Sorry but your perspective is quite frankly a total load of BS. It is exactly this which has led people to not take MLS seriously, and therefore prefer to watch EPL and other leagues on TV. It is barely short of a Harlem Globetrotters type of operation. PH
I don't know what is genuinely worse. That all four officials didn't know that this was trickery or knew that it was, but chose to ignore it to keep some no name right back eligible for the second leg. Either the best referees that this country has to offer slept through the backpass topic during clinics or just looked the other way...It's not a good look. There really is no defending or justifying Guzman's performance. I ended up watching the game and the whole match was a blatant manipulation and circumvention of the Laws of the Game. I thought it was frankly disgraceful. Whether he received orders from above to not give cards or was it just institutional pressure, it doesn't matter.
I posted this on the other thread: FWIW I heard that at a clinic for National Instructors it was stated by CONCACAF FIFA instructor that such trickery should be ignored. Several PRO staff and Assessors were at that clinic. QED Somebody somewhere has decided that this infraction should be ignored, whether it is unilateral or comes directly from the top. My question is if referees are told to ignore it, why has it not been removed from the LOTG? PH
I think people are giving too much credit to the crew to think it was some kind of Jedi-refereeing to just act cool on this play to avoid cards. If you look at the wide angle replay, you can see that the JAR doesn't even flinch. He didn't even make eye-contact with Guzman, who (by the way) didn't even move toward the play once the ball was flicked up, nor does he look at the AR. I'd be surprised if Villareal didn't swallow hard, but at this point in the game there is no way the 4th is injecting himself to something the ref obviously saw (what's the radio conversation? "HEY, the whole stadium saw that..."). Mariscal probably couldn't believe his eyes either, but come on. This is on Guzman and Nelson (JAR), and that's it.
He also went on ESPN to say the Burch play in the Seattle vs. Colorado match was not a red card. He deemed it "reckless." http://www.espnfc.us/video/espn-fc-tv/86/video/3004646/ask-the-ref-burch-lucky-to-avoid-red Just laughable. He has gone on this program for years and continued to embarrass himself and PRO by defending clear mistakes.
To the surprise of absolute no one, Kelly has been given the MLS Cup Final. http://www.proreferees.com/2016-mls-cup-crew-announced.php
Actually, I'd contend that for any professional match in a previously unused stadium where the crew is already arriving the day before the match that the field inspection should occur the day before the match and not the day of. If you do run a bit late to the actual match, it won't matter. A bit surprising no one on the crew or from PRO thought about this. Should be SOP.
why no red card for altidore in the first 15 minutes? definitely SFP. will see how jair manages this for the rest of the game. montreal team steaming. sorry but really bad missed call
they picked him for this game because they know he won't call much and won't give out any cards. I'll be interested to see if he does anything about MTL's time wasting. He did nothing about it in the DC-MTL game in the play in round.
After everything that has been posted on this board and elsewhere and what is known about the way MLS playoff games are officiated, it is totally foolish to expect to see red cards, 2nd yellows or even 1st yellows in the last match before the final. They don't want key players suspended for the final. It is as simple as that, no matter how much of the LOTG has to be ignored. At least in the old NASL the players were given whatever cards they deserved, but then the league simply overturned the suspensions! Choose your poison! PH
Wasn't he second Montreal goal offside. Oduro I believe was in an offside position and prevented the defender from clearing the ball off the goal line?
Came here to ask the exact same question. Clearly Oduro was (a) in an offside position when the ball was shot and (b) gained an advantage by shielding the defender from the ball as it went into the goal. Don't see how that wasn't offside.
pierre, i go with hemlock. yes i agree, the onus is not give red cards, or cards at all- just venting about the severity of the contact
Pretty huge missed offside that puts Montreal up 5-4. Offside player interferes with opponent that probably would've kept the ball out of the goal. Only possibility is that they decided attacker last played the ball deliberately but that seems dubious.
Just saw the other angle replay. Ball (shot) actually was kicked by defender, not touched at all by attacking player. Good call by refs. BTW, what an exciting match to watch.
Announcers just said the same. But was a deliberate play or deflection? Defender has an attacker literally on him at the time fighting for the ball. Regardless, this game is nuts!
The way he shielded the defender from the ball, only because he was in offside position, was certainly gaining an advantage. The angle I saw, the attacking player tried to cut to his right, defender in his way, kicked the ball, but mis-hit (not deflection) ball back under the GK and eventually into goal.
Offside. The play forward was a pinball that touched both attacker and defender. At a minimum, this should have been a conversation between ar and cr before awarding.
In layman's terms you are correct. As far as the LOTG are concerned you're incorrect. It's interfering with an opponent, not gaining an advantage. Go read the LOTG I'll take your word for now on deliberate vs deflection since they haven't shown a replay with alternate angles yet.
I came to the game late, is there a non-borderline conspiracy theory discussion of the possible Altidore SFP?
Quite remarkable that Altidore finished the game without a caution. Was constantly starting game disrepute. I get that MLS likes Marrufo's low key, no card style and it obviously has given him great success in MLS, but I think he is a very poor referee. Refuses to address anything. Ignores dissent, persistent infringement and delay of the restart.
I think it's safe to say that any foul that would be a 15 yard penalty in an NFL game should be sanctioned in some way in a soccer game. Even worse was the injured player coming right back into the game, but I'll let Twellman rightfully rant about that.