In the EPL they've got wireless remotes that cause a box on the center ref's arm to buzz or vibrate to get his attention. BZZT. BZZT. We're obviously not as high tech as that.
For as lopsided as I thought he was on the little stuff, the crew did manage to get most of the big calls right, including both sendings-off. We got out of there without any major injuries caused by rough play, and with a win, so I can't complain too much.
I really don't think so. Often the view on TV is better than at the game. Often? Heck, it always is. We get replays and closeups on TV. The camera follows the ball, and we see things from several angles. This ref was better than average, but was not without mistakes. Several of the supposed mistakes listed in this thread were not mistakes at all. They were the proper calls. Some others may have been mistakes, but it was not perfectly clear from the replay whether he got it right or not. He certainly got the major calls correct, and he controlled the physical play in the game.
Many of you credit the ref for cracking down early in order to avoid the reckless and violent tackles that have injured many of our players in recent months. I am of the opinion that the reason we didn't see those kinds of tackles is because the game was still close. Those types of plays have come in games where the US has an insurmountable lead. Instead, thanks to a lot of poor finishing, as well as some bewildering officiating, points were up in the air until the final whistle. The center ref, whom I credit for the correct red-card against T&T, acted like he thought it was his responsibility not only to administer the rules of the game, but more so to level the playing field. He made several "what just happened?" calls around the US box, which resulted in T&T's most dangerous chances, including one on Albright that even had the bench laughing at the absurdity of it all. The re-taken goal kick was almost a surreal experience. Yes, T&T were frustrated at some of the calls, but I think T&T were frustrated more because they were losing than because they thought the ref was against them. Finally, when will refs finally crack down on the whole "picking up the ball, slamming it on the ground in protest, carrying it to the spot of the foul as slowly as possible, tossing it into the chest of the opposition and then standing 4 inches in front of the ball until the ref tells you to retreat for the 4th time" routine. I know they experimented with it in the Youth WC, and I don't blame yesterday's ref for not giving a card since no one does, but it's just embarrassing to the game.
Dear Complainers, The ref did a fine job. Enough with the “The ref missed a handball, the ref missed an corner kick, TnT knocked our player down and he did not blow the whistle, boo hoo hoo.” He red carded TnT, he did not tolerate Reyna’s b!tching nor did he tolerate Conveys disgraceful studs up tackle. The USMNT’s performance was shameful. How dare we try to blame the ref for our inability to score more than 1 goal on a 10 man TnT. I expect much more from my national team and with last night’s effort we can be guaranteed three resounding defeats in Germany 06.
He got the most important, gutsy call of the game correct on the red card. He and the AR may have blown the second-most important call, the Quaranta-Twellman goal. He and the same AR got the third-most important call right, calling back the T&T goal (though it was pretty easy, with three players offside). Convey was unlucky to be sent off, and I wonder if that second bad challenge happens without the frustration of Twellman's goal being pulled off the scoreboard, and Bobby missing frame with his easiest shot and narrowly missing creating goals with a couple of long shots. Of course, there's a lesson for him in that.
Two questions here: has anyone done the TIVO thing to find out if it was a real offside? and does Trinidad have a history of playing rough or physical in matches? Thanks.
Yes, that was weird. On the tube, it was unclear what was happening, but it seemed as if played was stopped for the substitution. MassRef--If you read this, I'd appreciate your interpretation.
I don't 'have a problem' with anyone, including you. I was going to apologize, but numerista told me to, so now I'm not going to. Kill all refs. I was just commenting on the fact that all your 'evaluations' go something like "blah, blah, blah... Overall, did a good job." I did play, but that doesn't stop me from saying that Ralston sucked last night... And I don't have to tell anyone else that they don't understand why he did either. You come off like you're defending a fellow ref in every instance. This is just a message board, you're not going to have your key to the washroom taken away if you're just a little bit critical now and again... And if you admit someone had a bad game, that doesn't mean you have to fear the players in your next match... You know what I'm saying? YiS
I'm with you and ZipSix. We complain about referees too much. It's getting .......... no, check that, it's GOTTEN old now. The guy missed a couple of deflections, yes. But it was an overall good, fair game by the ref. Way too much whining by our fans.
That's EXACTLY what happened. But it was Albright, not Quaranta, who took the throw, and who subsequently yelled and waved his arms at the ref. It was kind of funny to see him pitch a fit like that, actually. The ref was dead on with his discipline, absolutely brilliant control of the players that headed off even the remotest chance of a shoving match or a truly dangerous foul. In all other respects, he was unbelievably bad. The constantly blown corners were what got to me-- I was right behind the goal, and had a clear view of just how many times he blew it in the second half. Had to be three, maybe four. I was also sickened by Taylor Twellman's first USMNT goal getting disallowed-- he was NOT offsides, that was a perfectly timed run-- but that was the linesman's fault.
Amen on both counts, although I think the ref's performance deteriorated somewhat in the second half. Early on, he was right on top of everything--when the T&T keeper slid out of the box, but kept the ball on the line, ref was right there, made the right call. Red card on the OGSO for Donovan has been mentioned. In the second half, he stopped play for the Oneywu-Armas collision, a rare call at this level, indicates he was really concerned about injuries. (And correct restart with a well-managed drop ball.) But--missed call on the Twellman goal (really the ARs fault), failed to card the elbow into Twellman's chest near the end, let more things go than he did in the first half. Inconsistency can be a big problem, as players don't know what's allowed. But in general a well-called match, with a few howlers.
the guys from jamaica are generally bad refs, but the mexicans aren't all that bad... count choculla is half decent...christ, with all the poor island refs, he's almost om collina's level... guys some peoples hatred of everything mexican blinds them somewhat
Yeah, but only one player played the ball. The other two players were irrelevant to the call. And the one who scored was the least offside of the three. That was a close but clear call. Sorry for the pedanticism, but alot of people don't understand passive offside, so I wanted to take this chance to illustrate it. The other two guys were passively offside, which means they were in an offside position, but since they didn't make the play, they were not in violation of the rule.
Actually we are. Every MLS match has the same thing. I've used the flags myself in several matches. I actually got a phone call at one point, so I think I missed this because I don't remember it specifically. There was a play where he ordered the re-take of a goal kick because it didn't leave the penalty area. Was that the point where he let on the subs?
It was hard to tell with the weird ESPN2 production, but the ref had actually waited to see if advantage would develop, then whistled a foul, with a restart for the U.S. back just inside our defensive half of the field. He then allowed the substitution before the U.S. restart.
Fair enough and I see where you're coming from, I just tend to disagree a little, though. Obviously, coming from a ref's perspective, I'm going to try to explain things (and possibly even justify an erroneous decision in some cases) when I think a situation is misunderstood. I'm also going to say that overall the ref did a good job even if, like in last night's game, a majority of the 50/50 calls went against us and he missed a corner kick call or two, but he gets all the major decisions correct. But I think I'm very willing to admit when something went wrong, like the no goal call last night or the non-PK call on Beasley in the Gold Cup. In fact, if you look back, I was extremely critical of Prendergast and was also critical of Okulaja in a recent Galaxy match. The only thing is, many people read these boards and some of those within USSF know who I am. Due to a Code of Ethics, referees aren't supposed to criticize each other. Now, we could get into the details of it and why it was developed, but it's really not worth it. I happen to think it should not apply to professional matches, because referees at that level expect to be criticized (criticizing a true colleague at a youth or amateur tournament, though, is entirely different). Not everyone feels that way, though, so I have to be careful in how far I go. Think of it this way, though: I post a lot. When I'm completely silent on a really controversial issue, it's probably with good reason.
I actually don't know if I agree. If I remember right, they were all trying to be involved in the play, and could be considered a "distraction" to Keller, so if guy #3 had been on side it would've been up to the refs to make a judgment call as to whether the other two being offside had any effect on the play whatsoever. If I'm recalling the play in my head properly, I think it did. ~Justin
The ref was horrible. I was worried at one point he would card some of our guys so they couldn't play against Messico in our next match. You should hear some of these Mexican refs interviewed on goltv or FOXESP, they do have biases. There was not an offside on Twellman's goal, and what was it like 5 corner kicks that he just gave them as goal kicks. Final score: USA 1 - Mexico ref 1 - TT o
That comment is utterly uncalled for. MassRef is a fairly high level ref who does a great job of patiently trying to explain why calls were or were not made in an effort to correct the ignorance that large numbers of even long time players/fans are under. I've seen him call out refs for poor perforance when its been deserved- here that is simply not the case and at any rate the above shot you took was decidedly undeserved.
"Trying to be involved" isn't "involved". And "distracting the keeper" went away as an excuse long ago. They were playing on the "must touch the ball" IFAB directive. See this other thread on the re-re-re-clarification of that - YES! https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=233664