Just guessing here, but... We've seen both in MLS and around the world that there is a move toward making handball as black and white as possible. So if Ford views a handball and he's convinced it meets the metrics for what a punishable handball is, he's going to send that down. As we've discussed elsewhere, handballs for PKs have become the most common VAR penalty recommendations because referees are being instructed that there is very little wiggle room. You're even seeing this in the opposite direction where clear ball-to-hand contact that is called as a penalty gets reversed because of the overall context and factors. On the non-penalty tackle that was after a shot on goal, we unfortunately see that go uncalled a lot. Now, I think the lateness combined with the nature of the challenge means this one had to be given. But it's not like the referee missed it. If he's telling the VAR what he saw and that he doesn't want to call it, there's not a whole lot Ford can (or should) do there. The late tackle is a different story. As I said, I'm guessing, but I think time was a factor. The match was over. Does Ford want to call Vazquez over to change a yellow to a red right before he ends the game/season? Does Vazquez want to go do that? I'm not defending it; in fact, I'm highly critical because I think it's a dereliction of duty. But laziness and following the path of least resistance is the best argument I can make for why it happened. Because there's no way a VAR should look at that on video and not send it down.
Even in a thread where everyone likely agrees with you, it seems you have an uncanny ability to bring absolutely nothing to the discussion.
Apologies, I couldn't find a full match record anywhere for download (or at all, actually). If anyone knows where I could find one, that would be much appreciated
It continues to amaze me how a fan base that had an objectively incorrect call play a major role in a championship for their team continues to bash the officials. Yes, the officials missed a call against the Timbers. They need to deal with it.
Rapids fans hate Toledo despite his "let them play" style of refereeing being a notable contributor to why we beat Dallas in MLS Cup 2010.
To be fair, doesn’t just about every fan base dislike Toledo? I try to be as objective as I can about officials, but even as a SKC fan I just hope any SKC game with Toledo passes without any major incidents or without Vermes getting sent off.
Thanks for agreeing with me. Usually you do everything in your power to come up with excuses for PRO, so the progress is nice to see. Maybe one day you'll admit that VAR You can't possibly still be talking about a ball that went OOB at darn near the halfway mark, which had almost nothing to do with the play that ended up as a goal, are you? Is your perspective that if a team gets one call that goes their way 3 years ago they can't complain about 4 consecutive games of terrible officiating? If the officials miss a call I deal with it. When they miss one+ per game (and 4 in this one alone) it's either gross incompetence or something else.
Please finish this sentence. I’m anxiously looking forward to what you hope I’ll admit, because it seems highly unlikely that the conclusion of that sentence won’t make you look foolish. As to the content of your post, a main point of this forum is to analyze refereeing decisions, to figure out why things happened and to learn from both good and bad. You don’t understand that. At all. You seem to think this is an additional venue to spout your grievances. So we will make this clear and easy. The next time you suggest PRO is out to get Portland, that a referee is biased against a team, or provide nothing of substance other than calling a referee bad at his job, you’ll get a forum ban. There are dozens of other forums on this site where you are free to slam referees without analysis or critical thought. This isn’t one of them.
I was discussing this call with a friend in the game as it happens, I feel that I just don't understand handball calls well enough. Who do you feel was in error in this case, Ford or Vazquez? My assumption was that Vazquez made the right call in the game because the ball deflected off of the player's body before it hit the arm, but if you're saying that this is a relatively black-and-white call, I'm wondering if I'm mistaken. I just don't understand that line of reasoning (and to be clear, it doesn't seem you agree with it either). If the player committed the offense they should be carded and appropriately punished with a 1 game ban next season. Not punishing this foul sends a message that players can get away with this sort of thing in the dying seconds of a game.
Not to speak for MassRef, but I think I can explain some of this, as he makes good points. For PKs, we've seen a spectrum between re-refereeing and only looking for the most major of errors. MLS has tended to fall somewhere in the middle, but it depends on the kind of call. When you add in the new IFAB laws around handling, it's supposed to make it more of a black and white decision. Which moves VAR more toward the re-refereeing spectrum than the major error side. And so Ford felt more comfortable reviewing this decision than the other decisions, which VAR has tended to only examine from a major error perspective. With that said, the handling decision does feel like under the old and especially the new laws to not be a foul, but maybe Ford felt like it should be more closely examined. As for the tackle, I think many of us have made a similar calculation as we assume Vazquez did - the game is over, nothing is gained by giving a RC, while game disrepute could be risked if given. I don't think MassRef or I disagree with you, but just trying to explain that behavior. I know I've downgraded a yellow (not a RC, but a yellow) because both teams know the game is up and it's just about running out of time on the clock. Neither team expects/needs the YC in order to finish the game. But it's definitely a risk I and Vazquez took by not administering the appropriate punishment.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019...ssues-suspension-nani-four-fines-recent-games I know it's his first game and all, but this Canadian referee refuses to help himself and stand up for himself. How is this not a sending off? It's a clear foul and Nani just goes off on the referee. He bumps him (enough for a red card there). Gets the yellow and continues saying god knows what in Portuguese and/or English and doesn't hit the showers in a meaningless end of season match between two teams not going to the playoffs. You're not helping anyone, by allowing this. This is the same referee that allowed Rooney to berate him as he is walking off the field. You think Wayne Rooney is sick of #MLS officiating? "Every f**king game. Every f**king game." #DCU #MLS pic.twitter.com/BRnXOnLpFs— Pablo Iglesias Maurer (@MLSist) August 18, 2019 MLS referees continue to let some of these bigger name players do whatever they want out there. Every other game it seems that Nani is getting into some kind of game disrepute. Same thing with Altidore, Ibrahimovic. Put them in their place when they clearly cross the line and get them out of there.
Probably the same reason Nani wasn't tossed against the Rapids earlier this season for an attempted headbutt, wasn't VARed, and then the DisCo wasn't unanimous that it should have been a 2 game red card. AKA, his name is Nani, not Dillon Powers.
I was disappointed that it was only yellow at the time but definitely not surprised. They can't all be a Penso.