2019 MLS Playoffs Conference Quarterfinals Referee Discussion

Those are unsurprising assignments. Safe.
PRO will probably need to use Canadian Rs in the playoffs, and Gantar had his best season ever this year. I'm normally not a Gantar fan, but he stayed out of trouble this season and managed games well. Not sure if that's enough to land him a playoff whistle though. I thought Ford also did very well, but maybe the All Star 4th (I think that was him) was enough of a reward. Vasquez might have earned a whistle too? Also, not sure if Bazakos played his way out of a playoff whistle at the end there. Other than those questions, I bet the playoffs will be the usual suspects. Barring controversy (which VAR is supposed to eliminate, ha ha ha) they might be able to staff the whole playoffs with basically the crews they are using this weekend, just rotate the 4ths and odd VAR in.

 

I don't know what MLS games have you been watching, but no way on earth will Bazakos get a playoff assignment.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was let go after this season like Stoica. He's a thoroughly average to below average professional referee and his assignments reflect that.

 

It's also telling that since PRO took over, only twice has a US FIFA referee done the MLS Cup Final.

 

Saghafi is being very active, getting in between players to prevent flare ups. I think it's working, but it's striking to see given our normal instruction to keep some level of distance.

 

Wait, no cards there? Gonzalez should be off, and I would also send Nouhou.

 

Is this seriously what PRO wants? 11 v 11 with so many missed cards?

 

I'll tell you one thing after watching the first half of ATL:NER -- the players really hate this crazy leave-the-flag-down-and-let-VAR-sort-it-out business.

Whose game is it again?

 

This is what happens when you don't show enough cards early in a match.

This was a testy match throughout, and Saghafi let it get out of control.

Treating both Nouhou and Gonzalez equally was the right approach, but they should have both gotten yellows or both gotten straight reds.

Sending off Gonzalez would have been a huge decision, but Gonzalez should have known better given that he had already been carded for dissent after racing across the field earlier in the match.

And the consequence of Saghafi keeping his cards in his pocket become apparent a few minutes later when Gonzalez got into a third verbal altercation with a Seattle player, this time with Roman Torres.

Horrible match management that showed that Saghafi was in over his head.

 

I'm not sure I think this showed Saghafi was in over his head. I think this is exactly what PRO wants, and Saghafi delivered. It did not feel to me like Saghafi didn't know what to do, but was doing exactly what was expected. I think there's a chance he's rewarded.

 

I was there in person and thought Saghafi did a tremendous job in a number of challenging situations. You could quibble with the number of times that he got in players’ faces, but that is a tiny part of a game where he controlled a match with several lengthy periods of high challenge (including the first few minutes).

I don’t know yet what TV showed for the Nouhou/Gonzalez incident - watching in person, I instantly thought we had a straight red coming for Nouhou (who created all kinds of trouble for zero reason - none of this happens if he just accepts the foul he caused) and either a second yellow or a straight red coming for Gonzalez - but then the consequences are obvious. FCD loses their keeper and is out of subs, with minutes to go until KFTM, and while Gonzalez has to be sent off if Nouhou is sent off, he’s not the initial or more serious offender. Much harsher punishment - almost certainly creating a loss - for the team that was less deserving of punishment at that moment. In context, I 100% would imagine PRO would be happy with the result of what he did.

And yes, the later altercation with Torres was absurd and high risk by Gonzalez, but managing that is what makes these folks pros.

This is absolutely a game where the Ref could have been the story, and Saghafi did an excellent job keeping that from happening.

(Also, MLS playoffs, man. What a show.)

 

I can't append my own post anymore, so (if anyone besides me cares) I'll edit my thought, having watched this on screen. (It's at 114:30, plus I've put it at https://streamable.com/wemxe.)

I have this wrong: Nouhou commits the foul, is walking away, gets pushed by FCD's Hedges, pushes back, and Gonzalez sprints out of goal and puts his hands on Nouhou's neck. Nouhou then pushes him down (by the face) to the ground. I blamed Nouhou for creating the trouble, but that's wrong - it's Gonzalez, and so my "less deserving of punishment" is wrong.

Saghafi doesn't see the contact from Gonzalez - he turns away just at that moment. What's interesting here is that (assuming VAR is working as expected) there is basically no way that this shouldn't be reviewed on the field - it's a clear and obvious RC for at least one player. Saghafi could decide not to give the cards for the reasons above - he doesn't want to disadvantage FCD so significantly - but that doesn't feel like VAR's call, and I can't otherwise figure out why this doesn't get sent down for review.

 

I am not a regular MLS viewer, but I decided to watch the Seattle Sounders - FC Dallas game in so order to watch new-FIFA referee Nima Saghafi. I didn't take notes but I found his performance very disappointing with three crucial mistakes not corrected by VAR (penalties to Dallas for tripping and handling at end of 2H and ET respectively, violent conduct(s) missed - not even a card was sorted out!), and a non-existent disciplinary control let him totally lose the control in the last stages. Lacking soft skills , tolerating the most wild dissents / player-player conflicts, horrible whistle technique - I am missing the key skills to took him to the FIFA list.

Since Geiger it seems that USSF / PRO pushes simply talentless referees internationally (Marrufo, Elfath, Saghafi), I say that with all the respect of course. I think you can observe this trend across the world, eg. Guida who will début in CL on Tuesday.

 

OH with all respect OF COURSE.

 

Take it from one who has been in Saghafi's position (both with MLS and with FIFA). That exchange is not a red card in an MLS playoff match. You can argue about whether it should be or not, but there is no way that MLS, and by extension PRO, wants red card(s) there. When everyone knows the bar for what is a card gets raised in the playoffs, it limits some of the tools that the referee would otherwise have available to manage things. VAR is operating under the same constraints. I would be shocked if PRO says that this is a missed review.

 

After what we saw in the World Cup, I just have to realize that the pro game operates under a different set of “actual” rules. They want a spectacle and matches ending 11 v 11. Unless we see someone laid out with brass knuckles or a steel chair (I’m only somewhat joking), we just aren’t going to see a straight red card for anything other than DOGSO-DGH.

It certainly takes several arrows out of the quiver for referees to keep control of games, but that’s why they are at that level.

 

Why does it take Ted Unkel so long to whistle such obvious fouls? Just serves to raise the temperature unnecessarily.

 

Of course near the end of the match he blows a foul when Minnesota had a clear advantage.

 

I was dumbfounded. The only possible things I could reason for that was either he was fatigued and just had a brain lock or he was going to caution Zlatan and thought differently. Either way, that was a big miss. I think this is a season Unkel would prefer to forget.

 

I was going to venture we’d see Sibiga in the next round and Elfath in the conference finals. But that would leave someone out - I would have guessed Toledo but just a hunch.

 

In real time, I could tell he was holding the whistle, and I swear it looked like the MNUFC player with the ball stopped and Unkel perceived that the MNUFC player wanted the foul called. However, that player then resumed and made the pass just as Unkel blew the whistle. I think it was one of those really unfortunate situations where he was trying to read what the team wanted and just got it wrong.