorentina, so the match is 11 v 10 at the is point. 94th minute, Juventus is trying to seal victory by pushing for a second goal. Then this happens (47:37 of video if you lose the timestamp; and the replay eventually comes): Am I wrong in thinking Andre Marriner has made a complete mess of this? If he's got information, he's got to get it to Webb before the goalkeeper can dissent and act angrily. And, if he's got information, how on earth is that a yellow card? It's either completely accidental and no misconduct, or it's deliberate and it's violent conduct. Can anyone defend a yellow card here? I've been on record lately not being a fan of Webb's execution on red card offences, but I've always been--and still am--a huge fan of his player management skills. I'm very skeptical on how he handled this one, though. What was solved or prevented by squaring up to the goalkeeper as his anger was clear? It was almost as if Webb was pushing him to escalate his behavior, when he could have been taking Tevez away immediately while he consulted Marriner. Again, I think Marriner should have intervened immediately (maybe he did, but initially had no misconduct?). And I want to say clearly I think this is a red card (and 3-4 match suspension). I'm just not sure if this was Marriner not recognizing things or if this was some sort of collective decision to doubt what they saw, because Juventus was likely going through and there were 30 seconds left and Tevez, seemingly, had no reason to do this. Very interesting situation all around.
If It was any other referee, I would say that it's absolutely stunning how that was yellow, but I'm not really surprised anymore from Webb. He just doesn't like to give red cards and the second caution red he gave should have been a straight red for DOGSO.
You put this on Webb and not on Marriner? I thought about this. Maybe. But there is another Fiorentina player about to close. I think there's enough doubt on whether he gets the shot off before he's challenged. No problem with a yellow there.
Slow the replay down and watch Tevez's head look down. That was deliberate IMO. If Marriner saw that he should definitely have interceded before. I wouldn't "place blame" on either one. It's a failure of both crew members at that point. Communication breakdown or failure to enforce the LOTG with the correct punishment. Hard to know without knowing what Marriner told Webb if anything other than "hey, know a good burger joint"? Surely there will be an administrative review of this incident against Tevez?
To me it looked like Tevez took his chance to "allow" his foot to contact the keeper's head, while making it look like it was inadvertent. A lot of people have seen this type of "trick" before, (e.g. when Zidane was sent off in the 1998 WC by Brizio). A stronger referee (Rodriguez, and others like him) would certainly have gone red here. While Marriner should have informed Webb of what happened, Webb should have realized it himself. In games at this level, these things are seldom accidental, and he should know that. But here is where we get back to the 2010 WC final again. (I know, sorry.) He does not seem to want to make that call. It looked like he was about to really lose it in the interaction with the keeper. I would surmise that he is under a lot of stress given his problems in the EPL, and it got to him here in the UEL. On the 2nd yellow incident, I don't think it was a DOGSO. PH
Thanks for the heads up, PH. Boy, Webb was about to lose it with the 'Keeper. The AAR's keep their unblemished record intact though. Has anyone ever seen them make a call? They probably wouldn't have called Henry's handling against Ireland!
Not personal, but I grow tired of this. They made the PK call at Old Trafford Wednesday. They are very involved. We don't always agree, and some do better than others. But if you watch closely (or if you ever are lucky enough to see them in action live) you'll see right away how involved they are. Here, I suspect Marriner wasn't sure it was deliberate and just made a really poor decision. Even top referees can lose focus and concentration. Not an excuse, but just potentially the reality.