Post-match: San Jose Earthquakes - Real Salt Lake (Wednesday, 9/15) postgame thread [R]

Photo taken at game last night.

 

They’re silent about everything.

 

Raise your hand if you were at that game.

Still gives me a smile thinking about that game! Epic.

 

So, you would have been ok with a Quakes player being ejected if the tables had been turned?

 

I was there with my Fire-fan friend from Chicago, and I texted him last night the same photo I just posted here. His reply: "And I was there."

 

Abubakar played the whole game for Colorado last night...

 

When you score three sensational goals in a single game, your first career hat-trick, you expect your teammates to be able to do the rest, but they let him down. That should’ve been a great home win, the crowd was chanting “Chofis!, Chofis!...but our passing was terrible, Alanis wasn’t very good, JY was not involved, Fierro was terrible...

...you can’t give the ball away cheaply over and over and expect the other side won’t eventually turn those opportunities into chances. Our possession game was weak.

No Flo, no Nathan and they cut through our D like it was warm butter.

 

860k for a player who's likely to end the season with 10+ goals doesn't seem over paid to me at all. It's pretty clear he's improving from game to game so it's fair to reassess him and not hold onto old opinions.

I would guess the only players who'll give you better goals per dollar are homegrowns and draft picks and they typically get sold after a season or two anyway.

 

I hope this game doesn't burn all the morale of the team and goes down the spiral. From a fan's perspective, it is so difficult to swallow. I don't know how the players and coach handle it.

 

admittedly I was skeptical at first, thought he was all flash and no finish, but after a couple of those curlers found the back of the net, my opinion began to change. he's done really well considering this is his first year and quietly proved all his detractors wrong.

 

hopefully they're pissed off about it and take it out on Austin Saturday.

no time to mope.

 

The RSL player caught Beason on the chin. That’s a red. That’s what the Laws of the Game say, and MLS is supposed to be cracking down on that.

It wasn’t a nasty foul, and Beason did make a meal of it. Maybe the guys fingers actual got up near Beason’s eye? Maybe?

But it wasn’t a super bad foul, and thus a yellow might be OK.

Still, we’ve been on the receiving end of a lot of bad calls and bad no calls this season. (We’ve also gotten away with a few fouls that should have been yellow cards.) But our “luck” on refereeing calls is nowhere near even. We are in a deep hole on the receiving-the-short-end-of-the-stick-o-meter this season.

BUT, the ref could have let the red card stand, and there was no clear and obvious reason to overturn the on-field call, and that’s the standard for VAR. Also, had one of our guys done that, I think that we would have gotten the red card.

This is far from a cut and dried: yeah, the ref should have overturned that one.

Go Quakesfans!!

- Mark

 

Oh, yeah, how could I forget that game! Sadly, I wonder if Wondo's already scored his last goal as a Quake.

 

Chofis is one of the most effectively tricky players the Quakes have had. I mean just little tricky things that you barely notice, like looking off the GK one way and shooting the other, or striking the ball "off beat" to give him a fraction of a second lead time on the keeper, little unexpected touches that leave the defender crossed up, or no look passes. My theory is that he did that out of necessity, because he's small, not necessarily all that strong, and not all that fast. That was the only way for him to excel.

 

No, that's NOT what the laws of the game say. You're a great guy, Mark, but you're not a referee. FYI and future reference - here is the entirety of the relevant sections of Law 12:

Sending-off offences
A player, substitute or substituted player who commits any of the following offences is sent off:

• denying the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by a handball offence (except a goalkeeper within their penalty area)
  
  
• denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent whose overall movement is towards the offender’s goal by an offence punishable by a free kick (unless as outlined below)
  
  
• serious foul play
  
  
• biting or spitting at someone

• violent conduct
  
  
• using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or action(s)
  
  
• receiving a second caution in the same match
  
  
• entering the video operation room (VOR)

The section of law 12 that covers the situation vis-a-vis Beason and Kreilach would be SFP (since it was an act against an opponent while challenging for the ball) and reads like this:
Serious foul play
A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality must be sanctioned as serious foul play.
Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play.

In addition - the following are considerations that must be taken into consideration when determining if a foul is ordinary, or requires a caution or sendoff:

• Careless is when a player shows a lack of attention or consideration when making a challenge or acts without precaution. No disciplinary sanction is needed
  
  
• Reckless is when a player acts with disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, an opponent and must be cautioned
  
  
• Using excessive force is when a player exceeds the necessary use of force and/or endangers the safety of an opponent and must be sent off

Not sure what you think you know, but you don't...

 

Yes, I’d have been just fine with that.

I have frequently criticized players on our team who committed way too many fouls. I bitched up a storm about Nick Garcia and said that he could reasonably be sent off in most games. He earned a yellow card in the opening five minutes of nearly every game he played for us. Didn’t get them, but committed a yellow worthy foul early every game.

If our guys commit bad fouls, I expect them to be called for them. I have no problem at all with that. My problem is when our team gets held to one standard on fouls and the other team gets a ton more slack.

Go Quakesfans!!

- Mark

 

Hey thanks. I was quoting Danielle who said that a hand to the face is one of MLS’s definitions of red worthy.

So, do you think that the red card should have been overturned? Was that a clear and obvious error in your view?

Go Quakesfans!!

- Mark

 

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a straight red reversed. I’m sure it’s happened with VAR but I’ve never seen it, so that was odd.

The same player was wearing a head bandage after JT bungled a routine catch and came down hard (with his elbow) on the back of the players head. JT was lucky that wasn’t a goal and probably lucky that wasn’t at least a yellow.

JT let in four, so that’s not good. Not his best night even though he had a couple of good saves.

 

Whatever the red card situation, this is a very clear and cogent analysis of the game. Also, Jeff exposes a number of errors and stupid decisions by our coach, and just plain poor play by some of our guys. Also, @SoccerMan94043 on the players.

We have a number of shocking weaknesses, both in terms or our roster and in how our coach deploys that roster.

We suck.

Go Quakesfans!!

- Mark

 

Danielle also isn't a ref, and she really has not, apparently, devoted a lot of study to the IFAB LOTG. She comes up with a whopper or two every game - same as that other noted authority, Danger!

That said, I do believe the sendoff was in error. It did not (IMO) constitute excessive force or a clear danger to the opponent. I think a yellow was the proper sanction. I'm still not sure, however, about the Abubakar situation - to me, that WAS excessive force...

 

Generally speaking - a keeper within his own goal area is afforded more leeway, because they are often exposed. From my perspective he (JT) went up for the ball and was rather undercut by Kreilach.

 

It has to be really demoralizing to guys like Jacob Akanyinge to play zero minutes while your coach plays left footed center backs on the right. Fioranelli signed Akanyinge, Fuentes and Walls years ago and they have spent hours on the bench with nothing to show for it. Either the Quakes signed the wrong guys or they have poorly developed them.

MLS minutes:

Akanyinge 69
Fuentes 8
Walls 0

I don't know what their combined salary has been, but it must be north of 500k for less than 1 game's worth of minutes. Ouch.....

 

Thanks for your patience.

The thing that I thought that was extra bad about the Abubakar foul was that he had no play on the ball. He had to go through Jeremy to get there, so he would be playing the man, not the ball. Then the clash of heads on top of that, when he could not possibly have gotten to the ball, I see that as violent conduct. Your mileage may vary.

Go Quakesfans!!

- Mark

 

Interestingly, I was standing last night in the Ultras section next to an actual referee (who shall remain nameless). Right after the red card and right before there was a signal for VAR review, this referee said to me, "90 percent chance that red is overturned on review."

 

We are finding new and exciting ways to lose soccer games.