10/22/2017 Atlanta United v Toronto FC Mercedez-Benz Stadium (4:00PM ET) REF: ROBERT SIBIGA AR1: Ian Anderson AR2: Jason White 4TH: Alex Chilowicz VAR: Jon Freemon D.C. United v New York Red Bulls RFK Stadium (4:00PM ET) REF: DAVE GANTAR AR1: Daniel Belleau AR2: Gjovalin Bori 4TH: Armando Villarreal VAR: David Barrie Montreal Impact v New England Revolution Stade Saputo (4:00PM ET) REF: RUBIEL VAZQUEZ AR1: Gianni Facchini AR2: Kevin Klinger 4TH: Silviu Petrescu VAR: Yusri Rudolf New York City FC v Columbus Crew Citi Field (4:00PM ET) REF: ISMAIL ELFATH AR1: Brian Dunn AR2: Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho 4TH: Sorin Stoica VAR: Edvin Jurisevic Philadelphia Union v Orlando City Talen Energy Stadium (4:00PM ET) REF: JOSEPH DICKERSON AR1: Kermit Quisenberry AR2: Claudiu Badea 4TH: Jorge Gonzalez VAR: Mark Geiger FC Dallas v LA Galaxy Toyota Stadium (4:00PM ET) REF: JOSE CARLOS RIVERO AR1: Brian Poeschel AR2: Danny Thornberry 4TH: Marcos Deoliveira VAR: Kevin Terry Jr Real Salt Lake v Sporting Kansas City Rio Tinto Stadium (4:00PM ET) REF: RICARDO SALAZAR AR1: Cameron Blanchard AR2: Peter Manikowski 4TH: Younes Marrakchi VAR: Juan Guzman Jr Portland Timbers v Vancouver Whitecaps Providence Park (4:00PM ET) REF: ALLEN CHAPMAN AR1: Joe Fletcher AR2: Andrew Bigelow 4TH: Baldomero Toledo VAR: Kevin Stott San Jose Earthquakes v Minnesota United Avaya Stadium (4:00PM ET) REF: HILARIO GRAJEDA AR1: Jonathan Johnson AR2: Michael Kampmeinert 4TH: Alejandro Mariscal VAR: Ramy Touchan Seattle Sounders v Colorado Rapids CenturyLink Field (4:00PM ET) REF: CHRIS PENSO AR1: Mike Rottersman AR2: Jeremy Hanson 4TH: Baboucarr Jallow VAR: Fotis Bazakos Houston Dynamo v Chicago Fire BBVA Compass Stadium (4:00PM ET) REF: ALAN KELLY AR1: Matthew Nelson AR2: Eric Weisbrod 4TH: Ted Unkel VAR: Nima Saghafi
With all the playoff spots clinched in the East this final set of regular season assignments sees Joseph Dickerson get his first MLS whistle between Philadelphia and Orlando.
Bori getting a second trial spot after his initial performance is quite interesting and a little suspect. Dickerson getting that trial spot is a little surprising to me--didn't think he'd be at the top of the list--but he's a nice guy, good referee, and I hope he does well.
Dickerson is extremely surprising. He's never had a fourth official or VAR assignment in MLS as far as I am aware.
To be an MLS VAR, you had to do two full live trials outside the league, so not everyone is certified (including some league veterans), but your point still stands. Dickerson is in that next group that PRO is looking at (I believe there are six names) so it's not out of left field in that realm; but that he is the one out of those six that get this shot is a bit surprising (and to be clear, that's not to say it isn't deserved on the merits).
These assignments lately smell like PRO found out about some upcoming retirements or something. They're throwing referees at the wall to see what sticks.
It's just really, really uncommon for someone to get thrown right into the middle in this league. Alan Kelly was the most recent example, and that was a special case. I'd have to go back to the 90s to find the previous one, surely.
Meh, I actually think the opposite. Seems like they waited until the final week to use a couple trial spots that they are obligated to use. If they were planning for retirements, you'd have seen a lot more experimentation much earlier.
Agreed. Though the fact that, for awhile, many CRs first were traveling ARs (like Terry Vaughn) made it extra difficult to occur. Now that you bring this point up, I do wonder who the last example would be--aside from the work stoppage and foreign exchanges.
Since I'm still missing the majority of fourth official assignments from 1996 and 1997, I may not actually be able to find the answer.
Yeah if it's 1997 or 1996, it's sort of an irrelevant point (even if interesting from a trivia standpoint). More wondering if there is some other weird exception like Kelly between the first couple years of the league and his arrival.
So does this mean that the traditional path of 4th-trialist-referee is no longer true or is it just a one off thing?
Probably a one-off thing. The only rostered fourths who haven't done an MLS whistle are Jallow and Radford, right? I would just take this as a (further?) signal that PRO doesn't intend to put them in the middle. Maybe there is a VAR-to-CR path in the future, but I would imagine the nothing-to-whistle path is going to remain exceedingly rare.
Correct. Unlike Radford and Jallow, however, I believe they've all been VAR at least once. I'd have to check to be sure. It all blends together.
Marrakchi has been in the middle, though. I had thought Terry got his shot but I must be conflating it with his many USOC assignments that involved MLS teams. And I just forgot about Mendez. You’re right it all blends together.
Marrakchi's briefly been in the middle because the referee was injured mid-match, but he hasn't been assigned there thus far.
So if it Blows up because you have everyone except for KAKA competing for a JOB, does that mean he wont be brought back???
Dempsey sent off after VAR review. Looks like a good call. 922202728566345733 is not a valid tweet id Sounders penalty shout. No VAR review. Looks like a clear penalty to me. Looks an awful like @wbruin was dragged down, but VAR doesn't look at this one. pic.twitter.com/SZOvZm9yKu— Sounder At Heart (@sounderatheart) October 22, 2017
The VAR would've looked at it, but not deemed it to be a clear and obvious error, ergo... no VR. Not "VAR Review", but "VAR" (Video Assistant Referee) and "VR" (MLS parlance for "Video Review").
One more from Seattle. Originally called a penalty and caution. Caution bumped to red after VAR. 922216350382256130 is not a valid tweet id
Think we might have another Dallas situation with the Rapids. Gatt was announced as starting in all social media, apps, etc but Serna started and Gatt subbed into the game in the 2nd.
Is this really a send off? https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/m...ed-vs-new-york-red-bulls/details/video/139132 And why nothing for Robles who instigated the whole thing?
I watched that a half dozen times in tv, and still can’t see what he was sent off for. Was there a kick in the beginning that I couldn’t see? There wasn’t a lot of dissent from Acosta, and no one looked really surprised when the RC was pulled, so maybe I missed something.