The second installment of Ref Focus takes a look at a recent match refereed by Michael Oliver. The match featured Chelsea at home to Southampton. This Barclays Premier League match was played on 1 December 2013.
Ref Focus features video from the entire match, edited to include the following events:
- goals
- fouls
- offside decisions
- misconducts
- player management incidents
The video is 16 minutes long.
Young Mr Oliver continues to demonstrate why he has been handed big matches at the relatively young age of 28. His foul selection was appropriate, his cautions judicious, and his player management continues to impress.
Share your thoughts on Oliver’s performance in the Comments section below.
In The Opinion Of The Referee 
2 responses to “Case Study: Ref Focus #2, Michael Oliver”
@3:41 unsure what happened, all I can think of is dangerous play.
@5:33 blatant simulation, he was in the perfect position to see this.
@8:59 I think he could’ve applied advantage for this foul. But play was close to the downed player so I can see why he called this one.
@9:17 quickly moves to the spot of the foul, since player was losing his balance as he continued toward the goal. Good idea.
@9:55 that seemed like a reckless push, there was definitely some force. Could’ve easily been a yellow card.
@11:44 both players were pushing, blue player fell down and tripped red. Good recognition to not call the pushing and call the unfair advantage.
@12:28 good job moving toward play and catching the misconduct.
@13:56 good job not reacting to the player down as a result of the tackle. It looked like a clean tackle to me.
The players were giving him a hard time with dissent. He acted calmly and he firmly addressed it.
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Well, Michael is really impressive despite his young age. How old was he when he started refereeing? I have an off-topic queston as well. Do you know what kind of watch do the PL ref wear? I am interested in the one with red(orange?) frame.
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