Well, your reference is to pregame procedures and mechanics at lower level pro and semi pro matches where there is usually not a paid league official present. So your “normally” isn’t even relevant to the procedures for checking rosters at the MLS level where the PME has that duty.
Eh, I'm always being cheeky. But in the case of open AVAR slots, it's been my understanding that the majority of these were never assigned in the first place, although there have been instances where someone was unable to fulfill the role due to the sort of concerns you referenced as well. Maybe it's been more of the latter than I am aware. RSL in particular have had several matches now without an AVAR, although they do have someone assigned tomorrow for their match at Seattle. Looks like PHI/CHI will go without this round. It's an issue of logistics, I'm sure. Fixtures are congested, assignments are being made with significantly less notice and volatility, and availability is more limited than usual. The match day with five open AVAR spots was particularly striking. I do wonder about PRO's contingency plans if, say, a VAR is a no-go at the last minute. I imagine it ranges from swapping in the fourth, to swapping in the referee and giving the fourth the whistle, to running a VOR from a remote location. I'd almost bet the latter is the preferred solution considering they've already done it, but those were pre-planned I think. Best case scenario we never have to find out.
I simply have no idea how that doesn't get sanctioned as a red card. That's about as textbook of a scissor tackle as you can get. It's bench side and has the potential to be the match on the gasoline of a lopsided match. It's bench side, so unless the fourth is otherwise occupied he also should have had a decent look. If I'm the fourth and I see this, I'm absolutely getting the center's attention and recommending a send-off. Also, I realize I'm probably being really dense here, but what does PME mean in this context?
PME stands for Professional Match Evaluator. PME is employed by MLS to monitor technical area behavior, game presentation, and overall compliance with MLS policies. Think of him/her as the eyes and ears of the league.
All you can tell for sure is that they didn't reach a unanimous decision that it should have been a red card. It didn't get to the point where PRO would have weighed in, and who knows why anyone on the panel would have voted one way or another. It's one former referee, one former coach, and three former players this year if I'm not mistaken. The coach position is new. Used to be a league representative.
Actually, no. You can’t tell that for sure. PRO needs to concede it was a missed review for the DisCo to act. So even the framing above about the DisCo “declin[ing] to act” isn’t necessarily accurate. Or, in this case, accurate at all.
I would suppose there is another possibility I did not consider. The DisCo may have unanimously decided it was a red card, did not get an admission of error from PRO, but ultimately chose not to issue an official warning, or perhaps these warnings are kept private as to not step on anyone's toes. Only the club and MLSPA are required to be informed per the rule (screenshot below). The warning grants the DisCo the opportunity to suspend the player for a similar offense later in the season without input from PRO.
I don't get the uproar about the scissor tackle. Yeah it should be a red card, it's not been given probably dozens of times. Not a hill to die on, I don't get the big deal.
That might be the DisCo's logic, assuming they think it's red. Is it such an egregious miss that they'd need to come out publicly against PRO? There's no significant injury to speak of, which clearly separates it from the warning they issued to Zlatan last year after he fractured someone's skull.
is this still the same week? interesting sequence in Columbus https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/m...ew-sc-vs-montreal-impact/details/video/242592 They got lucky that MTL scored off the rebound to avoid the send off. Not sure what the big whistle was all about
Going to guess this is a case of mental trigger of a delayed VAR call and ball going in goal then instinctively blowing whistle rather than signaling the goal - realizing as the whistle was finishing (maybe with some help on mics) and then correctly giving the goal
Video at correct time 4:03. Can we just take a moment to notice how badass this penalty call was. Saghafi makes the call, then walks casually over to where he's going to stand during the PK, not bothering to look at the players, and spits on the ground.
Definitely starting to whistle thinking that he's going to call the penalty (watch his arm and his facial reaction). You can also see from his face that he suddenly has a worry of "did the ball actually end up in the goal before I whistled?"
This is 100% what happened. He got lucky--very, very lucky. And I say that as someone who has had this happen to me in the past and didn't get as lucky, so in no way trying to castigate him. It's just a good reminder to truly delay that whistle an extra second or two, which is very very hard to do when you know you have one of the game's biggest KMI decisions nailed on. Same night and Drew Fischer didn't get as lucky. Though, with the trajectory of this ball and the unexpected nature of the finish, one would argue he simply got really really unlucky. But still... 1-2 second delay and this is a goal, rather than a penalty. https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/m...ork-city-fc-vs-dc-united/details/video/242817
The Montreal-Columbus reminds me of what I felt was one of the dumbest clauses in the old ATR (and, as many are aware, that's a tough competition). The ATR taught that if a defender attempted to deny a goal via handling (and handled) but the ball went directly into the net anyway, it was a yellow card--just like today. But it also taught that a rebound was a new opportunity. So, in the case from last night, it would have called for the goal to be awarded and a red card to be issued. I remember this getting "taught" in one of the old regional professional clinics after a relevant clip was shown for discussion. Craig Lowry was the guest instructor and Herb Silva was the lead clinician. Horror was expressed. Confusion ensued.
This was fairly typical at many of these regional clinics back then. Some of the material being "taught" was laughable. PH
Well, to be fair, it wasn't like that, which is why I used quotation marks for "taught." This wasn't part of the planned curriculum. A clip was shown that was either very similar to what happened last night or close enough that it invited such an example as a hypothetical, but it was all in the context of DOGSO v non-DOSGO. Anyway, in the resulting discussion, a clinic attendee brought up the ATR language and pointed out the red card was still required in such a situation per USSF because they were viewed as two unique OGSOs. This led to astonishment by some present, including--perhaps--one of the individuals I named above. And then an entire side conversation on if you actually should apply the provision in a professional match if it ever happened and, relatedly, whether the ATR really applied to professional matches (or at all) anymore. Fun times were had by all. Well, at least by a distinct minority.
Glad that a yellow was given as there are certain referees in the league that wouldn't give a yellow for such an act even though the laws require it. The real issue is would that yellow have been given if the player was sitting on a caution already? I think not...
I think the yellow gets given in this case, no matter what, because it was so blatant and needed the rebound to score. No one can argue with the simple explanation of "guys, he stopped a goal and that's usually a red card--this is clear cut." Now, if the shot goes in directly off the hand? Different story. Selling a yellow card or, worse, a 2CT on only an attempted handball that fails at its desired goal? Yeah, good luck with that.
10/06/20 Nashville vs Minnesota United Nissan Stadium (8:30PM ET) REF: Joe Dickerson AR1: Corey Parker AR2: Adam Garner 4TH: Kevin Broadley VAR: Chico Grajeda AVAR: Jeff Muschik 10/07/20 Atlanta United vs Orlando City Mercedes-Benz Stadium (7PM ET) REF: Rubiel Vazquez AR1: Nick Uranga AR2: Benjamin Hall-Volpenhein 4TH: Ted Unkel VAR: Sorin Stoica AVAR: Joshua Patlak New York Red Bulls vs Inter Miami Red Bull Arena (7PM ET) REF: Armando Villarreal AR1: Adam Wienckowski AR2: Matthew Nelson 4TH: Thomas Snyder VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero AVAR: Brian Dunn New England Revolution vs Toronto FC Gillette Stadium (7:30PM ET) REF: Nima Saghafi AR1: Claudiu Badea AR2: Tyler Wyrostek 4TH: Luis Arroyo VAR: Alan Kelly AVAR: Tom Supple Philadelphia Union vs FC Cincinnati Subaru Park (7:30PM ET) REF: Jon Freemon AR1: Kyle Atkins AR2: Eric Weisbrod 4TH: Robert Sibiga VAR: Guido Gonzales Jr Columbus Crew vs Montreal Impact MAPFRE Stadium (7:30PM ET) REF: Victor Rivas AR1: Peter Balciunas AR2: CJ Morgante 4TH: Lukasz Szpala VAR: Fotis Bazakos AVAR: Andrew Bigelow New York City FC vs D.C. United Yankee Stadium (8PM ET) REF: Drew Fischer AR1: Kathryn Nesbitt AR2: Logan Brown 4TH: Joshua Encarnacion VAR: Chris Penso AVAR: Craig Lowry Houston Dynamo vs FC Dallas BBVA Stadium (8PM ET) REF: Ismail Elfath AR1: Jeremy Hanson AR2: Jeffrey Greeson 4TH: Rosendo Mendoza VAR: Daniel Radford AVAR: Jonathan Johnson Sporting Kansas City vs Chicago Fire Children’s Mercy Park (8:30PM ET) REF: Marcos DeOliveira AR1: Cory Richardson AR2: Brian Poeschel 4TH: Ismir Pekmic VAR: Jorge Gonzalez AVAR: Mark Hurd Seattle Sounders vs Real Salt Lake CenturyLink Field (10PM ET) REF: Dave Gantar AR1: Jeff Hosking AR2: Gjovalin Bori 4TH: Silviu Petrescu VAR: Edvin Jurisevic AVAR: Fabio Tovar LA Galaxy vs Portland Timbers Dignity Health Sports Park (10:30PM ET) REF: Ramy Touchan AR1: Cameron Blanchard AR2: Mike Rottersman 4TH: Tim Ford VAR: Kevin Stott AVAR: Ian Anderson San Jose Earthquakes vs Vancouver Whitecaps Earthquakes Stadium (10:30PM ET) REF: Allen Chapman AR1: Jason White AR2: Chris Elliott 4TH: Elijio Arreguin VAR: Younes Marrakchi AVAR: Mike Kampmeinert