Good. I was fearing that this being a USSF event, they could only suspend him for USOC games (big deal), or National Team games. If they suspended him for the Nats and he missed the Gold Cup, that would suck, especially if it meant he could play the whole time with the Sounders, who really are the ones who should pay the price, not the Nats. In some ways, the close, inbredness of the USSF and MLS can work for the overall good.
Sorry, the suspension is not enough for the actions. As much as I want to see CD play in the Gold Cup, his suspension should have more bite. Short of physical violence, this is about as much as you can do to show up an official.
I thought he was going to get a bigger suspension than he did, but I was somewhat surprised he got suspended for MLS games. IIRC when Luis Hernandez cleated Petr Nowak in the face his suspension was only for future USOC games.
Squad rotation is one thing. Give bench players an opportunity to show they can fit in with the first team while resting a player or two. You can do that for 3 or 4 matches in a row with little drop in output. Complete squad swaps is silly. Throwing an almost entirely starting line up of bench players out there ruins cohesion and gives those bench players little chance at success.
What's more, the squad is - with the exception of Rowe/Fagundez - not used to rotating. In the fantasy world where Revolution was like a team with more depth, players coming off the bench could be started with no drop-off in talent. In the current situation where there are arguably two players who start regularly who should be deep on the bench, there are few options for Heaps to rest his usual starters, and get players used to playing in different combinations. As it is now, this board typically hates Heaps' subs. The reality is that he needs new and better players.
To put it plainly, Clint Dempsey should be made to "pay the price" for his unconscionably idiotic behavior... and ALL of the teams he suits-up for - both club AND country - must unfortunately pay said price right along with him. Dempsey's beyond fortunate that he's most likely looking at a mere three-game suspension of Major League Soccer play. My memory may be foggy, but my recollection is that USSF law calls for a three-month suspension for damaging a referee's uniform or personal property, with personal property defined as including an official's car, uniform, or equipment. Also, while the USSF has stated that disciplinary policy within the U. S. Open Cup competition calls for the jurisdiction of the league within which the club a player represents to hold sway, said Professional Leagues Policy Against Referee Assault also states that all professional league members - including Major League Soccer - must meet minimum disciplinary criteria that includes a six-match suspension for "Referee Assault". As defined by the Professional Leagues Policy Against Referee Assault, such assault includes, but is not limited to, "damaging the referee's uniform or personal property (e.g., car, uniform, or equipment)". The referee's scorecard is part and parcel of his equipment. By contrast, an incidence of "Referee Abuse" under the Professional Leagues Policy Against Referee Assault calls for minimum disciplinary criteria that includes a three-match suspension. "Referee Abuse" as defined by the Professional Leagues Policy Against Referee Assault includes, but is not limited to "verbal and nonverbal communication which contains foul or abusive language and which implies or directly threatens physical harm; spewing a beverage or spitting at a referee or the referee's personal property". Bottom line? Dempsey should be looking at a minimum of a six-game suspension. Quite frankly, given the severity of his actions, it can be argued that he deserves a three-month suspension. Further, quibbling over what squad/competition matches the suspension should involve is sickening. Clint Dempsey should be suspended from participating in all competition with all sides he represents for whatever length suspension is meted out. I have absolutely no sympathy for Dempsey in this situation. To my mind, his attitude - and the on-field antics that accompany it - have long since grown tiresome. Dempsey has become the very definition of a player that "believes his own press". Actions speak louder than words and Dempsey's behavior communicates that he thinks he's bigger than the sport. Unfortunately, I fear that the weak manner in which the USSF is responding to this transgression is only going to embolden Demspsey.
Hell Hath no Fury like a Brian's Scorn..............So what next for this "emboldened Dempsey", then? Steal the ref's whistle and play Yankee Doodle Dandy while Swimming to Cambodia?
Dempsey embarrassed the official, but there was nothing intimadating about it. He deserves what he got for sure, but I think players surrounding and screaming at the official is far more damaging to the integrity of the game and development of officials. No one throws a fit about that though.
He needs a better squad, but he also never gives bench players a chance with a "A" team. Could Rudy or Smith fit in with the starters? Who knows because he does't give them a chance. He plays them with a squad of lesser players who have less experience/cohesion.
I guess I have to ask the question....Why? Why would "you" (everybody on the forum) want to play in the CCL. That's extra games and we have to rest our starters. I get a chuckle out of all the comments about mid-week games, US open cup games, travel, etc., that will tire out our professional football players. That's what they get paid to do, and also, why their careers are over by about their mid 30's. I looked up Messi's games played: 2015 - 57 games, 2014 - 46 games, 2013 - 50 games, 2012 - 60 games; etc. Over the last 7 years Messi has averaged more than 53 games a year. He must be tired!!
Rhetorical question to be sure, but that is like asking a player why would you want to play for your national team? You don't get paid (much) extra, you end up playing through the normal breaks in the club season, you don't get your usual time off like everyone else and you're tired. Players for the Blackhawks don't mind that they will have a short summer break before having to go to training camp all over again. But I get where you're going with this. If we ever did make the CCL, we'd just embarrass ourselves again. Small market teams in countries where soccer is not the biggest sport just can't compete with these big money clubs in Costa Rica and Guatemala, where people live in breathe the game. It doesn't matter that our average salary could meet the entire payroll of a top Caribbean side, it's just too much trouble to go deep in a tournament like this. Sure, Montreal's gates from their last home game paid for their entire run int he tournament and then some, but who wants that? If Heaps can't manage a midweek game less than an hour away by bus, how is he going to handle getting his nice suit splattered with a bag of piss in Tegucigalpa?
I agree. Technically, I suppose he did damage the referee's property, but I don't think tearing up a sheet of paper is what they really had in mind - something more like setting the ref's car on fire, I'm guessing. Dempsey's actions don't deserve defending, but assault, intimidation, etc? I don't think so. That ref definitely did not seem intimidated, as Dempsey did his little trick and then heading off without getting in the ref's face at all. You see much worse on any red card or pk call. It's fun to see them play different teams, especially with different players and styles. I really enjoyed the SuperLiga for that reason, and I think it improved the Revs play. Well, yeah. Otherwise I'm pretty sure Argentina would have been WC champs - Messi was a shadow of himself by the end of all of those league/Cup games. The number of games is less of an issue than the time/distance of travel is (and the subsequent effect on recovery/training schedules) - and that can be particularly difficult in MLS. You can see it whenever east coast teams travel to the mountain or west coast sites.
Really? After the ref showed red to Dempsey, he had to be restrained by 3 teammates to keep from going at the ref.
This got me curious as to how they fared after being eliminated from the cup, in the next regular season game. Here are the results. WIN 3 LOSS 9 DRAW 3 97 S.J 5-1 LOSS 00 NY/NJ 4 -2 LOSS 01 NO GAMES PLAYED 03 CHI 5-1 WIN 04 S.J 2-2 Draw 05 K.C 2-1 LOSS 06 CLB 1-0 WIN 07 CHI 2-1 LOSS 08 S.J 4-0 LOSS 09 LAG 1-0 LOSS 10 S.J 0-0 Draw 11 LAG 1-0 LOSS 12 CHI 2-0 WIN 13 CHV 1-1 Draw 14 CHI 1-0 LOSS 15 D.C 2-1 LOSS
And don't forget what happened when the Revs were Joe Public'd out of the CCC. Burns made that infamous statement about it not being too bad, since now they could "concentrate on winning MLS Cup." I think they lost to San Jose by more than a couple of goals the next game. But they were tired. Yeah, tired.
Good stuff, thanks! It just goes to show that, if, as suspected, the tournament is not taken seriously, the "losing begets losing" mentality can take over after a team "blows off" a game. IIRC, the Joe Public fiasco preceded a poor finish to the 2008 season.
You're right about losing begets losing but the 2008 tailspin was more complicated that not showing up in the CCL against Joe Public. Losing Twellman to his catastrophic injury was a big part of that.
That's one possible conclusion, but not the most likely one IMO. When a team is in a poor run of form, they are likely to be eliminated from a tournament as well as struggle in regular season competition.
But it is different for a team that is struggling, not playing well, etc. to lose in different competitions. That isn't what happened. The Revs went to Trinidad and lost 2-1 in the away leg. It wasn't a great game, but not a crazy result. Usually a team wouldn't mind coming home down a goal in aggregate but with an away goal, to face the same team at home. A 1-0 win in the rematch will see you through. But the Revs chose to throw in the towel. They lost 4-0 at home to a team whose entire salaries did not equal Twellman's. Most coaches would be furious when losing like that to a team they should beat, but Nicol and Mariner were laughing and joking around on the bench. Then, player after player talked about the "silver lining" that now they could "concentrate on the league." Would they have had enough depth to finish out the season and still make the playoffs? Who knows, but they didn't even try. It's one thing to fall short of an overly ambitious goal, but to strive for something just short of mediocrity is simply unacceptable.