Risk of Sports Injury?

At first take, who looks more likely to have a significant injury, or three, during their football career?

Jack Wilshere (right) of Arsenal and Fernandinho of Manchester City battle for the ball

Jack Wilshere is a talented professional player but his record of injuries do not bode well for this future, especially if one looks at his body mechanics (kinesthetics). Wilshere looks awkward, unbalanced and ungainly.

Aesthetics plays a huge part in a professional athlete's long-term performance, sustainability and longevity. Just look at tennis legend Roger Federer, a wonderfully graceful athlete who has avoided major injuries throughout his long career while performing consistently at the highest level.

Let's not forget how Alex Ferguson regards athletes too (plus he is known to have a good eye for choosing winning racehorses).

Writing in his autobiography in 2013, Ferguson painted the scene in the Manchester United boardroom, prior to Jordan Henderson’s £16 million move from Sunderland to Liverpool (reference):

“We looked at Jordan Henderson a lot and Steve Bruce was unfailingly enthusiastic about him. Against that we noticed that Henderson runs from his knees, with a straight back, while the modern footballer runs from his hips. We thought his gait might cause him problems later in his career.”

Jordan Henderson, running style

So, from a refereeing perspective, match officials should also pay attention to their body mechanics, running style and movement. Referees are athletes and can also benefit from understanding and improving themselves aesthetically. 


Reference

Arsenal star Jack Wilshere complains about three refereeing decisions from Carabao Cup final loss to Manchester City in a statement: 'These are facts'  (Daily Mail)

Serious About Simulation?

The following incidents occurred during the EPL match between Wigan and Reading on Saturday 24 November 2012. The match finished 3—2. There were 2 YCs.


Incident One: Positioning at Free Kick

In 19', Referee Howard Webb awards a DFK and positions himself without actually seeing the DFK being taken. Here are the freeze frames:

Perhaps the final frame shows approximately where he should have positioned himself initially for the DFK!?


Incident Two: Penalty or Simulation?

In recent matches, Referees in the  EPL have been trying to clamp down on simulation which has resulted in several cautions already being awarded.
 
In 60', Reading's Jay Tabb (yellow 16) is the first to get to the loose ball in the penalty area and knocks it forward. He is then challenged by Wigan's Maynor Figueroa (blue/white 31) and falls to ground. Here are the freeze frames:

Referee Howard Webb makes no call. A penalty decision is not called. Simulation is not called. In this incident, the match Referee has to decide on one or the other. It is either a penalty or simulation.

Does Referee Webb have the angle? How about AR2 Darren Cann?

Note how Wigan's Jean  Beausejour (blue/white 22), who initially made the poor headed clearance waves his hand for an "imaginary card". Beausejour actually has the best angle of view and is very close to the incident. However, he is dishonest and unsporting and wants the Referee to caution Reading's Tabb.


Incident Three: Tight Offside

In the 67' the AR (who is not Mike Mullarkey) flags an offside against Wigan. Here's the freeze frame:

Was this offside?

Incident Four: What is an Own Goal?

In the 80', Reading's Hal Robson-Kanu (yellow 19) shoots at goal. The ball is deflected up and falls back down still heading towards goal, whereby Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi (grey 26) further deflects the ball into his own goal. Here are the freeze frames:

What constitutes an own goal? Should Robson-Kanu be credited with the goal since his shot was on target before the deflections?


Incident Five: No Simulation?

In the 90'+2' Reading (yellow) are attacking the Wigan goal, desperate for the winner (Reading have yet to win away from home). Here are the freeze frames:

Referee Webb waves his hand to motion the Reading (yellow) player to get back up. If it is clearly no foul, should Webb take any action against simulation? Is this consistent with how Webb handled Incident Two? If Webb clearly thinks there is no foul, then should he indicate this to the players?

Wigan (blue/white) immediately clear the ball from their penalty area. Here are the freeze frames:

Referee Howard Webb signals advantage as Wigan's Jordi Gomez skips past the Reading challenge

Wigan's Jordi Gomez scored the match winner (and bagged a hat-trick)

There is nothing wrong with Referee Webb's fitness. He has sprinted and positioned himself well following Wigan's quick counterattack.


Comment by Reading manager Brian McDermott:

"I think if the referee had given the penalty on Jay Tabb we would have gone on to win the game. Someone of Howard Webb's experience and quality, you would have expected him to get that one right."

HKRef would say the same for AR Darren Cann. If he knows Referee Howard Webb did not have the angle to see the incident, then perhaps he could have helped? Someone of AR Darren Cann's experience and quality ...

Poor Petrescu's Poor Performance

Referee Silviu Petrescu (Romanian born, Canadian citizen) officiated the international friendly match between Brazil and Mexico on Sunday 3 June 2012. The match finished 0—2.

The news report mentioned a number of controversial incidents, and this post will highlight some match incidents so that lessons may be learned.


There are also some video highlights of the match on YouTube:
Brazil vs Mexico 0-2 - International Friendly Game 2012 - All goals & Highlights - 03.06.2012


Incident One: Tight Offside Call

In the 10', Brazil's Leandro Damiao scored from an attacking move but his goal was disallowed for offside. Here's the freeze frame:

Is the Brazil forward (yellow) offside?

Incident Two: First Penalty to Brazil … Missed

In the 20', Brazil's Hulk breaks away at the halfway line and charges into the penalty area. Referee Petrescu (blue) remains well behind play and subsequently misses the penalty decision. Here are the freeze frames:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brazil's Hulk (yellow) is brought down in the penalty area

In the 22', Mexico's Giovani dos Santos scored a spectacular angled goal. 0—1
[Note: dos Santos is a Tottenham Hotspurs player, but manager Harry Redknapp does not appear to think he is good enough for the Spurs first team in the English Premier League. Despite this, dos Santos has consistently performed well at international level in recent years.]

Incident Three: Penalty to Mexico … Correct Call

In the 32', a Mexico player is fouled on the goal area line and the Referee has a good view of this. Here are the freeze frames:

 

 

Penalty awarded to Mexico

Referee Petrescu has his can of white spray paint (which is used in the MLS) but did not appear to use it at all during the match

 

Non-standard positioning of match officials during a penalty kick

The score is now 0—2 to Mexico, and the atmosphere is changed and charged because Brazil feel hard done by (a disallowed goal for an incorrect offside, and a missed penalty). These two technically-gifted teams begin to play more aggressively and physically.




Incident Four: Unfair Challenge by Brazil and DFK to Mexico … Missed

In the 37', Mexico's dos Santos is fouled (it is a tactical foul) by Brazil's defender but Referee Petrescu does not see anything suspect or wrong and allows the ball to run out of the pitch before allowing treatment to dos Santos. Here are the freeze frames:

Referee Petrescu does NOT award a DFK to Mexico

Incident Five: Unfair Challenge by Mexico and DFK to Brazil … Correct Call

In the 49', Mexico foul Brazil (this is similar to Incident Four) and this time the Referee makes the correct call. Here are the freeze frames:

Referee Petrescu does award a DFK to Brazil

Incident Six: Second Penalty to Brazil … Missed

In the 53', Brazil's forward runs into the penalty area and the Mexican goalkeeper challenges for the ball. It is an obvious penalty but Referee Petrescu remains well behind play and makes a poor call. The Referee calls for a goal kick, which means the Referee knows the Brazilian attacker touched the ball ahead of the goalkeeper. So why wasn't a penalty awarded? Here are the freeze frames:

Mexico goalkeeper (blue) brings down a Brazil forward (yellow)

"No penalty; goal kick to Mexico"

This does not excuse the way Brazilian players surrounded the Referee though.

 

Incident Seven: Poor Advantage Leads to More Ill-Feelings Amongst Players

In the 82', Mexico foul Brazil and it appears Referee Petrescu plays advantage (Note: Referee Petrescu does not use the standard signal for Advantage, which is why it only appears that he has played Advantage). Here are the freeze frames:

About four seconds after Mexico's foul, Referee Petrescu points with his right arm and apparently signals "Advantage"

 

There is no "Advantage" because Brazil captain Marcelo is eventually forced back

 

Eleven seconds after Mexico's foul, the ball eventually goes out for a Brazil throw-in. But there is now a little scuffle ...

 Referee Petrescu has lost control of the situation

This is what happened during the scuffle ...

 Referee Petrescu sees Mexico (green #13) grab Brazil (yellow #11) by the throat ...

... and then has to jump up to avoid the Brazil player who has fallen to the ground

This is perhaps the fastest Referee Petrescu has moved and reacted all match! Look how he leaps and lands to avoid stepping on Neymar (Brazil #11).

However, this situation offered poor Advantage because, even though Brazil kept possession, there was obviously no opportunity to advance (hence there was "No Advantage").

Referee Petrescu's inability to feel and react to the atmosphere of the match meant that, by attempting to play advantage, the Referee actually made things worse. Mexico, having gotten away with many physical challenges, thought that they could continue in this vein because the Referee wasn't always blowing up for fouls. This also frustrated Brazil since they perceived the Referee wasn't helping their cause by making bad calls (such as playing poor advantages and missing two obvious penalty calls to Brazil). All this tension led to the spat between two players and a send-off incident (Mexico #13 grabbing Brazil #11 by the throat) that Referee Petrescu ignored.


SUMMARY
Referee Silviu Petrescu gave a poor performance in this absorbing match. It was also a FIFA-sanctioned match which is why it was puzzling to see the Referee carrying a can of white spray paint on the FOP. It was however apparently not used.

Petrescu has been a FIFA Referee since 2002. It would be interesting to gauge his performance over this ten-year period to see how he measures up to being an international Referee during the "modern era" of the beautiful game.