Congratulations to all the final officials.
I like it a lot that the ‘performance principle’ prevailed. Having said that, meritocracy must always prevail, to prevent that certain referees are being unmotivated and don't believe in their fair chances. In the 2021/2022 season, Danny Makkelie was the best referee and we all know how the story ended.
There are some urgent choices to be made within the Dutch team:
- VAR: Should they keep backing Pol van Boekel? Of course, he is a bestie of Björn Kuipers, the committee member. However, they have to be neutral, make sensible choices and admit that it was for a big part on VAN BOEKEL’s poor performances that Makkelie’s team missed out on a final this year. And besides, Pol van Boekel’s name triggers already a lot of controversy before a kick-off. You can't say that about a Brisard or Kwiatkowski. When do they wake up in the Netherlands? This is TOP SPORT and sometimes hard choices have to be made.
- MOTIVATION; Is Makkelie unmotivated? And if so, what's the role of UEFA/Rosetti? Can they do something about this, motivate him and let him believe in a fair 2023/2024 chance? Otherwise they will lose a very reliable pair of hands for the hottest matches. Is Makkelie surrounded by coaches that make him perform better? Some important stuff to think about.
- Fitness; he has to be top fit again to make a good chance.
For next season there are just 3 "logical" candidates for the UCL final if an English team is in the final: Makkelie, Vincic and Kovacs. If Makkelie manages to find his 2020-2022 top form again, he should be the #1 candidate, head and shoulders above the rest. I just hope he will realise that, is resilient and still hungry to fight for it, after two dissapointing seasons and a bad treatment by UEFA. And maybe, UEFA has to keep him away from the most risky games, instead of sacrificing him.