The 1st half of last year. After that he reverted to what we see now. I love the guy but I turned 61 this year and I could get a corner kick over the heads of the 1st defender. (Of course you would hear the tearing of the last of my ACL at the back of TRE...) Is it legal to let Sheanon throw it from the corner? I guess not.
Hmm, coincides with Jack's numbers, too. The Gold Cup-itis seems to be running rampant in the Union locker room.
@slitz & @billf After your sharp responses to my post, I re-watched the replay a few more times. Initially at game speed, I couldn't say with certainty that the foul occurred inside vs. outside the box. After a few more views and with the benefit of slow motion, I concede that the referee got the call right. I guess I am just not sure how he did it. At the time of the foul, the referee was positioned roughly half way between the center of the field and the top of the penalty area, so his line of sight was perpendicular the the 18 yard line. Berry and the RSL player were moving through the air towards him and they were very close to the line. I don't see how he could have been certain of where foul was committed, but he would have known his assistant was probably close to even with the 18 yard line and thus in a much better position to make the determination. He whistled the foul and immediately pointed to the spot, so I doubt he had time to consult with his assistant over his ear-piece. I refereed recreational leagues several years ago (which I admit is SEVERAL levels below MLS), and I always took the decision to award a PK very seriously since the outcome could very likely be a goal and could have a significant impact on the outcome of the game. If I observed a foul near the edge of the box and there was doubt in my mind where it occurred, I always took a moment to collect my thoughts, mentally reviewed the play, and discussed with my assistant where the foul occurred before making my decision (or vice versa when I was the assistant since most of my colleagues felt the same way). If I/we still just weren't reasonably sure, I would try to rely on other circumstances to make a fair decision of PK vs DFK from outside the box. For example, what would have happened if there was no foul? Was the play moving toward the goal so attacking team would have had a scoring opportunity? Or was the play moving away from the goal so the attacking team would have had possession outside the box? I realize this line of thinking isn't exactly in line with the laws of the game, but I felt I needed to be able to hang my hat on something if I wasn't reasonably sure what had happened. All of that being said, he got the call right at the end of the day, which I guess is why Mr. Kelly is refereeing MLS and (until recently) UCL games while I have a desk job. http://www.proreferees.com/roster-support-staff-alan-kelly.php
Attinella and Rimando are fairly interchangeable in the shot blocking abilities. The most underrated (nationally speaking) aspect of Rimando's game is his distribution. The guy was an all-state midfielder in southern california. Attinella owns his box better, Rimando distributes better. Pretty much a wash when you look at this game. Gil was injured and thus Luke Mulholland got the start. This isn't that big of a drop off, but it does effect the rotation. Mulholland has been a power sub type player this year. Having to start him made it so we didn't have a midfield game changer off the bench, really. Note: Velasquez, who did come on, has been injured all season. He is a game changing type player, but was obviously not even close to fitness. Plata is the big one that is hurting RSL. He was our best player through the first couple of games. His injury has made us have to start Saborio and Garcia - two players who have almost no chemistry. Plata finishes one of those 3 one-on-ones that Garcia had (no disrespect to MacMatch, he was fantastic). Again, this causes our rotation during the game to be off. In the end, though, I don't think those subs much change the result. You guys fought to earn the point and have a legitimate case at deserving all 3. I felt the foul by Mulholland was a pk. This was the slide from behind. The RSL penalty was a penalty but one of those where you go "that gets you a penalty?". It's a dumb foul in the absolute worst spot. Best of luck the rest of the year.
Fernandes is a midfielder. Casey is 60 minutes at best. Wenger has, what, 4 career goals? Let's settle down. Thought Wenger's goal was very Seba-esque, actually.
he's a streaky forward. Some games he can't miss, others he couldn't score if his life depended on it. I'm more worried about the finishing of Garcia. Saborio's stats point to him being one of the best #9's (IMO the best currently) in the league.