Ittrich contradicts Nagelsmann and explains the EM-VAR
*19 Referees and their teams are in action at the UEFA European Championship. Two of them are from Germany: Daniel Siebert and Felix Zwayer. After 32 group stage matches, Patrick Ittrich says: "So far, the European Championship has been good for the referees in terms of working with the VAR. It's positive that they're not a major issue." The Bundesliga referee is currently working as an expert for MagentaTV during the UEFA European Championship. In a press conference, he reflected on the now completed group stage of the tournament. His views on the Anti-Measles rule and why the European Championship cannot be compared to the Bundesliga.
The DFB Team's Match against Switzerland
The outcomes from the third group game against Switzerland, from a German perspective, are clear: Long periods of anxiety about whether the DFB team would only finish second in the group, followed by Niclas Füllkrug's late equalizer. The 1:1 secured the group win. However, there was also Jonathan Tah's suspension in the Round of 16. Referee Daniele Orsato from Italy was involved in all of this. After the match, national team coach Julian Nagelsmann criticized the referee: "He had no clear line," Nagelsmann said.
Patrick Ittrich agrees to some extent: "Julian Nagelsmann might have had some justification for saying he had no line," the Bundesliga referee stated, but he also qualified: "But he named completely wrong situations." Orsato evaluated some things differently than he had. It's perfectly legitimate for a coach or player to criticize the referee, Ittrich noted: "But you have to name the right situations." In the scenes that Nagelsmann disputed, everything was in order.
First, Orsato disallowed Robert Andrich's goal in the 17th minute because Jamal Musiala had hit Michel Aebischer on the leg before the goal - a foul in the build-up, Orsato ruled. Nagelsmann disagreed: "I think that should be allowed to continue. The contact comes clearly after a controlled ball. Jamal didn't stretch his leg. I don't think that should be disallowed." Ittrich, however, had already signaled a correct withdrawal of the goal during the game: "That is a correct withdrawal of the goal. Musiala landed a relative clear shot at the ankle."
Orsato did not call a foul on a confrontation between Maximilian Beier, an substitute, and Silvan Widmer in the penalty area (71st minute). Nagelsmann considered this a debatable decision: "In my opinion, that's a penalty," he explained, because Widmer had prevented a free shot. Since it was not a "clear error," Ittrich had already warned Orsato during the scene. ntv.de expert Ewald Lienen pointed this out in his podcast "The Sixteen": "How can Patrick come up with the idea to say 'there's nothing for that today'? That's ridiculous, I'm sorry."*
## Yellow Card for Tah Forces Nagelsmann to Rebuild His Inner Defense
"The last topic is the Yellow Card for Tah, which forces Nagelsmann to rebuild his inner defense. 'I found it harsh! Jona is in front of him with the ball and a little aggressive in the one-on-one. It might be risky play, I don't know', said the 36-year-old. Tah was at the midline in an aerial duel with Breel Embolo with a high leg from behind on the Swiss player. There can be no two opinions about this Yellow Card, according to Ittrich. It was a 'thousand-percent Yellow Card'. 'He jumps with his legs up. If he brushes him in the face with his foot, you have to think red. So it's just a Yellow Card for me and that's it.'
The Anti-Meckering Rule
"I've wanted this for myself for about 15 years. I hope that everyone agrees that this should also be introduced in the Bundesliga. I think it's good when everyone has a clear understanding of their behavior", says Ittrich regarding the introduction of the rule that only captains are allowed to speak to the referee. He himself, of course, does not want to warn every player without a valid reason. Joshua Kimmich had predicted before the EM that it could rain cards and a ban could threaten the players so quickly. Ittrich now disagrees: "I haven't seen a second Yellow Card yet that was caused by this rule."
He emphasizes: "If a player is fouled and he feels pain, as a referee I have no problem with holding back a certain emotion. It's about the player coming at me and telling me what happened." In a two-on-one situation, there are already two parties involved, the fouled player and the perpetrator. The referee steps in as the third party and there are also the captains, Ittrich draws the picture on the field. "If everything goes smoothly, then you don't warn anyone. It's about the sixth one coming in and the opinion is that he has to tell me why I made a wrong call."
The course of the tournament so far shows that melees - with the exception of the 20-card game Turkey against the Czech Republic - are absent. The DFB is now checking whether the UEFA instruction will also apply in the German leagues. "The question of whether and to what extent the UEFA instruction should apply in the future in the German professional football and will be discussed intensively with the DFL and the responsible persons in the DFB for the league operation in the 3. League and the DFB Cup", it says from the DFB.
Does Changing the Peace Affect the Net Playing Time?
Therefore, fewer discussions, arguments, and melees mean more playing time? In fact, the net playing time at this EM, according to Ittrich, is higher than in the Bundesliga. "We have over 56 minutes in the Bundesliga, we have 60 minutes of playtime in the Champions League, and we are moving towards the Champions League." The official UEFA statistics show an average of 59:17 minutes per game in which the ball is in play. However, it is not solely the Anti-Meckering Rule that has this effect, according to the referee. "The biggest impact on the net playing time comes from throw-ins, corners, free kicks, and goal kicks." The players sometimes take a lot of time for these.
For goalkeepers, the length of time they are allowed to hold the ball before making a save is set, as per the rules of the International Football Association Boards (IFAB). Currently, this is eight seconds instead of the previous six. However, referees do not enforce this consistently, according to Ittrich, for a good reason: A restart would then require an indirect free-kick for the opposing team in the penalty area. This is a significant sanction. Ittrich describes this scenario: "It would be 0:0 in the match between FC Bayern and BVB, and I would whistle after nine seconds: 'Then they'll kick me out of the arena, I don't care.'
Meanwhile, a notable finding from the EM is that the half-time periods are significantly shorter than at the 2022 World Cup, where there was often an extended period of stoppage time during the second half. According to UEFA, the average match duration, including first and second half stoppage time, was 98:09 minutes across the 36 group stage matches. The longest match of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar - England vs. Iran - was extended by 24 minutes.
EM not comparable to the Bundesliga
There is less outrage about video assistant referees (VAR) during the EM compared to the Bundesliga, with a few exceptions. The men in the Cologne basement - or Leipzig's basement during the tournament - work quickly and reliably, at least that's the feeling. Ittrich, however, also defends his Bundesliga colleagues: "It's not really true that it runs worse in the Bundesliga." Instead, it's mainly due to the many experts in action in Leipzig.
During each match, there is one video assistant, one assistant to the video assistant, an offside checker, and someone who can intervene in case of an emergency. Ittrich explains: "I sit there, watch a scene, then there's a penalty. Yes or no? The game continues. Then the video assistant must watch the replay of this potential penalty and his assistant follows the main picture because something could still happen."
So-called "silent checks," which run unnoticed in the background for the game and fans, can be handled more quickly with more personnel. Additionally, the semi-automatic offside detection is used at the EM, which, for cost reasons, is not available in the Bundesliga yet. This technical aid also makes decision-making faster.
However, when it comes to speed in the moment of an "assessment decision," Ittrich mentions that there is a delay. As an example, he cites the disallowed goal by the Netherlands against France. Denzel Dumfries was in the six-meter area next to goalkeeper Mike Maignan, not directly in his line of sight, but actively offside, making it impossible for the goalkeeper to reach the ball. "As a video assistant, you have to first consider: 'Is he really interfering? Is he blocking the goalkeeper's view? Is he in the line of sight?' That takes time."
The comparison with the Bundesliga also shows: "We had 17 interventions after 32 matches, which is higher than the Bundesliga average. But everyone says it's okay." Most spectators are more relaxed at the EM than at their favorite club, argues Ittrich. "It's also because we often lack the emotionality. When you watch Slovenia against Serbia, it's a different experience than Dortmund against Bayern. There, you just take it and don't get worked up."
How will it continue with the VAR?
In the cut, there have been interventions by video assistants in every second European Championship game so far. Is that too much, since the VAR is only supposed to be active for clear and obvious error decisions? Does this mean that the performance of the referees on the pitch is not sufficient? Ittrich disagrees with this assumption. "As a referee, you want to leave the game error-free," he emphasizes, but at the same time: "An intervention has nothing to do with the quality of the referee."
Rather, the flow of the game is decisive. If a game is completely calm, there are fewer controversial scenes. When it gets heated, players keep getting into each other's hair, the referee has more to do, "and sometimes one goes through." Close offside decisions - Romelu Lukaku stood with a toenail in front of the opponent at one of his three disallowed goals - count as interventions of the VAR, which increases the high intervention count.
Accordingly, Ittrich has no problem with an extension of the VAR competencies. "That wouldn't be a problem for me. The question is just where we start and where we stop." He cites as an example a throw-in that was given to the wrong team, leading to a goal. Or: "I don't want to whistle for anything where I'm not a thousand percent sure. That still happens. And then you have a free kick 17 meters from the goal and just then it's a brilliant save and it goes in. And I'm the fool of the nation." This is what happened to the Spaniard Jesus Gil Manzano in the game between France and Austria, as he denied Austria a corner and shortly thereafter the unfortunate own goal by Max Wöber fell to France, deciding the game by win and loss.
It is well-known that the referee is often to blame when something doesn't go right. Does it then make sense for the impartial one to make frequent images of himself on the sidelines by requesting the videos? Ittrich holds this rather less: "That's initiated by the referee when he notices that he relieves pressure that way. That can be an exception, for example when he realizes in the 89th minute that the control room is about to explode."
"Protocols" are not that, however. I must receive something from the VAR that shows something clearly different than what I decided as a referee. If these images are not available, "it's a waste of time." "That's, in my opinion, a huge problem that I often discuss in the conversation with trainers and with players," says Ittrich. "When do we start? At 70:30, 60:40 or 80:20? Then it will eventually become arbitrary. And nobody wants that."
- Patrick Ittrich, the Bundesliga referee working as an expert for MagentaTV, expressed satisfaction with the performance of referees using VAR during the EM-VAR tournament, stating that it's positive that they are not a major issue.
- Reacting to Julian Nagelsmann's criticism of referee Daniele Orsato, Patrick Ittrich agreed that Nagelsmann might have had justification for his concerns, but also pointed out that he named incorrect situations in his critique.
- During the press conference, Ittrich praised the efficiency of the VAR system in the EM tournament, mentioning that it is working quickly and reliably, especially compared to some high-profile incidents in the Bundesliga.
