The Untold ref review: Arsenal – Shakthar; the best refereeing we have seen « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News, supporting the club, the players and the manager
By Walter Broeckx, the ref.
The ref in our CL game against Shaktar Donetsk was Mr. Moen from Norway. Well let us just see how he did.
OTHER: Wilshere comes in late and hits his opponent. The ref gives him a lecture. He could have given a yellow there but later on it turned out that by doing this he warned all the players and no serious fouls were committed. So I credit him with a good point looking back at the game but at the time I would have given a yellow card. But the ref showed that he would not tolerate anything more like that. And this is a perfect example on how to do a game and how to build it up. A lecture for the first foul that could result in a booking can do the trick but you have to be sure of yourself to do this. Nevertheless, a good point to the ref 1/1.
GOAL: And for those who were in the Emirates this might be a surprise but this goal should have been disallowed. No there was not a foul on the goalkeeper and the ball was not under control by the keeper when Djourou pushed it forward. BUT Song was in an offside position when the ball was played forward to him. There was only one defender behind him so he was offside. I know the ref is not really to blame for this but he gets the good and the bad points from his assistants so sorry ref but you were let down by your assistant on this occasion. 0/1
GOAL: No remarks on the second goal this time. Well taken if you ask me. 1/1
CARD: against Hubschman for a foul off the ball on Cesc. It was not his first like that and the ref had enough of it. This was an example on a few fouls by the same player that added up to a yellow card. Again well done from the ref. 1/1
OTHER/PENALTY/CARD/GOAL: A lot to talk about. Let us start with what the ref does before the free kick is taken. The defenders are holding the Arsenal players and preventing them running. The ref acknowledges this and calls a few players over to warn them that he will give a foul or a penalty if needed. Perfect according to the rule book and the instructions. 1/1
The ball comes in and Djourou is held firmly and dragged to the ground and also Song has been held and he also goes down. The ref gives the penalty he had promised the defenders he would give. And I am typing this standing up and applauding the ref(sorry for any errors) for this, as this part is mostly forgotten by most refs. Our ref today showed character in this situation. 1/1
He also gives a card. And this is something he did to stamp his authority even further on the players. He smothers any attempt to come running to him to protest his decision and he also tells the player that made the foul that if the ref warns you for not making a foul and you still do it you show disrespect to the ref and you must get a yellow card. 1/1 Cesc scores the penalty and nothing to report on this. 1/1
GOAL: Nothing wrong with the goal I would say. What a lovely move. 1/1
GOAL: What a strange goal this one. Chamakh was so surprised that the flag stayed down he stopped for a split second took a look at the linesman and then he shot but because of him looking to the linesman he almost missed. And Marouane next time just shoot at first sight and then look at the linesman please. And the linesman had it right as at the left back position a defender was playing Chamakh onside. 1/1
GOAL: Well I think this will be the goal in Arsenal history that will live in memory as the goal that was applauded by all supporters in the stadium and a goal against Arsenal. Eduardo scores his goal and all well within the rules. 1/1
So let us see what we get in total for this ref:
Goals 5/6
Cards: 2/2
Penalties: 1/1
Other: 2/2
A total score of 10/11 or 90 %!
When I started this review I said that a ref that would get a score of 90% he would have a almost faultless game. And this is what I have seen tonight. Our match commentator said that the ref was only 31 years and I must say that if he keeps performing like this he will be a great ref. This really was a top, top performance and I must say one of the best I have ever seen. And the only point I took away from him, he is not directly to blame but his assistant is to blame.
This was in my opinion a perfect example of a ref who felt that the game was played in a good spirit and when the first real contact was made he lectured the player. The players felt that he was not going to throw with his cards around like a madman but he made it clear he would give the next player a yellow card if he would go in hard. No one did after that for the rest of the game. I can only congratulate him on this.
I also would like to point out that I think that the penalty was some great team work between the ref and the 5th assistant. I can imagine that the ref said to the 5th assistant after he had called the players over and told them to stop the holding and pulling to keep an extra eye on this. He even changed his normal position where he should stand when a free kick flies in from there to have an opposite view of the incident with his 5th assistant. Great, great teamwork.
I really hope that other refs take a good look at the way he performed tonight and try to learn from him. You can always argue about some minor decisions in a game but I really felt he had the game in total control from the start to the finish. He wasn’t influenced by the shouts for a first penalty from the crowd, he did what he had told the players he would do. Okay, I will stop here as I think it is clear that this was the best performance of a ref I have seen in a long, long time.
Arsenal v Shakhtar
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