FIRE'S ANIBABA, KLOPAS SUSPENDED Jalil Anibaba, Frank Klopas Suspended At Least One Game Klopas & Anibaba suspended MLS Needs to Investigate Seattle Player After Post-Match Fight
Kennedy deserves all the abuse he gets. His performance this past weekend would have embarrassed the teenage ref in your park district game. Sadly, anyone who has watched MLS since 1996 knows that absolutely nothing will be done to Kennedy or the crap linesmen because USSF hasn't given a crap about the low quality of its officials for at least 16 years. Then they have the nerve to bitch that their refs rarely get any plum international assignments. Even Bill Archer can't fault FIFA for that.
I'm trying to work up some outrage, but can't. The scene after the game was ridiculous from all involved, including us. The refs sucked but what else is new. We didn't lose because of the refs. We have to be better. Walk off the field and look in the mirror.
As Fire fans, we don't accept mediocrity from the Fire. As American soccer fans, why should accept the current humiliating and infuriating incompetence from the officials our our national federation is supposedly developing and rating?
Thank you for the weak non sequitur which shows that you agree with me but don't have the balls to say so and that irritates you. That said, Kennedy and his lines men only bear part of the blame. Sure, by stepping out on the field, the officials are each claiming to be up to the task which they clearly weren't in this case but USSF has had 16 years to partner with MLS to develop a decent squad of officials and they've failed spectacularly. Almost everything about MLS has improved - the quality of play, the uniforms, the marketing, we have soccer specific stadiums, etc. - except the officiating which is just as inconsistent and incompetent as it was in 1996. That's a USSF fail. They've let down the paying fans, the players, the teams' front office staffs - and, yes, their own referees who then go out and embarrass themselves like Kennedy and crew did on Saturday night. I almost feel pity for the officials from this past fiasco, especially if they're forced to watch the game and see themselves making so many mistakes and mishandling the game so badly they lost control over it. That can't be good for their egos to see that. Oh well, at least they're not the ones who will be suspended. Since you're apparently a referee, perhaps you can give us some insight into what it's like to know that you've completely f-ed up the game that the players and coaches have worked so hard for and that fans have paid good money to see called fairly and correctly.
It's not fair to use Kennedy as a yardstick for MLS refs, most of them are better than him and as a result he doesn't get many MLS games. I know it's been a while since I've been as upset at officiating as Saturday night.
I understand the Klopas suspension since he walked right out onto the field and let Kennedy have it, deservedly so. What I can't understand is what did Anibaba do? I didn't have a good vantage point on Saturday night so I didn't see what happened. I'm surprised Pappa didn't receive anything as he was all over a few Sounders.
Yes, the officiating was worse than usual last Saturday. And, as I pointed out in the game thread, it's not like we needed any help from Kennedy and crew to lose the game. Still, I watch a lot of MLS and even if I strip out all Fire games and games in which the Fire have an interest, I can say that, strictly as a neutral who also watches soccer from other countries, the level of officiating in MLS is unacceptable for a country of our size and resources and that's after factoring in that we are, MLS/FSC marketing campaigns notwithstanding, not a soccer nation. When you also consider that we've had 16 years to improve from a low level and we haven't done so... Well, it's beyond disappointing to still sit down to watch any MLS game hoping just that the officials don't make too big a dog's dinner of it and that the game gets decided by the players and not the officials. To head off the usual straw man, it's not like anyone expects absolute perfection, but we're not where we should be by any means as can be seen week in and week out.
I'm not confident anything will be done, but after a game many years ago against the Rapids (I think) the official was suspended for the rest of the season. I remember reading that both head coaches in that game gave the official a failing grade, and if that happened twice in a season, the suspension was automatic. I'm not sure how accurate that was, but I do know that the ref didn't get any more MLS games that year. Kennedy was beyond awful Saturday night and crossed the line into comical when he pulled out the wrong color card on Johnson late in the game. He routinely avoided giving Oduro or Nyarko any calls in the Fire's offensive end while giving similar calls to Seattle when they attacked. And then there was the missed PK call when Robayo was clearly fouled in the box in stoppage time. Not to mention getting in the way of the ball and kind of forcing Pardo into a foul which lead to Seattle's 2nd goal (though Johnson has to shoulder most of the blame for the goal). Pretty sure Anibaba got the red card for his tackle right as time expired. It was a desperate lunge in an attempt to regain possession, but I didn't get a good enough look at it to tell if it deserved an ejection.
That's nice, but how many times does that happen? Considering that this example sticks out so prominently, the answer is "very rarely" and the behavior it takes to make that happen has to be amazingly egregious, especially compared to the suspensions and fines freely handed out to players and coaches who often guilty of simply pointing out the glaringly obvious deficiencies of the officials that everyone (except USSF, apparently) can see for themselves. That is not to say that coaches and players don't often whine and make inaccurate judgements, of course. But if, say, they are proven right by a replay or photograph, then it is the ref who should sit and not the player or coach. That strikes me as only fair. Now I see why USSF didn't do that in the early years of MLS - they'd have run out of refs who'd all be sitting. But they've had 16 years to improve. that this has not happened is dereliction of duty on the federation's part.
Johnson was fined, but Guillermo retweeted someone who sounds like he knows what he's talking about saying the DC's work from this weekend is done.
Johnson got fined undisclosed amount, Hurtado nothing as of today. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2012/05/01/sounders-johnson-fined-innappropriate-gesture
So the chances of anything being done about the crappy officials is zero. Great. USSF and the MLS disciplinary committee deliver yet another black eye to our sport. At least our league isn't the only one that makes dumb decisions like this.
If I wanted that, I'd ditch the Fire and become a Blackhawks STH. This does show why incompetent reffing is dangerous. Eventually, the players will have to do the ref's job and then someone gets injured and has their career effectively ended. All because USSF can't be bothered to develop decent officials. That's bullshit.
It's a tough line between enforcement and dangerous, that's true. The early year Fire squads knew enforcement without causing long term injury. Tough is OK. Vindictive or dangerous is not. In hockey you have the fight. This is a useful tool that basically can't cause injury but can be used in retaliation for seriously harmful fouls. Soccer doesn't have an exact equivalent but our early teams showed it's possible to defend your turf without damaging the integrity of the game. I disagree with assessment that these things can't be handled by the players.
Clearly? Have you seen another angle than what was shown on tv? Because from that angle, it doesn't appear to be anything.
fyp Cryptic, man. Anyhoo, Seattle is the league's golden child and will get the calls, even away from home. We're the red-headed stepchild and don't. Nor do we get favorable acquisitions like Eddie Johnson.
No, I haven't seen any replay, but I've rewatched the play several times and it looks like a pretty clear foul to me. I don't generally expect PK calls at that point in a game for anything other than the most obvious fouls, but I was surprised it wasn't called live. Having rewatched it, I'm still surprised. Robayo got knocked down by a lunging Alonso who didn't come close to the ball. That's a foul.
If anything, the Anibaba suspension was good for giving Berry a game... Our top 4 players on the back line might be Anibaba, Arne, Austin, and Jumper...although, Sega and Gargan both played well against Chivas...