Friday, February 10, 2023 at 07:47• Last update: 07:49

Valentijn Driessen believes that Danny Makkelie is not in his best phase as a referee. The head of football The Telegraph sees that the highly regarded referee in the Netherlands has been out of shape for some time. For example, Makkelie was ‘not himself’ during Feyenoord – PSV and he whistled ‘muddled’ in the cup match between FC Twente and Ajax (0-1) on Wednesday evening. “It was easy to understand that Makkelie left the field at halftime with a lashing whistle concert. Fortunately, he had no influence on the result in Enschede.”

That Ruud van Nistelrooij felt during Feyenoord – PSV that all fifty-fiftycases turned out in favor of Feyenoord, was understandable according to Driessen. “As if he had come to the game with a Feyenoord bag. Makkelie was clearly not himself at Feyenoord-PSV. At half-time, Makkelie allowed Slot to enter into a conclave with him to use a different style of whistle. Of course Makkelie had “We had to rebuff the Feyenoord trainer. He was also on top of Armando Obispo’s foul on Santiago Giménez, but only gave a red card after the intervention of the VAR and added no less than nine minutes of injury time.”

In Driessen’s eyes, Makkelie has lost his ‘untouchability for a long time’. “And that is at the expense of his authority,” said the football chief. “You can be the best on paper and receive compliments; a referee must also perform and is as good as his last match. The eighth finals of the TOTO KNVB Cup showed that it is increasingly difficult for arbitration to achieve a good performance without VAR down. See referee Rob Dieperink at Feyenoord-NEC. Five meters away, he misses a dark red card for defender Quilindschy Hartman and even lets play continue.”

According to Driessen, however, there are only two referees who come close to Makkelie’s level: Bas Nijhuis and Serdar Gözübüyük. The latter was recently assigned the Classic between Feyenoord and Ajax, but in Driessen’s eyes never let that match become a match. “Gözübüyük did not take any risks and whistled the whole thing. Arbitrators such as Allard Lindhout, Dennis Higler, Jochem Kamphuis and Jeroen Manschot are of such a sad level that they cannot even stand in the shadow of Makkelie.”