The day when the referee could run upfield to the half way line in anticipation of a goalkeeper's clearance are coming to an end - and referees need to be aware of it and take action.
Elite referee Andre Marriner was caught napping by the new style of playing the ball out from the back on Sunday, and it cost Chelsea a goal and Marriner a good deal of respect.
With Chelsea defending, John Terry received the ball from goalkeeper Thibault Courtois on the left of his defence and passed the ball to Gary Cahill in the centre of the defence. Closed down quickly by Swansea's Leroy Fer, Cahill was a little sluggish passing the ball back to Courtois, but TV replays showed clearly that Fer crudely fouled the Chelsea defender, winning the ball and scoring.
Marriner, seeing Terry had the ball, anticipated that he would play it up through the midfield and had taken up a position on the halfway line.
Thirty yards away, the foul took place and Marriner was far too far away to spot it.
With the ball in the middle of the pitch, the action was outside the Assistant Referee's credibility zone and it's doubtful he had a good view of Fer's foul as Terry was blocking the way.
Marriner will bounce back. He's a good referee.
But referees at least need to be aware that the new generation of goalkeeper and defender are adapting to different roles. The goalkeeper is playing the role of defensive sweeper, allowing defenders to push up the field and squeeze the opposition.
That means that more action is taking place in the defence's penalty area, and there's a higher risk of challenges and clashes taking place in what was once upon a time a dead zone, where there was little action and which could be alrgely ignored by the referee as he ran to half way to take up positiion.
Well times have changed, and us refs have to change with them.
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