The Trapp handball was actually the third overall review (second on field). The first was for the Trapp foul (or whatever it was) since the restart was at midfield. There was a second review after DC scored shortly after the first on field review. Unkel was on his mic a solid 2 minutes before it was deemed a good goal. The third was Trapp's handball. I'm not sure how he avoided a 2CT for that, or how Unkel missed it originally. There was ANOTHER on field review in the 2nd half for potential handling on United's Birnbaum. That was ruled to not be handling. Unkel's 2nd half was better than his 1st. The VAR reviews in that half took forever, and his foul recognition seemed off.
Caleb Porter statements after the game. Here are Caleb Porter's comments, the first part of them, in regards to the way VAR was handled in tonights #DCvCLB match. Blunt and to the point, scathing indictment of Ted Unkel. Very rarely get this candor from a coach in regards to officiating. #Crew96 pic.twitter.com/OnqjBNS3hF— Pablo Iglesias Maurer (@MLSist) May 5, 2019
I'm hearing that Unkel had 8 minutes for reviews, and added only four minutes? Wonder if that's really what happened? 6+2 is the word on the street. I didn't see the game, but looks like people here did. Was that review really six minutes? What did he add?
8 minutes of reviewing is about right...with 4 minutes added to the first half and 3 to the second, which I think he blew early...The second review was needlessly long for the Acosta offside review, I feel....
Just as a note for clarity: There were two on-field reviews and two extended checks (finger to the ear without going to the monitor).
He might be since his wife is going to WWC as a rules analyst! Wonder how she would analysis that Trifling foul. I mean I know VAR has ability to get involved if they are careless fouls but if that is a foul he should have had about 50 more fouls.
No on field review but there was definitely a lengthy check to see if Acosta was offside (he was when Rooney served up the free kick but not when he scored the goal).
I double checked and you were right - he didn't go to the monitor for the potential Birnbaum handling. I could have sworn he did, but what do I know (and I was at the game!).
Honestly, he probably needs it. He's had a rough couple of weeks. May be best to let him clear his head a little bit. It can happen to anyone in any walk of life and work. A week or two off might be the best thing for him, plus it can give some of the younger officials a chance to work games.
Unless something changes, he won't be having any time off soon. In fact, you'll see him a lot in May. Plus, the "younger officials" are getting plenty of opportunity to work games right now! I also think the audio and video from this weekend is going to vindicate Unkel, to an extent. If PRO is transparent, this isn't going to end up being what a lot of fans probably think it was. From a procedural perspective, everything is going to look pretty good. The big question PRO will have to answer is on intervention threshold, particularly given its conclusion on Minnesota-DCU. But that falls on the VAR--not the referee.
I certainly hope that's the case. It would be nice to clear up a lot of that. I just know after the Seattle game where he clearly wasn't happy with himself (or at least not happy with the situation) regarding the PK/DFK - DOGSO situation and then this situation, he's been in the headlines a lot more than officials like to be in the headlines.
Do you really think that matters? Everyone is really pissed off and the last time Unkel had a big controversy he got Doxxed. The fans and coaches will just see it as PRO defending their guy, they're too angry to see reason anymore.
"Matters," how? If the question is "will something PRO does actually placate aggrieved fans?" then the answer is "of course not." Nothing really matters if that's the standard. If the question is "did Unkel objectively screw this up and is this a situation where he needs to get thrown under the bus?" then yeah, I think what actually happened here matters and the facts are going to make him look pretty good. Not perfect, but pretty good. Still think PRO will say this shouldn't have been overturned, but the focus will be on the threshold for intervention--not whether or not this is a foul.
You're right about the fans, I wonder if there's a tipping point to where if he keeps making mistakes coaches start black listing him. The Legitimacy of PRO is kind of important though, I don't see how the mooing mob can be ignored forever. Especially if they've proven to have no qualms about posting personal info about referees.
https://theathletic.com/964625/2019...out-crew-burned-by-var-wielding-official/?amp Just posting this to see if anyone had a subscription to see behind the paywall.
Nevermind. I think PRO is going to go in a different direction on this. I'll shut up for a bit and watch how things play out the rest of this week.
I will simply note that PRO has regularly publicly (via Twitter/their site) named the MLS referees on for the upcoming week on Tuesday midday (around noon PT), about two hours after announcing the referees for USL Championship. No MLS announcement today.
It's interesting since there are 4 games tonight, but you can at least get most of the info for tonight's games off MLS's website. According to the MLS site, Unkel is the 4O for Chicago v New England.