2019-2020 UEFA Referee Discussion [Rs]

I think Taylor suffers in England from being Mike Dean without the personality. He makes all the big calls (usually) and isn't afraid to upgrade or gamble on close decisions. Dean gets away with that because he's Dean--or, sometimes he gets more attention and criticism because he's Dean. Taylor just doesn't have that stature yet.

The Oliver v Taylor battle for EURO 2020 is going to be fascinating to watch. Theoretically, there is room for them both, but they'd both have to perform almost flawlessly this season because unlike 2016, England isn't the #1 option for multiple referees (Netherlands is first, Spain second and possibly Germany third). Having eight referees from only four countries just might not be viable.

Taylor truly does seem to be in pole position and perhaps deservedly so. Oliver is going to have to referee himself in and, perhaps, hope that Taylor slips up.

 

This was a pretty remarkable article, particularly given the card count and the fact Ajax had a player sent off. Mateu Lahoz appears to have an amazing ability to be both eccentric/demonstrative, punish misconduct consistently, AND have the soft skills that are often lacking when one or both of those first qualities are present.

 

I think it's possible, but unlikely. The fact that it's possible, though, suggests UEFA is going to be a bit closer to the EPL than other domestic competitions insofar as VAR interventions go.

 

This one is actually relatively straightforward. Of course, it's also the sort of call that would NEVER get called without VAR. So it goes back to the central question of why we're using VAR to get things that are "clearly wrong" when they were never "clearly wrong" before. Alas...

Here's the clip: https://streamable.com/13idp

The Ajax attacker is in an offside position. He makes physical contact with the defender who otherwise would have had a chance to make a play on the ball. It has to be offside for interfering with an opponent once it's caught.

 

On the possible RC, here's the clip:

https://streamable.com/omy15

Yes, I have a red card in real-time. Yes, I have a red card when looking at the slo-mo video. In a world where VAR is being conservatively applied, I get the argument for non-intervention, though. This isn't deliberate VC. The player goes into a challenge that he can win in a poor manner, but he isn't looking to hurt the opponent with a ton of force. The challenge is aimed right where the ball was prior to the defender's intervention and the APOEL player doesn't really have time to adjust.

Is it a red card in an instructional setting? Absolutely. Can you make an argument that there is enough mitigation that yellow is acceptable? Yes. And therein lies one of the main problems with VAR. We have challenges like this that probably should be red cards but can be yellow cards. Meaning, you know, there is some level of subjectivity. Yet VAR is advertised as being able to address objective situations.

 

As @RedStar91 will attest, Brych loves 2CTs in the UCL: https://streamable.com/rk8km

 

Oliver could have played advantage here. It’s a hard call and I highly doubt I would have seen it in real-time, but these are the types of things that could lead to separation with Taylor.

https://streamable.com/61bya

And this might have been outside the area.

https://streamable.com/j2w8e