The assignments for Week 27 of the 2017 MLS season: 09/06/2017 New York City FC v Sporting Kansas City (7:30PM ET) REF: RICARDO SALAZAR AR1: Jeffrey Greeson AR2: Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho 4TH: Jose Carlos Rivero VAR: Robert Sibiga 09/09/2017 Chicago Fire v New York Red Bulls Toyota Park (3:55PM ET) REF: ALAN KELLY AR1: Matthew Nelson AR2: Eric Weisbrod 4TH: Daniel Radford VAR: Jair Marrufo Toronto FC v San Jose Earthquakes BMO Field (5:00PM ET) REF: JOSE CARLOS RIVERO AR1: Logan Brown AR2: Adam Wienckowski 4TH: Juan Guzman VAR: Canada CSA New York City FC v Portland Timbers Yankee Stadium (5:30PM ET) REF: ISMAIL ELFATH AR1: CJ Morgante AR2: Jeff Muschik 4TH: Ted Unkel VAR: Geoff Gamble DC United v Orlando City RFK Stadium (7:00PM ET) REF: DAVE GANTAR AR1: Eric Boria AR2: Jason White 4TH: Caleb Mendez VAR: Henrik Karlsson New England Revolution v Montreal Impact Gillette Stadium (7:30PM ET) REF: ARMANDO VILLARREAL AR1: Mike Rottersman AR2: Craig Lowry 4TH: Apolinar Mariscal VAR: Baboucarr Jallow Minnesota United v Philadelphia Union TCF Bank Stadium (8:00PM ET) REF: SORIN STOICA AR1: Claudiu Badea AR2: Daniel Belleau 4TH: Alejandro Mariscal VAR: Edvin Jurisevic Houston Dynamo v Colorado Rapids BBVA Compass Stadium (8:30PM ET) REF: HILARIO GRAJEDA AR1: Frank Anderson AR2: Peter Balciunas 4TH: Nima Saghafi VAR: Baldomero Toledo Vancouver Whitecaps v Real Salt Lake BC Place (10:00PM ET) REF: ALLEN CHAPMAN AR1: Corey Rockwell AR2: Apolinar Mariscal 4TH: Baboucarr Jallow VAR: Kevin Stott 09/10/2017 Columbus Crew v Sporting Kansas City MAPFRE Stadium (1:00PM ET) REF: CHRIS PENSO AR1: Eduardo Mariscal AR2: Adam Garner 4TH: Daniel Radford VAR: Victor Rivas Atlanta United v FC Dallas Mercedes-Benz Stadium (3:30PM ET) REF: MARK GEIGER AR1: Ian Anderson AR2: Brian Poeschel 4TH: Mark Kadlecik VAR: Robert Sibiga Seattle Sounders v LA Galaxy CenturyLink Field (9:00PM ET) REF: DREW FISCHER AR1: Jeremy Hanson AR2: Kathryn Nesbitt 4TH: Alex Chilowicz VAR: Timothy Ford http://proreferees.com/2017/09/05/mls-assignments-week-27/
That's an ambitious turnaround, with Baboucarr Jallow at VAR in Foxboro 2.5 hours before serving as 4O in Vancouver.
That should be Marrakchi in New England--PRO digital staff must have just made a duplication mistake when transposing. With that said, I'm not sure Rivas is the assigned VAR in Columbus. I think that spot is actually open right now, but I might have bad information.
Can anyone explain the point of PRO singling out Canada/CSA assignments in a way they never do for Americans at the exact same level?
I think it's due to fact that most Canadian referees don't have ussoccer.gameofficials.net. I think they use a different assigning program in Canada and they just copy it.
That's probably true, but PRO still knows who those officials are, and PRO should list the officials' names on PRO's own weekly assignment pages.
Right. It's pure laziness. Most Canadians working PRO assignments do actually have USGO logins, as all PRO assigning is done in USGO. That's why their names transfer correctly to the PRO website when it gets imported on a weekly basis. But non-PRO Canadians don't have logins and they either login as guests or receive their assignments through the CSA (like for Edmonton and Ottawa home games). PRO knows who the VAR is for that match this week, obviously, but when it gets pulled from the USGO system it reads as a guest official no one bothers to correct it.
I also think it's highly disrespectful and unprofessional from PRO. If someone is working a professional match, give them their due respect and publish their damn name. Let them enjoy it. Let the rest of the referee nerds like us enjoy it. These guys have worked through the ranks like any American in USGO has. Put their name in lights. Separately, it seems as though Guido Gonzales was added as 4th in DC and Bardhyl Pashaj was added as 4th official in NYC. I suspect - just maybe - these are Hurricane Irma related, as Unkel and Mendez were in those spots.
Exactly. It's not that hard or time consuming to manually add a few names every week. For all the good PRO has done, it's amazing how unprofessional, unethical, and disreputable they've been at times. Giving fellow referees proper recognition is a small, easily fixable example. The CBA and Alan Kelly debacle should have been handled better and was embarrassing to see. They really didn't do anything when Unkel was doxxed. And not to take anything away from those who have been given chances in the middle, but it's frustrating that the long-serving 4ths haven't been given a fair shot (it seems they're being taken advantage of)--I don't think there's a wide disparity in abilities between all of these referees so it seems almost arbitrary who is and isn't given the opportunity. Though it's clear there's more to it than that, but still. #WebbForPROManager
So another Albanian who has "high level" experience in Europe is given an MLS game. Yeah PRO is definitely pushing these guys ahead of the domestic pool.
I can't believe I'm defending PRO and foreign referees, but who from the northeast should get that game with 24 hour notice that isn't already working? I've never met Pashaj. Never seen him work. But he had a FIFA badge and apparently has done well in USL. If he's not the call, who is? Look at the people knocking on the MLS door--the options from the northeast are near nil. If you're going to bitch about Pashaj, you need a viable alternative. Bori made one of the worst AR mistakes in years and I don't think we will see him for awhile. Maybe Pashaj will fail, too. No idea. But absent a clear alternative, it's hard to get too worked up over this.
Some of this just might be political cover for PRO. One of their mandates at their formation (in fact, the main justification for it) was to try and make MLS officiating as good as it is in Europe. Obviously that was BS, but PRO has made MLS officiating better, and they are always going to be open to bringing in guys from outside the US. If an American works his way through the ranks, then bombs, it is on PRO. But if they too quickly fast-track a guy with European experience (no matter how real that experience is), and he bombs, that's just the cost of doing business. Basically Walton has cover if a guy with a European badge bombs (no matter how dubious that badge was to begin with). There is a pretty major irony to someone complaining about PRO fast-tracking Europeans with this hashtag (unless you meant it sarcastically).
Toronto FC v San Jose VAR is Yusri Rudolf tonight. And we had a VAR RC in the 75th minute against San Jose. Was YC, upgraded to straight RC.
I admit I didn't see it first because I was expecting an elbow or something, but it's pretty clearly SFP. Studs on the leg, and you can see the leg bend. Yuck.
Just saw a PK and second yellow overturned with VR in Minnesota. A clear handball that was turned into a foul against Minnesota, a trifling contact IMO. Will post video when I find it to see what you guys think.
57ish minute in HOU-COL. Foul and yellow given for bad tackle (studs to the leg). Goes to VAR, stays a yellow. IMO, through burgundy-tinted glasses, it was a no-brainer red so I'm not sure what the point of VAR is if they can't get a call that simple right. It also took far too long to come up with the wrong decision.
Briefly saw the gif, and I have no idea why that isn't red. Still haven't seen the actual foul that was called to nullify the penalty in Minnesota.
Here's the MLS' VAR video of the TFC/SJE incident: https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/m...-vs-san-jose-earthquakes/details/video/133454
Here's video to the Minnesota incident: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017...ty-kick-awarded-then-overturned?autoplay=true The foul was supposedly a push by Boxall on Onyewu (the player who handled it) but I don't see it. Let me know what you guys think.
Good result as maybe this means SFP is getting sorted out by VR now. Then again, given the other match, maybe not. The inconsistency is frustrating. This still took way too long. Technologically, there's no reason to wait until the injury is treated fully to get the replays reviewed. This can and should be done faster. Also, I'd suggest the 4th should have had this the whole way. More importantly, this demonstrates a potential loophole I hadn't thought of before. A substitution was allowed between the time the yellow was shown and the time that the VAR signaled the CR. What if the subbed player had been the one who committed the foul? Per the LOTG, you'd be screwed and couldn't force San Jose to play a man down. I don't think this has come up before and I wonder if anyone's thought of it. Not sure how you adjust the protocols but there needs to be something about not allowing subs while a VR if possible and/or carving out an explicit exception that in such a scenario, the team plays down and the new player comes off the field.
Stoica has to have had a different angle to overturn that, right? Right?! Regardless, if a slight push in the back is clear and obvious enough to overturn a PK, does that mean the exact same sort of push would have resulted in a PK? The answer, of course, is no. And that's a huge problem. It supports the argument that VR is mostly taking goals away. I thought Stoica made a great, gutsy and correct call initially. And technology helped him over-think it unless there's some other angle that shows an obvious two-handed shove.
It's a little less late and a little lower than the San Jose one. I think that's the only way you can say it's not clearly and obviously a miss. It's probably an 80/20 red. So while it would be totally justified if given live, I can understand not giving it on replay based on the standard. However, the fact that it was tagged by the VAR shows he thought it was clear and obvious so it shows the inconsistency within the match. And the arbitrary nature match to match is evident. Plus, the process here was ugly--I don't understand why Grajeda would still be taking information after he does the OFR. The players do not like this. That is apparent. I waver back and forth on the effectiveness of VR, but for the first time I believe there's a chance it will be scrapped or greatly reduced after 2018. If you have situations like this and the Minnesota one in Russia, nobody is going to leave happy. It will hurt the game.
I was watching the HOU-COL game on mute while also watching Washington-Montana (American football). Watching that whole VAR incident with no sound really made the inefficiency of the whole process stand out. What was with all the mic discussion after reviewing the footage?