I am convinced that there needs to be an investigation into the game officials. Players that behave badly are subject to penalties during the game as well as the disciplinary committee afterwards. Referees are accountable to no one. The non-call on Cooper's goal I don't have much of a problem with, but the call on Hoppenot's goal there is absolutely NO excuse for. That being said, it seems that the coaching change bump in form has run its course. The wing play and runs are better, but we still cannot break down an opponent that is playing 11 men behind the ball. Almost all the goals that have been scored since the coaching change have relied on balls delivered into space over the top of an opponent playing a high line. We struggle to connect passes in the final third. I am definitely in favor of getting goals any way we can, but our opponents are adapting to this tactic and are playing deeper to contain it.
When teams sit back (like SKC did in the Open Cup and NYRB did at times yesterday), we struggle to create chances. The first goal is always important but it seems especially so to this team. If we score first, we've been able to catch other teams on the break and put up a lot of goals. If the other team scores first, we're in for a long day. I'm not sure why Lahoud is playing over Gomez, especially without Adu in the lineup. We lacked precision and creativity in the final third. Still, this team has played better under Hackworth than Nowak. We kept the ball...just didn't do anything with it for the most part.
I agree but what I'm saying is we are creating chances but the final passes that need to be made are not being made......Hoppenot is making great runs and our midfielders are holding on or back passing.......it's a f uckin joke.........Jack Mac is in a great position and just passes it right to the opposing players and no Union player are around ' wtf is that'!!! We pass it around from the back to the front really well, then look like a bunch of retards as soon as we get near the 18..........We are a young team and I get that, but these non passes and stupid give aways in the final third are getting really frustrating to watch lately.
Yeah, I wasn't disagreeing with you. It's the ball that would set up a shot that we've been struggling with against crowded defenses. Without Adu on the field, Michael Farfan is one of the only players that can set the table or create a chance. And we just don't have the height or aerial prowess to make crosses very dangerous.
I can tell you most assuredly that the referees are accountable. The Hoppenot offside was an awful decision, but the Cooper goal looked on to me. Both of those ARs are very experienced and amoung the best we've had. I'll also add another wrinkle, the AR who missed the Hoppenot call is from Deleware County.
They can't be held too responsible for anything. For 3 years now we've some of the same boneheads losing control of the games, making inconsistent calls, and generally creating bad experiences for players and fans alike. Are we really that thin in the ranks of referees? No wonder these guys don't feel the need to be fit for games, who is going to replace them?
Where are the better referees then? I agree with you that there are problems. Guys get rushed through and essentially learn on the job. Many crash out. If you saw the first couple of open cup games you'll see the difference between the guys not in MLS vs those who are. I'm also not sure what you mean about being fit. There are two fitness tests a year referees need to pass. The next is coming up at the all star game. It's a very tough physical standard as well. If you fail either test, you are out. With respect to the referee's yesterday, fitness is not an issue for him. The problem our referees have is a lack of pro experience before MLS. An English guy will have a 100+ pro whistles before he gets to the PL. The have a rich proving ground 10 levels or more deep and referees will work lines at a higher level before moving up. We don't have many teams below MLS and college soccer is completely out of the development pipeline. Guys get to MLS, largely, based on how they handle elite youth games. In some cases adult regionals and nationals factor in too. A guy like Grajeda has an advantage in having worked difficult ethnic leagues as well but many don't have that and those games, IMO, are a better test for a rising referee. This is also a difficult road. There isn't much money and it consumes boatloads of time, money, and effort to travel around, work games, get noticed, and move up. The emphasis has also been on younger ages referees who might be a bit more flexible and less attached to families and careers. I am positive we miss out on many potentially bettere referees because of the time and the damage that does to a career and family.
I was at the game and I had a great time. Concerning the game itself all I will say is: I hate MLS Refs. I wish to discuss no more about our second loss to the Pink Cows this season and the second consecutive Pink Cows game we got screwed by a ref.
That's a bit of a speed change, no? Rec league to MLS back to Rec league? That right there is a testament to how the ref system under the USSF needs some work.
I already stated that the offside to Hoppenot was wrong. When I write benefit of doubt is based on positioning. On Coopers goal the AR was perfectly positioned. On Hoppenot's he was not. You can also quibble about almost every foul. I try not to get too wrapped up in those. The U are pitiful defending set pieces and in the air. That's the real problem. How so? This guy was a Fifa AR for over 10 years and he's done a lot to work with and mentor younger developing referees. At that level there aren't many games. Doing something like a rec league is fun. Too many referees at that level and working towards that level would turn their noses at such a game so I think he's setting a good example. Every referee working MLS started out working local youth games. The system is very integrated.
Perhaps that is the problem. Instead of an integrated system, MLS, now approaching 20 years old, needs to implement their own Referee program. An in-house program where they no longer need to be part-timers, and where MLS can control who comes in and who goes out would be ideal. There are a lot of things MLS has done correctly as the years go by. However, I've been told by a lot of people that they are sick of paying money to watch second rate refereeing. Does it happen in other sports? Yes. Unfortunately, the worldwide trend has been seeing the game move much faster than the referees can handle, and it is making it hard to enjoy the game, sometimes.
This is a great idea BUT.......... FIFA mandates that leagues cannot employ their own referees, and that the referees must be provided by that league's nations FA (or in our case USSF, and Canada's Soccer Association). This is to prevent corruption and match fixing, ironically which didn't stop the scandals in Italy. I believe if MLS were to employ their own officials that MLS would lose it's FIFA sanctioning.
I was at the game and I thought the better team won. The Union are getting better, but the Red Bulls are more talented and have better weapons. A few thoughts: 1. Grajeda was Grajeda. As soon as I saw who the ref would be, I knew how the game would be called. We just had him last week against SKC in the USOC game and he called this game exactly the same way. You have to assume that Hackworth let the team know that and should have planned accordingly. It's no different than having an umpire with a notoriously large (or small) strike zone. You adapt or you lose. We lost. 2. The difference in size between the teams was striking and was the major difference in the game. Someone said above that it was disappointing to see the repeated failure to make crosses inside the box. There were several occasions, however, where a cross could have been made but McInerney (generous 5' 10"), Martinez (5'10") Marfan (5'9") or Hoppenot (5'8") were there to receive the passes. Meanwhile, NYRB had Holgersson (6'2") and Conde (6'2") defending. Contrast that with Cooper (6'3") scoring on headers over Okugo (generous 6'0") and Garfan (5'10", but only when the hair is included). 3. I thought the most glaring no-call was Valdes taking someone down in the box with a scissor slide. Most refs would have called a PK. 4. We failed to take advantage of two factors that should have worked to our significant advantage: (a) NYRB playing in immense heat on Wednesday afternoon; and (b) Borrajo coming in cold when Barklage got injured. While there has been improvement, the fact is that the Union will lose more often than not to the better teams in the league. The team is still a few players away from having an elite team. Some additional experience will help as well.
The scandals in Italy have nothing to do with officiating. It's fixers buying off players and club officials asking players to fix matches. Has nothing to do with referees.
I agree with everything except for #3, but as you were there you probably didn't have the benefit of replays and maybe had a different angle of the play. Valdes made a great tackle (assuming this was in the first half?) and got all ball and Cooper made a tentative run. If he made that run with conviction...............that's either a goal or a PK. We need Soumare to get healthy. I love Okugo, but this match seriously exposed our lack of height in the box. I'm not saying that Soumare would have stopped the first goal (Sheanon gave Lade WAY too much time and space to pick out that cross) but his presence would have made it a lot more difficult for Cooper in that spot. Move Okugo to MF for Lahoud when Baky is ready to go, and we'll be a much stronger team on Defense and have better transitioning from Defense - Midfield - forwards. Weren't there some officials investigated in the scandal with Juventus years ago? I'm probably mistaken.
You realize this isn't possible under Fifa correct? You also understand that this is the first year MLS and the USSF have been operating the Professional Referee Organization which is modeled on England's Professional Game Match Officials Association, correct? The PGMOA is how English referees became full time. If there was a desire by MLS to pay the USSF for referees to be full time, that would have happened a long time ago. These guys, just last year, got the first sizable match fee increase in over a decade. The USSF referee program is going to be changed significantly, but it will not change overnight. MLS had it's hands way too deep in MLS refereeing early on and it was awful. I don't know how we can assume that this is a USSF problem. I've been through this and I know what MLS was pushing vs what the USSF was teaching. I also don't know what MLS would do different to prepare referees. It would still be working with the same officials and it still wouldn't be paying them enough to quit their real jobs, and we'd still be faced with a lack of games to help them develop. We also have geographical challenges that most other more developed football countries do not face. We can't get every MLS referee together weekly. Referees in the north east of the US see different types of games that those in the mid west, for instance. Each state runs its referee program a bit different so it's easier to advance in some places than others. We are the beginning stages of efforts to change things and make the introduction to the pro game more consistent. Unfortunately, we still have to focus on the academy league as the initial proving ground. Any significant change is going to be years away and it doesn't matter who implements a plan. I am as frustrated by the way we choose referees as anyone and I think the system has been deeply flawed. The two ARs Saturday are not symptoms of those problems however. Those guys have been in MLS since 1996, both were on the Fifa list for over 10 years, and the one who judged Cooper onside went to the 2006 World Cup. I think the Cooper decision was correct. The Hoppenot call was not. Even the best and most experienced referees will mess up occasionally. That's just the way it is. That's the same here as it is in any other league, the Euros, World Cup, etc.
No, the scandal was that the directors of several clubs tried to leverage favoritism from referees toward their clubs by speaking with referee designators to get certain referees which were favorable toward their clubs. No matches were actually fixed. It was a case of trying to get the referees most favorable to their clubs for the most important matches. What we desperately need is a player like Kenny Cooper. Someone who's not afraid to go into the box to go after headers. We have too many scared sheep on this team. Too many guys not willing to make the run into the box. Everyone's content with just standing outside the 18. Also, no one moves around. No one tries to get open. Everyone maintain your positions, and wait for the play to develop, and it never does.
I was pretty far from the play (I was on the 18 at one box and the play was in the other box), but when they showed the replay on the screen, it looked like a PK to me. The point I'm making is that if the ref were more whistle-happy, there would/should have been calls against us as well. I hope you're right about your second point. It seems that we would have a better team with Soumare at CB and Okugo for Lahoud at MF.
This shows important when Garfan, Adu, Marfan or Hoppenot break someone down on the end line and try to put a ball across the six yrd box/ Penalty Spot and no one is home to knock it in.
Any chance you can ask him whether he still thinks he's right? I would be interested to know if he would own up to making a mistake.
If you want a microcosm of the Union's season, find the clip of Hoppenot avoiding the defender just outside the 18, then making moves to keep the ball alive, looking for someone to get the ball to inside, while McInerney stands surrounded by FOUR Red Bulls in the box and no one else is around. That's the entire Union season in a nutshell.