On the possible handling foul in the German box I saw the AAR reach across his body with his left hand to his right hip. Think he was hitting the mic to let the ref know it wasn't a handling foul? Interesting. Also if you have a little stick thing in your right hand...why wouldn't you put the mic control on your left hip? Maybe it's a signal instead.
So what?! That's nothing you don't see let go everywhere all the time. Not even the Germans understand that call.
I'll say this. Lannoy has called three elbowing fouls similar to the incident where Velasco Carballo gave a yellow. So, from a consistency standpoint, Velasco Carballo's was out-of-whack. I still maintain that it could be yellow, but I'm willing to concede that it was not, however, what UEFA instructed specifically.
You may be right I have no idea. Would you want them open mic though? If I was in the center I wouldn't.
I guess just instruct him not to be chatty. I would hate to be getting one side of a conversation with him and the keeper when the ball is on the other side of the field.
One thing I liked about Lannoy was his ability to make a decision and then be there an instant later. He did that a few times where I wondered where the referee was and in a split second he was there, giving the illusion he was always on top of play. It's a good thing to do and I think it helped him even when he was making silly calls like taking the advantage away from Germany or calling Contrao for a pull I'd like go in a U-12.
Not sure how correct they are but the Swedish commentators mentioned (just after the Alves incident at the start of the match) that the referees had been instructed to caution players that used their arms/elbows in aerial challenges (and they seemed somewhat surprised that Alves wasn't cautioned).
The referee of this game today was terrible...as I mentioned here in my review of today's action: In the English Premier League, the play is compelling and engaging because the referees let play flow as much as possible. Mr Lannoy seemed intent on preventing any flow to the game, there were so many free kicks it was frustrating to watch.
Yeah, after I wrote that it dawned on me that Lannoy might be the one not following instructions. Interesting--would be nice to see something publicly said about the instructions.
You post here to pimp your site for page views. I have an opinion of you that cannot be expressed here.
It's been handled. soccersagacity, it's against the Terms of Service of this site to advertise your personal blog like that. Thanks for understanding.
This is one of the major issues I have with Lannoy. It not only is reflected in the setting of the wall, but also other aspects of match management. He misses a lot.
Speaking of handling, I'm surprised there was not more discussion about the non call. For me the second handling is deliberate. He could have moved his arm to avoid contact. Thoughts?
Aren't you talking about the other match, Alberto? Or is there a handling situation that you're thinking of that we didn't discuss.
You know I was up in your part of the country today. Drove early to pick up my daughter and her belongings from college in Boston and drove back in the afternoon so I got to see 20 minutes of the Germany Portugal match and yes, I got confused based on the highlights from the other game.
I was not at all impressed with Lannoy today. I thought he was very rigid in his positioning which seemed to keep him far from play a lot. But more importantly, I felt like no one ever knew what a foul was going to be. All match long he would call trifling or nonexistent stuff to the point where the players were often confused as to what was called. The mystery foul on the Portuguese attacker just outside the 18 left him laughing. I would much prefer Carballo than Lannoy for a match I had any interest in. I understand Carballo made a major mistake in his match, but he was very good for the other 89 minutes. Referees will make major mistakes...every one of us has. They are unfortunate, but reality. However, mystifying players with random foul decisions and killing any flow is a much more significant issue in terms of consistency between matches. And that is why I hope Carballo gets another matche...he is a very good referee who, like all of the referees at Euro, won't make a major mistake very often and will make the game more entertaining than Lannoy and his constant whistling for nothing.