Interesting situation in Seattle involving VR. Leerdam (SEA) undercuts Lovitz (MTL) on a long ball. Foul is called but Lovitz confronts Leerdam. Leerdam then raises his hand to Lovitz's face. After VAR consultation, Leerdam is sent off for VC. Lovitz is then shown a yellow for his part. The announcers and MLS' highlight package have no idea what happened and think the red card was for the original foul, prompting one announcer to call it the most embarrassing thing they've ever seen in professional soccer. The whole incident lends credence to the notion that there needs to be transparency in these processes--even if that need derives from announcers ignorance. Also, absolutely no way Lovitz ever sees yellow for his involvement in this situation unless the red card comes via VR; the yellow to Lovitz helps sell the VC red to Leerdam because it acknowledges Leerdam initiates the confrontation. With VAR, yellow to Lovitz and red to Leerdam is going to be the "right" call. Without VAR, we're either looking at nothing (which was the initial call) or only a red to Leerdam if Elfath sees the hands to the face on his own. The initial challenge occurred at 37:22 and the slap or strike would have been at 37:25, with the red shown at 39:20, so that probably leaves something to be desired, too. It's worth noting that the announcers didn't see a replay that involved the hand to the face until 43:50, which is just not good enough (and has nothing to do with the officiating, it's important to point out).
I had to pause my tape delayed viewing to go on twitter and rip on the terrible Seattle broadcast. It's pretty consistently an embarrassment, but tonight was surreal. How anyone who played as long as Kasey Keller wouldn't IMMEDIATELY pick up on the face-off after the foul as the likely source of the review/red card is beyond me. Yes, the review process and the actual replays being used to make the call need to be more transparent, but nothing about this incident should have been that difficult for the broadcast and production crew to comprehend.
In an ideal world, the TV broadcast would get to see the replays and hear the conversation. The referee shouldn't even need to look at anything most of the time. Why should it be any different than if one of the assistants or fourth official had informed the referee? At the very least, if we don't get to hear the actual communication, the TV broadcasts should be able to have access to the replays being used. When the system debuted, we were promised we'd get a "definitive angle" every time. Whatever happened to that?
One thing that I did notice out of all of this was that the referee indicated what the red was for by miming a slapping motion. That's how I knew to zip back and look for the slap (which you can just see in the original timeframe immediately before the angle changes to a zoomed in angle) And yes, this harkens me back to the TFC/RSL one. My disappointment there is that this should have likely been RCs to both players (we've all seen them for less over the years, and that's the kind of behind-the-play VC that VAR is "supposed" to carch. Not only that, but the double kick-out was clear enough that TSN re-played it twice, something the main MLS feed did not), or, if VAR and Ref did see it, I would expect (at the very least) a harsh word to both players.
This is the answer, implicating VAR, that I wanted you to give. Pre-VAR, I think Chapman and his crew did the right thing. For that game, in that moment, no cards were really needed. He officiated the match smartly and did what most people would want. However, with VAR, the lack of cards for that incident now undermine Elfath a day later. Because both incidents, on video, show clear VC that didn’t do much or any damage. Elfath shows red because you just can’t ignore hands to the face like that. Perfect. VR and the VAR did their jobs. But a day earlier, Chapman’s VAR doesn’t even send down an incident with two kick outs. That’s not consistent and it makes it more difficult for Elfath to say his hands were tied. VR for incidents like this (VC with no real physical harm or damage) is tough. Unless referees and VARs are rigidly consistent, it’s only going to lead to more controversy.
Worse yet the MLS highlights package shows the foul. It shows the VAR signal and red. It shows Keller calling it the "most embarrassing moment in professional soccer" but it doesn't show a replay of the slap. Well done MLS.
https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/m...s-vancouver-whitecaps-fc/details/video/147546 It seems that one of the unintended consequences of VAR is that players will be mocking VAR when they do score goals. So Vancouver had a goal disallowed earlier in the match due to handling via VAR. It looks like Kamara is saying "watch the ********ing replay" and basically saying to the extent "try and take this goal away." Maybe, I'm being overly harsh, but I don't see how this is anything but a caution. It's totally disrespecting the game and mocking the VAR system.
The advent of the VAR system has shown quite clearly that we are too afraid to use the tools at our disposable to stop dissent. The IFAB gave a clear mandate that making the VAR signal was to be a yellow card--period. Since this was so new to the game, this would be an easy place to draw a line. Easier than, say, the various edicts or points of emphasis about giving yellows for players showing imaginary cards. Making the VAR signal could have become just like a shirt removal for a goal. All it would have taken is the first half dozen referees giving yellows for it and it would have stopped in its infancy. Instead, referees have been lax, likely because they know the VAR system is a work in progress. Now the cat is out of the bag and I don't think we will ever regularly see yellows for players making the VAR signal. Unless the World Cup changes things, this was a lot opportunity that will be regretted.
Keller's announcing and MLS's management of VAR deserve each other. Both are comically poor, and both make MLS seem like an amateur league run from a bar down the street from the local park. I actually like that the highlight package uses Keller's commentary and not the replay of the VC, but does jump to the red card. That represents the current state of affairs right now perfectly. The only thing that could make it better is if the RC gets overturned on appeal.
I'm not a fan of the new guys for Instant Replay, but the guy quoting Esse's handling video verbatium made me laugh out loud. It starts at 7:30 in the video.
You got lucky this week. Warshaw is hugely disappointing. He's the color commentator on the Gen Adidas match in the thread in the main forum. Listen to him from the red card onward. Borg was over-the-top and wanted everything to be a red card, but at least he had clearly taken the time to learn the Laws. Warshaw seems to have very little interest in being fact-based. I fear his participation is going to be more harmful than hurtful.
Yeah, it's ok to have a player's perspective, but it does need to have more basis in the Laws, and neither of them is great in that regard.
Dude these guys are a major upgrade over Simon borg. I was impressed with their analysis especially since they had a more player background. I think they made an attempt to actually look at the laws. Agree I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here. I didn't listen to the gen adidas color commentary. Something I also didn't consider is that these guys probably have writers and a Teleprompter so... there color commentary could be different than their produced web show.
Andrew Wiebe does a great job. He has clearly attempted to learn the laws and you can tell during this segment. Warshaw has too much of the players perspective (aww sure he went studs up into the players leg but he didn't mean too), but I guess they balance each other out.
You make a good point about the balance im not sure if that is purposeful or if it's just the type of personalities they are. But I would take them over Keller and Lalas
Lalas apparently just took and passed a referee course. So there's some hope for him. He might fall more into the Borg category now where he's over-the-top, but he has a basis of knowledge for his rants. Warshaw reminds me exactly of Keller. Shoot from the hip immediately, ask questions later--if at all. Wiebe seems to keep him in check to provide that balance alluded to above, but strictly from a refereeing or educational standpoint, it would be better if Wiebe did this by himself.
A little late on this, but I feel Instant Replay is terrible no matter who is narrating the video. What soccer league anywhere the world comes out every week and says, "take a look at all the things our officials got wrong this week"?