It's a good thing we know that "calls even out" is a myth, because otherwise that totally bogus Seattle handball in the box might cause us to challenge our beliefs that the Revs always get the crap end of the stick.
That could be a lasting injury. When Evans came off he was stretching his neck around, so it seems it could have been whiplash as well as a concussion.
Farrell at RB and Rowe as a #8 both did really well. But I don't understand how a team with one of the best strikers in the league, one of the best #10s in the league, and two very solid wing players struggles so much to score a goal. We had to have one giftwrapped by the ref, and the other one scored by the player Seattle didn't bother to scout.
IMO,it's mental. Their trying too hard. When (if) the goals start coming and the relax I think the flood gate will open
Instead of statement wins, we get demoralizing wins like this one. Bozakis handed us one goal, and the other one Frei made something of a mess of. Glad to see Femi get it, though, and glad to see him collect his reward for putting it on net. The rest of the team has a maddening hesitation to shoot.
I heard that Femi is the only 2016 SuperDraft pick with both a goal and an assist this season. Isn't Watson with the Jamaica NT?
Any idea who it was that came in the helicopter just before game time? Our guess was Drew Carey but maybe it was Kraft.
He must have been on a super tight scehdule because he landed right before the game started and the helicopter was already running again as soon as the game ended. Cool that he showed up even if busy.
With full admission that MLSsoccer.com is not known for it's accuracy, Femi is NOT listed as an international on his bio page: http://www.mlssoccer.com/players/femi-hollinger-janzen By comparison, JoGo is listed as both an International and a Designated Player: http://www.mlssoccer.com/players/jose-goncalves
On the hand ball call, it might have been a bit weak in that the guy basically stopped a ball from being cleared from his area, but watch the replay, he 100% moved his arm from his side to in front of his body to try to block the ball. It may well have been self defense, a sort of natural, involuntary human reaction to something coming at you, and as such I could see a ref letting it go and it wouldn't have upset me much, but it was not a case of ball to hand, meaning a case where the guy couldn't get his hand out of the way of the ball, so I honestly think it was technically correct. I would say I've seen many a call that were much worse than that one. For the goal we allowed, I'm one who doesn't think Shuttleworth is a problem spot that needs immediate attention, but that was a very weak attempted clearance by him. It seemed an odd choice to punch that ball, rather than catch it, so I was wondering if the ball might have had some strange movement to it, leading him to not want to try to catch it. That said, it was also terrible defense by Tierney. He faded off his mark as the ball was crossed in, than totally dived in such that Kovar easily just stepped by him, leaving the forward completely free to take a shot without any pressure. The defense on the cross was also a little soft as well, we layed off him a bit, allowing him a lot of space to make the cross. For Kei Kamara, he does seem to be struggling, but I also think he might be trying too hard to prove he's a team player. In his 3 games here, there has been a time or 2 that he took a shot when perhaps he should have passed, but you expect that from a goal scorer. On the other hand, I feel like there have been a number of times when he might have shot, but instead he tried to thread a pass to someone else. I don't know him enough to know if that's normal for him, but it did make me wonder if he might be feeling the effects of the rep he's gotten, especially after the incident that happened directly before his most recent trade. and he might be trying to prove he's not a selfish "me me me" type player. I'm not saying I'm convinced of this, but it's something I'm curious about and will keep an eye on. He also has had a number of opportunities that he hasn't put away, but I don't think he's missed a "sitter" so to speak. Either way, he is struggling a bit, but I still think his mere presence has helped the offense, and that once he gets a goal, he will then start scoring more regularly. Lastly, I was pleasantly surprised to see Farrell out wide again, I much prefer him out there. Though I wonder if it's a permanent change, or just a one time thing for some reason, perhaps until Watson gets back or something.
Figured I might as well show it, some stills from the penalty call. Just after the ball is struck, you see his arms are by his sides: Just before the ball hits him, you see his arms out in front of him: As I said, perhaps a bit harsh, knowing it's just a reflex action, but I can't really fault a ref for calling that a hand ball. If they had replay review, the call would never have gotten overturned.
I have to say that I was really pleased with how Rowe played defensively (and I'm not a fan of his play generally).
It's that "pass first" mindset Heaps has drilled into them. It's not wrong to have good passing but if the movement and game intelligence isn't there it's all for naught. Specifically, the problem is, 95% of the time either the pass is off or the decision to pass (or who to pass to) is wrong. The revs lack basic football intelligence in the final third, as well as leadership from veterans who can make those right decisions in critical momenta and finish off good passing sequences into goals. Until that changes, we are doing a whole lot of pretty passing with little to no end product.
Looks like we had the 2nd largest MLS crowd of the weekend. From to a short Soccer America article on attendance at all games in the over the holiday weekend: The Mexico-Paraguay friendly at Atlanta's Georgia Dome drew 63,049 fans, the largest soccer crowd on Memorial Day weekend. The top 10 U.S. crowds included six MLS games, two Copa America warmups and one game each in the NWSL and USL. Largest U.S. Memorial Day Weekend Crowds: ATT. MATCH (VENUE) 63,049Mexico-Paraguay (Int'l Friendly, in Atlanta) 25,039New York City FC-Orlando City (MLS) 21,456New England Revolution-Seattle Sounders (MLS) 20,324NY Red Bulls-Toronto FC (MLS) 20,107 Colombia-Haiti (Int'l Friendly, in Miami) 19,118Sporting KC-D.C. United (MLS) 18,114 Portland Thorns-Seattle Reign (NWSL) 18,015Colorado Rapids-Philadelphia Union (MLS) 18,000 San Jose Earthquakes-FC Dallas (MLS) 16,097 FC Cincinnati-Harrisburg City Islanders (USL) I wonder if they get much of a bump from the enormous Needham Tournament, which has grown well beyond the borders Needham in recent years, being played all over eastern Mass., and pulls clubs in from all over now.
The weird thing about this call was that it was basically a guy getting in the way of his teammate making a clearance. If he had been able to get out of the way it would have been far better for Seattle. Instead, handball or no, he was just in the way. It wasn't like he stopped a shot that way, which would have been a legit PK. A terrible call, but we'll take it. Not like these things even out or anything, but we just don't remember when we are the ones benefiting....
Shouldn't the question be did the guy tick all the boxes that need to be ticked for something to be a handball offense, not was the guy in the wrong place at the wrong time, and should we just let them off because it was dumb luck? If he moved his hand in order to stop or block the ball, as shown in the images I posted, the fact that it would have been far better if he wasn't there or had been able to get out of the way doesn't make it a terrible call. There are many calls made after a player makes a poor decision that hurts his, and many plays where it would have been better for his team if a guy wasn't in that spot. It's not like he was pushed into that position, he chose to be there, and the ref shouldn't also have to decide whether or not to make a call based on whether or not it would have been better for the offending team if that player had chosen to be somewhere else before committing the foul. Saying it shouldn't have been a PK because it would have been better if he wasn't there sounds like saying it should be counted as a goal if an offensive player is in the way of a shot that would have gone in if he wasn't there. If a player uses a hand to stop a soft shot that would have been easily caught by his keeper, should that also not be called a foul either because it would have been far better if that player wasn't there in the first place?
So, we get a gift call and that proves "things even out"? That just makes a mockery of the laws of probability (or maybe you think the ref was aware that it was the Revs turn for a gift?). FWIW, no one (let alone me) said that the Revs always get shafted. But, over the first 5,6 games of this season, we did very frequently. Well, one issue that I find pretty baffling, is that Heaps [again] chose to take off a player whose been red hot lately. If he wants to make an attacking sub, I've got plenty of suggestions, but taking Agudelo off isn't one of them. Frei did fine with that, he went full stretch and couldn't reach it - give Femi some credit, it was well-struck and well-placed. He was adopted by an American couple while he was still pretty young, so I would be shocked if he wasn't a US citizen. These days, internationally adopted children automatically become citizens. When he was adopted, his parents may have had to apply for naturalization (almost everyone did, because if you didn't and your kid committed a felony, he could be deported!). Totally agree - I was looking to see if the ball knuckled on him; it sure looked like a catchable ball. And, even if not, he'd be better off tipping it over the bar or punching it out to the side - anywhere but straight out front to the 18! Keepers don't punch one-handed any more (because it's easier to mis-hit, I presume), but they also don't get nearly as much distance. I hate to see keepers punch out balls they get both hands on. Yes, again. Ever since he arrived, the goals are coming more easily (no matter if that sometimes means a gift pk). I would have to think it's because of his disastrous performance against Dallas. Just way to many mistakes at this point of the season and this point in his career. I really liked how it gave him the freedom to ramble forward more often. When my kids played in that they were generally pretty fried from playing 2-3 games in the heat and going to a night game was about the last thing they needed with multiple games the next day. I think the holiday weekend actually held down attendance, but I think it's a great sign that we can get 20K+ on a weekend when so many people are leaving town. ------------------------------------ Other than Shuttleworth's misplay, I thought the defense was outstanding - very few quality chances for Seattle. When Evans departed, I thought what a talent-bare lineup Seattle was left with. I know players are missing for international duty, but that roster seems a far cry from when Seattle looked like a contender. I didn't think Femi's goal was that shocking - sometimes when you stumble like that, it gives you a chance to perfect your balance and approach - and it looked like that's what happened. You see it in basketball all the time. Love the energy he's bringing.
My suggestion, let's add a thread each season with the title "2016 Questionable Calls Ledger" and keep track. List the call and the details. Maybe track a +/-? Might be interesting to see how many happen in one game, at what points in the game do they happen, etc.
Hot recent performances aside, did Agudelo play well enough to justify staying on against Seattle? To me, it was the right decision to take him off there.
I do not understand what point you're trying to make. My point was that we have gotten several gift calls as of late, this being the most recent. That, in combination with the "very frequent" calls against the Revs at the start of the season, is the very definition of "things even out" and the laws of probability: something that you said was a myth, but as Tom suggested, might just be a memory lapse on your part....
I thought he did and was always dangerous. To me, the guy who isn't performing is Diego. The laws of probability say that past results have no bearing on future probability - if a coin comes up heads 10x in a row, its still 50/50 that it comes up tails the next time. So, "the calls even out"? Maybe, maybe not (unless one thinks bad breaks aren't all about chance).
I believe you're making my point for me. It doesn't matter if the Revs had a streak of calls against them (which are of course about chance - unless you have a radically different definition of "luck," which is a synonym for "break" the way you're using it). It's still 50/50. And the more flips of the coin, the closer the overall split is going to get to 50/50 – i.e. the calls will even out. It's basic probability.