07/12/19 D.C. United vs New England Revolution Audi Field (7PM ET) REF: Drew Fischer AR1: Philippe Briere AR2: Brian Poeschel 4TH: Lorant Varga VAR: Sorin Stoica AVAR: Thomas Supple Houston Dynamo vs Los Angeles FC BBVA Stadium (9PM ET) REF: Armando Villarreal AR1: Jeffrey Greeson AR2: Jeff Hosking 4TH: Guido Gonzales Jr VAR: Kevin Terry Jr AVAR: Jonathan Johnson LA Galaxy vs San Jose Earthquakes Dignity Health Sports Park (11PM ET) REF: Nima Saghafi AR1: Logan Brown AR2: Mike Rottersman 4TH: Rosendo Mendoza VAR: Chico Grajeda AVAR: Cameron Blanchard 07/13/19 Montreal Impact vs Toronto FC Saputo Stadium (7:30PM ET) REF: Ted Unkel AR1: Brian Dunn AR2: Jason White 4TH: Marcos DeOliveira VAR: Geoff Gamble AVAR: Peter Balciunas Orlando City vs Columbus Crew Exploria Stadium (7:30PM ET) REF: Dave Gantar AR1: Richard Gamache AR2: Kyle Longville 4TH: Elvis Osmanovic VAR: Caleb Mendez AVAR: Kevin Klinger Chicago Fire vs FC Cincinnati SeatGeek Stadium (8PM ET) REF: Fotis Bazakos AR1: CJ Morgante AR2: TJ Zablocki 4TH: Farhad Dadkho VAR: Younes Marrakchi AVAR: Eric Weisbrod Minnesota United vs FC Dallas Allianz Field (8PM ET) REF: Baldomero Toledo AR1: Jeremy Kieso AR2: Gjovalin Bori 4TH: Christopher Penso VAR: Alejandro Mariscal AVAR: Robert Schaap Real Salt Lake vs Philadelphia Union Rio Tinto Stadium (10PM ET) REF: Silviu Petrescu AR1: Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho AR2: Claudiu Badea 4TH: Michael Radchuk VAR: Allen Chapman AVAR: Jeff Muschik Vancouver Whitecaps vs Sporting Kansas City BC Place (10PM ET) REF: Ramy Touchan AR1: Chris Wattam AR2: Andrew Bigelow 4TH: Mark Allatin VAR: Alex Chilowicz AVAR: Mauricio Navarro Portland Timbers vs Colorado Rapids Providence Park (11PM ET) REF: Kevin Stott AR1: Jose Da Silva AR2: Chris Elliott 4TH: Matt Franz VAR: Ricardo Salazar AVAR: Jennifer Garner 07/14/19 Seattle Sounders vs Atlanta United CenturyLink Field (3:55PM ET) REF: Robert Sibiga AR1: Nick Uranga AR2: Eduardo Mariscal 4TH: Joe Dickerson VAR: Ricardo Salazar AVAR: Joshua Patlak New York Red Bulls vs New York City FC Red Bull Arena (6:30PM ET) REF: Alan Kelly AR1: Corey Rockwell AR2: Matthew Nelson 4TH: Jon Freemon VAR: Drew Fischer AVAR: Thomas Supple First MLS assignment for Jennifer "Alias" Garner.
I've been wondering what she was up lately since In haven't seen her in much. Loved her in Alias EDIT: Should have scrolled to the bottom to see @ManiacalClown beat me to the joke
Please take note that there has been a weather-related swap. DC vs NE: Ted UNKEL MTL vs TOR: Drew FISCHER
Houston Dynamo coach Wilmer Cabrera after 3-1 loss to #LAFC: “As soon as I noticed that the referee was Fotis Bazakos, I knew. I told the players, ‘Be careful. We have a problem. We have a big problem.’ And we had a lot of problems." Did I hear $5K #MLS deposit? #ForeverOrange— Glenn Crooks (@GlennCrooks) July 13, 2019 Note: Bazakos was not on the referee crew
I was quite baffled by Ted Unkel’s threshold for reckless fouls in DC United vs NE Revs. He gave out tons of YCs even though: 1. The game was far from rough; it wasn’t necessary from a game management POV 2. Many of the YCs wouldn’t have been given as fouls in other MLS games I’ve seen recently Also the 2nd YC to the Revs player was probably the hardest foul of the game to that point (I can only think of one prior to that where I thought ‘deserved yellow’. The previous time I saw Unkel on TV (last week I think) I thought he did much better.
I dunno, man. As soon as I see Unkel I think "inconsistency." The foul in which Arriola received his yellow was incidental contact and the NE player mistouched the ball and fell after the contact, when there was already separation between the two players. Arriola probably did deserve a yellow on the night for PI, but it shouldn't have come until somewhere in the second half. Also, he called a foul on Arriola for undercutting a charging Rev's player in the second half when Arriola was stationary and watching the ball, and the Rev's player charged into him and went over his back. Then there was this gem: https://t.co/7iHSNiabWq
That’s a great clip. Is that a penalty? yes? Is it a clear and obvious error? I think not. If we could calibrate VAR intervention to allow for plays like these, I think VAR would be in a more healthy place. We won’t make everyone happy (and we’ll be LESS technically accurate), but we can try and recapture some of the flow, fluidity and life that VAR has sucked out soccer.
Every foul call is subjective, when it gets right down to it, and I don't think there's a single corner kick or other set piece near a penalty box in which a foul couldn't be called. But, as I started with, Unkel's inconsistency ruins the flow of a game as much as VAR, if not more. Unkel had a clear line of sight to the infraction. It's evident the defender has a hand full of jersey as he's backing away from Brillant and falling backward. Unkel's positioning is great for the play....but he doesn't call it. Earlier in the game, there's a 50/50 challenge in the box on a set play, and literally as soon as the ball is kicked, he blows the whistle and indicates a foul in NE's favor. The players aren't sure what's being called, or even where to place the ball for the free kick, until he goes and gestures. That's how incidental the contact was. So, when you call nothing (or bite on a simulation), but then ignore real and obvious infractions, is that a well-officiated game? I don't think so. Note, regarding the foul-that-wasn't, nobody was calling for VAR at that point in the match, as has been done in past matches, where a ref otherwise had a decent game. They were, however, quite vocal at the questionable officiating performance throughout the game, and that's probably a bit worse....
@stangspritzring to be clear, I didn’t watch the game. I was just making an observation in general about that play in a vacuum.
In a normal league it’s a 3-game auto ban and we don’t have to go through this charade. I wonder if that sort of deterrent would stop a star player from doing something so blatant and stupid in stoppage time when his team has a lead. I mean, maybe not. But we can dream.
What just happened in the NY derby, and what’s the way to handle it? AR clearly signals a corner kick. Red Bulls take throw-in instead, and they score. NYCFC protests, surely arguing that they were setting up for corner kick and not paying attention to a ball that was erroneously put back in play?
I “think” what happened is Allan Kelley overruled AR decision that it was a corner? In any case it was not a good look. Not VAR-able.
It’s interesting. The decision as to whether it was a corner or throw is not reviewable. But, if it was called a corner (not just a mistaken signal), and it was restarted improperly would be reviewable as a lead up. Guessing they decided it wasn’t a corner but a bad flag.
Callens - the NYCFC player who cleared the ball initially - looked like he disagreed that it was a corner, shaking both his head and his finger at the AR.
it’s a disaster, right? But I think this falls on Kelly. Rockwell signals CK. At this point, if Kelly has actually signaled throw-in (we have not actual confirmation this really happened) then he really has to whistle to get everyone’s attention to let the world know he’s overruling him. In no scenario can Rockwell insist it’s a corner kick. The problem here is that whether or not Kelly actually signaled throw-in (I have my doubts, because a lot of MLS CRs don’t bother signaling throw-ins particularly deep in the AR’s quadrant, but he might have done so), he de facto sanctioned the restart simply by allowing it and not correcting it. He can’t suddenly say, after the dribble, pass, cross and header, that THEN he realized it was really a corner kick. There’s no safety hatch for this screw-up. If he did that, NYRB would rightly accuse him of just making things up to save himself. This should have never happened. But once it did, it was unfixable. It will be interesting to learn if Kelly actually overruled Rockwell and didn’t make it clear (which is pretty bad) or he didn’t realize Rockwell signaled corner and/or that NYRB restarted with a throw-in (which would be really bad). Only a very wide camera shot will be able to give us the correct insight.