After the winter break, the referees of the Bundesliga take action more consistently in the case of unsportsmanlike behavior, which Freiburg coach Christian Streich also feels. In the game between Wolfsburg and Bayern, Joshua Kimmich and Maximilian Arnold present the referee with an unpleasant alternative.
During the winter break, the Bundesliga referees gathered for a multi-day training camp in Portugal, and there they agreed – as they had done three years previously – to take more consistent action against unsportsmanlike behavior on the part of players and team officials. The background was the World Cup in Qatar, during which the interaction with each other was “predominantly characterized by respect and in the spirit of fair play”, as referee boss Lutz Michael Fröhlich said. However, there were also some games “in which violent and clearly external complaints after a referee’s decision, provocations among players, unsportsmanlike behavior in the technical zone and clear time wasting” could be observed. We want to resolutely oppose this.
The sporting management of the referees made various video clips with game scenes available to those responsible for the Bundesliga and second division clubs, which show examples of the types of unsportsmanlike conduct that the referees should punish. Four match days and half a cup round later, it can be said that the referees are clearly implementing the guidelines. Currently, about every fourth warning is issued for unsportsmanlike conduct, and the coaches are not spared either: Leipzig coach Marco Rose has already received two yellow cards after the winter break, his Mainz colleague Bo Svensson saw in the DFB Cup game against FC Bayern for insulting the referee Munich even the red box.
On Saturday it also hit the Freiburg coach Christian Streich, who had to vacate the bench after 77 minutes in the game his team lost 5-1 at Borussia Dortmund. Referee Robert Schröder and fourth official Patrick Ittrich had previously tried to moderate the guest coach. But then there was a situation in which “vehement protests were again made and waved off,” as Schröder explained after the game. The referee warned Streich, but then he “applauded this card maliciously, and that’s just another unsportsmanlike conduct.” There was yellow and red.
Before his first yellow card, the coach said to the fourth official, “we should put on a yellow jersey”, i.e. that of the hosts. Streich questioned the impartiality of the referees, and in doing so he “simply crossed the threshold between emotion and unsportsmanlike behavior,” as Schröder understandably found. Streich saw that too. “This must not happen to me,” he said. “It was my stupidity and it doesn’t help the team. I’m really annoyed with myself.” However, the 57-year-old also found that the referee had failed to show “proportionality” in his management. Which, however, cannot legitimize unsportsmanlike conduct.
In any case, the early decimation of the Freiburg team after just over a quarter of an hour was always justified. Kiliann Sildillia committed three fouls within a few minutes – for the first he was warned by Referee Schröder and for the second he was warned, the third led to yellow-red. The offense that justified the suspension was not reckless, it was a stop against Karim Adeyemi. But because the Dortmund player was prevented from running into the penalty area with the ball on his foot on the flank, what is technically referred to as “prevention of a promising attack” and commonly called “tactical foul” occurred. The rules provide for a warning for this.
Joshua Kimmich also had to leave the field with yellow-red in the game between VfL Wolfsburg and FC Bayern Munich (2: 4) after 54 minutes. The midfielder of the record champions self-critically called the first warning by referee Harm Osmers “absolutely stupid” – he had received it because he had pushed Mattias Svanberg away completely unnecessarily. The second yellow card was for the same reason as Sildillia, namely for stopping a promising attack. Bayern had previously lost the ball in the hosts’ penalty area, and when Wolfsburg tried to counterattack, Maximilian Arnold went down after Kimmich used his arm.
His opponent “of course knew that I already had a yellow card,” said the Munich player after the game. “He slows down a bit and wants me to play. I don’t see that I pulled his jersey or his arm. It was very little.” In fact, Arnold was more grateful for the contacts on his upper arm than that they were really decisive for his fall. He certainly speculated that his team’s majority for almost 40 minutes would promise more success than the counterattack in this situation. Referee Osmers was spoiled for choice, either allowing play to continue, which would have resulted in protests from Wolfsburg, or evaluating Kimmich’s use as a foul and then inevitably punishing him with yellow-red, with which Bayern did not agree.
What was unusual was Osmers’ approach in the 84th minute when the home side supposedly scored to make it 3:4. In the Munich penalty area, Leon Goretzka and Ridle Baku fell to the ground after a duel. The referee let play continue and, when Yannick Gerhardt shot the ball into the goal, immediately decided on a free kick for FC Bayern. He had noticed a foul by Baku on Goretzka. This decision remained after the review by video assistant Felix Zwayer.
Usually the referees and their assistants only wait in close offside situations with the flag signal and the whistle until the respective attack is completed or the ball is in the goal. Because in these situations, a few centimeters are often at stake, and most of the time there is no room for discretion. Attacks should not be irrevocably destroyed by early, potentially wrong offside decisions, the VAR should be given the opportunity to check if a goal is scored.
In the case of fouls and handballs, on the other hand, the referees usually blow the whistle immediately, because unlike offside, the criteria are subjective, i.e. not factual and therefore cannot be measured with calibrated lines. However, even in such situations, the Referee may find it necessary to wait for the attack to complete before making a decision. In this case, neither Goretzka nor Baku had played the ball, but Munich was closer to the ball and had shielded it from Wolfsburg. The contact that followed was more of a foul by Baku on Goretzka than vice versa.
In any case, it was an extremely tricky, ambiguous situation where it was understandable and sensible that Harm Osmers decided not to blow the whistle immediately, but only after the attack had been completed – giving the VAR the opportunity to review as the case may be admit. The referee from Hanover by no means seemed hesitant and undecided, on the contrary, he radiated that he had deliberately acted in this way. His decision was then at least not clear and obviously wrong. It was therefore logical that the VAR did not recommend an on-field review.
