6/27 Austin vs. El Paso; 6/28 Austin vs. Baton Rouge

[VioletCrown]

We already have a Tigres thread, which happens the day after these two games, but I figured we may as well have a place holder for our next league games, which aren't this weekend, but the next weekend.

We have a week off, giving the players a chance to recover and prepare for a tough three game weekend.

While our guys are concentrating on their day jobs, the rest of the division has a chance to catch up with us.

Friday:
El Paso - Laredo

Saturday:
Mississippi - New Orleans
Baton Rouge - DFW
El Paso - Laredo

Wednesday:
New Orleans - Mississippi

Current standings:

22 Austin
18 Laredo
12 El Paso, Baton Rouge, New Orleans
11 DFW
9 Houston
8 Mississippi

Notice that Laredo has a chance to get past us if they win both games in El Paso. Nothing to worry about, though, as we'll also have two games in hand by the time we play our next game. Plus, El Paso has yet to lose at home.

[Blackburn]

I wasn't able to make the road trip to see Laredo. Will they stack up well against El Paso's more physical style of play?

El Paso did not strike me as a very skilled team, in the sense that they were playing a rugby/soccer hybrid out there, especially the guy who was wearing #10 when they played us (I recall his name being different in the program guide than is on the roster on their site, so I'll avoid calling him by name).

[mgrayscale]

Based on what I've seen of both teams (Laredo away, El Paso in Austin), I would say the physicality will depend on the tightness of the officials calls. When they go down, Laredo tends to be more agressive, but I do not believe it's on the level of a Houston or El Paso. However, Laredo has a greater level of finesse in their game. There were two brothers who played on the in the middle when I saw them, although they are listed as defenders (Greg and Oliver Mulamba, both from S. Africa). They're both tall, and very fast. They're capable of getting a pass and then running it down behind the defense (kind of like Kandji did for Atlanta, but not at that developed of a level).

El Paso plays a very physical game all the time, but can do it within the realm of the rules (most of the time). However, their size which helps their physical play will hinder their finesse game. I would say my forecast is that it will be a close game, but that El Paso will come away with the win as they're playing in their stadium (calls and the crowd favor them).

[VioletCrown]

I wasn't able to make the road trip to see Laredo. Will they stack up well against El Paso's more physical style of play?

El Paso did not strike me as a very skilled team, in the sense that they were playing a rugby/soccer hybrid out there, especially the guy who was wearing #10 when they played us (I recall his name being different in the program guide than is on the roster on their site, so I'll avoid calling him by name).

I'm almost certain #10 was Trevor Eastman. Not sure what to think of the info on the USL website. The Patriots website (http://www.elpaso-patriots.com/Team/index_E.html) matches my memory.

[mgrayscale]

An interesting tidbit I just read at the USL site, but the Michigan Bucks, who had a perfect record prior to this evening, lost 1-0 to the Toronto Lynx (4-2-2 prior to this evenings match). You can see the preliminary stats at the USL site (http://www.uslsoccer.com/stats/2008/657494.html). That means that no one in the PDL has a spotless record.

[VioletCrown]

1-2 El Paso.

So much for Miguel's clean sheet record.

I wasn't there tonight. Hope I didn't cause the loss. I was sick. Feeling better now.

Just saw the result on Fox 7. Crap.

Well, here's hoping that the boys will bounce back like they did after the last loss.

Looking forward to seeing the reviews of the game.

That puts El Paso just a point behind us.

Grr. Arr. (rep if you get my reference)

[Native Aztexan]

1-2 El Paso.

So much for Miguel's clean sheet record.

I wasn't there tonight. Hope I didn't cause the loss. I was sick. Feeling better now.

Just saw the result on Fox 7. Crap.

Well, here's hoping that the boys will bounce back like they did after the last loss.

Looking forward to seeing the reviews of the game.

That puts El Paso just a point behind us.

Grr. Arr. (rep if you get my reference)
Miguel didn't play in the game. Craig Hill (the backup goalkeeper did).

With the windy conditions and having a week off, you can tell the players especially the defense were rusty. Keep on giving away bad back passes and not being alert on El Paso's counterattacks in which one led to their 1st goal.

The referee & officials were AWFUL. PERIOD. The referee call a direct free kick in the box for a backpass in which WAS NOT AT ALL. In fact the defender blocked the ball and not passing it. So the keeper was able to pick it up but the referee saw it differently.

Then on the free kick, the shot was block......but the referee then again awarded a PK for claiming a handball. El Paso converted the PK to make it 2-0 going into halftime.

In the 2nd half, Aztex pulled one back on Josh Alcela header from a corner. And we had many chances during the half but could not break EP's defense (one shot hit the crossbar and another one was cleared off the line). And the passing game was off all night. It was very frustrating to watch.

Finally the game was over (thanks to the clueless ref) when Edgar Martinez received a red card in stoppage of the game for elbowing a EP player while going up for a header. The Patroit players spend way to much time lying on the ground in the 2nd half time wasting.

And did I mention how crappy the officials were? I noticed that the 4th official didn't have his substitution/stoppage sign with him. :confused:

Oh well, all good home streaks must come to an end. Now the new one starts tomorrow evening. ;)

[VioletCrown]

Miguel didn't play in the game. Craig Hill (the backup goalkeeper did).

Well. Interesting. I was expecting first string tonight, second team tomorrow. The highlights went too fast by the keeper, so I couldn't tell who it was. I was a little surprised that Miguel came out too slow on that first goal. I guess that may explain it.

I guess having a week off isn't a good thing. I have a vague memory that MLS teams actually sometimes have problems after a week break like that.

Well, no more breaks from here on out.

As you say, time for a new streak to start.

Too bad I wasn't there tonight. One of the privileges of doing the stats is that sometimes, because I have to get the stats sheet signed by the referee, I get to hear the referee review. It would've been interesting to hear it tonight.

Oh, well.

I'm feeling much better, and ready to see a win tomorrow night!

[VioletCrown]

On the plus side, DFW beat Baton Rouge tonight, 1-0, up in Dallas. The gap that we used to have is gone now, but DFW and El Paso only have 3 games left. We still have 6. It's still probably a three team race, though Mississippi might be in the mix.

Unless we play the same players we did tonight (not likely), or Baton Rouge has the depth of team we do, we should be in better shape than them tomorrow night.

Current standings:

22 Austin
21 El Paso
18 Laredo
17 Mississippi
15 DFW
13 Baton Rouge
12 New Orleans
9 Houston

Man. That was El Paso's first road win.

Regarding the referee -- oh, well, that's soccer. Gotta learn how to win despite a bad referee.

[KillerMoth]

It felt to me like the Aztex were beat by the referees, not El Paso. I think El Paso played a fine game, but it felt like the refs' calls (or lack of them, in some cases) really decided the match.

I want to try to give the refs credit for doing the best they could (I'm sure they have other things they could be doing on a Friday night), but I can't remember thinking to myself "WTF?" so many times in one game.

[mgrayscale]

The refs were absolutely disgraceful. There is no other way to put it. Here's an example of the evidence I saw (and I know I missed a lot)...

1. The El Paso coach came onto the field during play, at least 4 times, and never got anything more than a "Please move behind the touch line" from the 4th official. Wanker.
2. An El Paso player who was subbed out in the second half actually pushed (agressively) Austin when he came up to check on him (the El Paso player had gone down hard earlier). Even with the 4th official and the line judge within 5 yards, nothing was done.
3. The main official missed it when one of the El Paso defenders in the second half pulled Jamie to the ground in the box.
4. The other examples given on the "back pass" and the "PK" speak for themselves.

This officiating crew was an embarrassment and I agree, they were the #1 contributor to the loss. However, the Aztex play did not help, and to their credit, this was a COMPLETELY different Patriots team from a short while ago. They were much more finesse focused than hammer focused. In my opinion, they are the team were have to worry about, especially since they're on a hot streak and we have one more game against them in El Paso.

Oh, and the Tigres first team (with all their star players) arrive tomorrow afternoon (some of their organization sat behind us).

[FrogHammer]

It seemed like we were overlooking El Paso a little with our minds on Sunday's game. On the first goal we were beaten on the counter-attack. It had happened twice before the goal but Kiernon Bernard was able to catch them. We played our standard three forward line-up against a lone El Paso forward and I think we pressed too hard early on.
The back pass call for a free kick in the box was bush league officiating.
This is a little unrelated but two things bother me in modern soccer. One is how penalty kick players approach the ball, come to a complete stop (ala Ronaldo), and then continue to take the kick. This is completely illegal but is allowed more than not. The other is on a free kick how players in the wall rush the kicker before the ball is struck. That happened last night and I think the shot inadvertently deflected off of Jamie Watson's arm. But a handball in the box is a penalty, especially if it blocks a shot.
A USL league official was at the game and I heard that he requested a copy of the tape because he felt the officiating was very questionable.

[sokaymckay]

I am ignorant to the back pass penalty. exactly what is that? can some one excuse my ignorance?

[duality72]

Basically, the goalkeeper can't handle the ball with his hands if the ball is deliberately kicked to him by a teammate (a "backpass"). The penalty for the foul is an indirect free kick, which is why, initally, there was no penalty kick; only a direct kick foul in the box result in a penalty kick. See Laws of the Game, p. 38 (PDF) (http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/federation/laws_of_the_game_0708_10565.pdf).

The key word here being "deliberately" and even when I recertified last fall at the entry level, they emphasized it had to be blatantly intentional, not blocks, deflections, etc. Calling the foul when a defender blocks the ball and the keeper jumps on the rebound is the kind of mistake you would expect from a fresh referee in a rec league. No ref at this level should make that kind of elementary error.

[Scooter Pete]

FrogHammer I assume you mean PDL, not USL, official?

I thought the officiating was awful as well, but we weren't at our best. They gave us numerous chances that we failed to finish.

[Blackburn]

FrogHammer I assume you mean PDL, not USL, official?

I thought the officiating was awful as well, but we weren't at our best. They gave us numerous chances that we failed to finish.

No, USL. There was an official wearing a USL shirt at the game. In talking to him, he didn't mention the tape request, but did talk a lot about handling PDL issues, so he may be a PDL back office guy, but he IS a USL official. Nice guy too.

[KillerMoth]

PDL is a USL league.

[Scooter Pete]

The official who was there was Lee Cohen, Director of PDL Operations, aka "the Commish" or perhaps "El Jefe."

I guess I would consider him a (the?) PDL official but you guys are right he is also a USL official...

my bad.