True but if he gave him a Bocanegra-style body check, making it look like he's just late on a 50/50, that far from goal with Barnes kind of in the picture, I'm guessing it would've been yellow (an arm wrap would've seen red, no doubt). Either way, Simms put him in a lose-lose situation.
Well if he realized Bunbury was going to get to it first he could have just started backpeddling as fast as possible instead of doing what he did or trying to take him out
I don't watch a ton of MLS games but I've watched every Revs game this year plus maybe a dozen or more random matches and I can't remember once seeing a player get booked for persistent fouling; it's as if MLS refs aren't even aware that this is an option. What's to prevent a defender who doesn't have the foot work to defender a player like Nguyen from taking a swipe at him each time? If the Revs can't take advantage of the (sometimes) ensuing free kick, we're going to continue seeing fouls. The Revs don't need an enforcer but they could play with a little more grit. On Saturday, Lee seemed to be showing signs of being fed up with getting consistently fouled for half a season by giving some back. I'll continue lobbying the idea that BBrett should remake himself as a Lenhart type who bangs bodies and gets under opponent's skin. Sene could hit the weight room and get some upper body strength.
I actually agree with all of this. I have also been saying for years that the single most important skill a team needs in this league is the free kick. This is a physical league, and as is stands currently, "pretty" soccer won't last long until you get hacked (just talk to Feilhaber). I'd even take a Beckham like player who just walks around and does barely nothing all game until a foul occurs. I'll need to hit the stat books, but my gut tells me that we are one of the worst set piece teams in the league, and yet we have the most set piece opportunities.
During the TV broadcast last night, Feldman and Causey talked about this. They said the soccer balls were over-inflated, and that the refs actually had air taken out of the balls at half time.
You mean like pros who are afraid to step on the line when entering the field, or won't change shoes (or whatever) when they're on a scoring streak? They may believe something, but that doesn't make it right or rational - even if they are great and experienced players. The data doesn't back them up. If their objection is about injury risk, then that's called superstition.