Ricardo Valenzuela :: DCU vs Fire:: Referee Thread [R] [N&A]

[Lanky134]

REFEREE: Ricardo Valenzuela. SAR (bench): Kermit Quisenberry; JAR (opposite): Bahij Salman; 4th: Erich Simmons

Not one of my favorite refs.

Valenzuela did 3 United games last year:

4/19 v. CHI: YC - Petke, Etcheverry, Pause
10/4 @ CLB: YC - Williams, Denton, Maissoneuve, Nelsen, Etcheverry, Stewart; Questionable PK (Hejduk brings down Etch)
11/1 v. CHI: YC - Prideaux, Kovalenko, Namoff, Stoitchkov, Beasley, Marsch, Perez

[GlennAA11]

just curious, where did you find this info? MLS redesigned their website and now I can't find anything

[TEConnor]

Jeezus.

Valenzuela's a total nightmare.

I hope that his inexplicable spastic fits benefit us for once.

Tim

[Lanky134]

just curious, where did you find this info? MLS redesigned their website and now I can't find anything

It was on the match preview that was on the website. The link seems to be down.

[mellon002]

Was he the vampire looking guy from the USA-Denmark game? The name sounds familiar.

[TheFarSide]

These threads on the upcoming games ref is a great idea. Most refs suck so it nice to know the degree of suckiness before the game starts. Thanks for the info!

[Jester64]

These threads on the upcoming games ref is a great idea. Most refs suck so it nice to know the degree of suckiness before the game starts. Thanks for the info!

Can we make sure that the refs read these threads - so they know, that we know, that they're not just nameless, sucking, blind zombies with a whistle and bright uniform, but actual people with names whose purpose is to screw with good, sport loving fans on Saturdays - and so, our need is to spew venom at them, all week long, to help our team to victory, and make happy drinkers, rather than mad drunks.

[Knave]

I can tell this will be a useful thread this week. So bump ...

[Shaydee]

Ben Olsen gave Valensuela a nice little trip while he was running

[sch2383]

He lost control of this game after about 5 minutes...I'm surprised nobody was given a red today.

[Gunners11]

He seemed to get a little loose with his yellow cards in the second half. There was a 10 minute period where 3/4 cards were handed out.

[Section106]

I can't complain too much about the officiating today. I don't understand many of the yellow cards but I never understand most of the cards in this league. Ricardo did just enough to not to pin the loss on him and for that I am grateful. He did lose control of the match and should have been more judicious with the cards earlier but no glaring mistake that lead to a goal was made so by MLS standards he did a great job. Now if there was a way to raise MLS standards....

[Claymore]

What a wonderful world it would be if we could get half of you guys to take a course and start reffing. Seriously. :cool:

[GlennAA11]

What a wonderful world it would be if we could get half of you guys to take a course and start reffing. Seriously. :cool:

I agree with that. I thought that was actually one of the better referee efforts I have seen this season. I don't really understand what you guys are saying about him losing control. I never felt like he had lost control.

The yellow to Namoff in the first half seemed a little harsh to me seeing it live, but I can't argue with any of the others. The one on Brown was for his challenge from behind on Freddy which was meant to intimidate him. I thought that was very good preemptive officiating. Adu's was well deserved. He yanked the guy's shirt and hack his legs out. Definintely a caution...pretty much a no brainer really.

His positioning was excellent, especially in the first half when he was literally right on top of several fouls. He allowed advantage and when the advantage didn't occurred called the play back for the foul on several occasions.

The caution to Jaqua did take way longer than it seemed it should have but he added lots of time for that.

He calls a pretty tight game in general which I think is a good thing as it keeps things from getting too chippy.

[Footer Phooter]

While I questioned a couple of his calls, I thought he did a fairly decent job. I question the Namoff yellow, although he probably earned one later in the game. Not a bad performance per MLS standards.

[Section106]

What a wonderful world it would be if we could get half of you guys to take a course and start reffing. Seriously. :cool:

I've often thought about taking the ref course and trying my hand but I'd probably start watching the match and forget that I was supposed to be working.:) As for my statement that Ricardo lost control, I've watched Collina officiate in a chippy match, call fouls and talk to the players without resorting to a yellow. The result was a more controlled match. This match was chippy from the beginning and fouls were being commited to disrupt play and stifle the opponents rythm. Ricardo should have called it tight, talked to the players thereby setting the tone, and then used the yellow to establish his authority. I have always thought that one purpose of the officials was to help maintain the flow of the game. That rarely happens in MLS. My assessments of the refs are subjective(i.e. I'm a DC fan) and not really based on any experience in officiating soccer so please take them for what they are worth. I would just like to see more in the way of a "big picture" approach when it comes to the influence of referee's on American soccer in general and MLS matches in particular. I think this would create more flowing, attacking and entertaining soccer.

[GlennAA11]

I've often thought about taking the ref course and trying my hand but I'd probably start watching the match and forget that I was supposed to be working.:) As for my statement that Ricardo lost control, I've watched Collina officiate in a chippy match, call fouls and talk to the players without resorting to a yellow. The result was a more controlled match. This match was chippy from the beginning and fouls were being commited to disrupt play and stifle the opponents rythm. Ricardo should have called it tight, talked to the players thereby setting the tone, and then used the yellow to establish his authority.

I think a big part of that has to do with respect. The players tend to show Collina a sometimes inordinate amount of respect. He's had quite a legend grow up around himself in a way that colors opinions of the players and fans alike. In MLS there is basically no respect paid to the referees by either the players or the fans.

If the players are committing fouls to disprupt the flow what is the referee going to do exactly to fix that problem? If he calls the fouls there is no flow. If he doesn't call the fouls things get out of hand. I thought today's match was physical, as are most MLS games, but it didn't seem out of control or especially chippy to me. And I thought in general he did call things pretty tight. It's hard to know exactly what he was or wasn't saying to the players. And the yellow cards did come out to "establish authority".

[gnat]

I think a big part of that has to do with respect. The players tend to show Collina a sometimes inordinate amount of respect. He's had quite a legend grow up around himself in a way that colors opinions of the players and fans alike. In MLS there is basically no respect paid to the referees by either the players or the fans.
Yeah but you need to look at why there is the respect or lack thereof. Collina calls good matches and generally isn't noticed in games. The refs that MLS uses seem to have an identity crisis that makes them feel the need to be noticed.
That being said, while I think he let the game get out of control and made some questionable calls (more about missed calls really), I think he called it fair down the line for both teams. He didn't seem to give one side or the other any favor, which is all I really ask in a MLS match anymore.

-dave

[Ombak]

He certainly took his time in the first half when play stopped didn't he? Geeze.

And why do MLS refs let guys get away with holding players (not just pulling shirts but holding guys with both arms) and not give them yellows?

[JayRockers!]

[QUOTE=GlennAA11]The caution to Jaqua did take way longer than it seemed it should have but he added lots of time for that.[QUOTE]If the refs were consistant in the league, it should have been a Red to Jaqua, just like Dema got in the opener, and probably Jaime deserved a card for smacking Beasley in the face. I can't complain about the calls at all though, I'm sure that they just weren't seen by any official.

Maybe if DC had asked for the quick restarts, they may have gotten some advantage from them, instead of having what, 3 called back for a do over?

Not a bad job at all by RV. So far the best this season.


Thx,

Jay!