PBP: 2021 CCL Semifinals - Leg 1: Club América vs. Union, August 12, 2021 p/d/p

Nope. Thanks for playing.

 

Nope...trailing leg makes contact in the box. It's a PK. That's a foul; anywhere on the field. Thanks for playing. Take your blue and gold glasses off.

 

I love that you believe I care what you think. So cute! It was a clear dive.

 

If it was called it stays, not enough for me to overturn.

 

Agreed. Not worthy of VAR overturn.

 

I can see the argument for the call against the Union being a PK. I don't agree. But I see the argument. And if the argument is "there is contact, it's a foul." then the Union should have earned a PK a few minutes later. There was more contact with the defender's legs on Cory Burke than Martinez had with the attacking player.

So either way...I question the officiating.

 

The Union’s players always give a strong effort, which is laudable, but with ownership actively deciding to not have even one DP how are the Union ever going to compete in CCL, or MLS for that matter?

 

The trip for the PK was weak. The CA player sold it well. Either way the standard for VAR assistance is ‘clear and obvious error’ or ‘serious missed incident’. No way Jose did that contact meet that standard.

Mbaizo getting hit in the face and losing a tooth. Yeah to me that is a :serious missed incident." Hand to face and he lost a tooth!

The contact with Burke I don't know. I'm all for a good shoulder challenge. But the CA player made no attempt to obtain the ball. He just plowed through Burke..

Yes I m viewing through my blue tinted glasses but as a ref as well I'm flummoxed by these decisions.

 

Oh and Flach had nothing last night. Absolutely nothing.
Glesnes was also lost out there.

 

If you only watch the Union and European soccer, you learned a lesson last night. Mexico’s powerhouses are this continent’s biggest teams, miles above the Union.

But the Union are still alive in the series. Can they get an early goal at home next month?https://t.co/Vo2wSY5qgn pic.twitter.com/i1ozjVmsn1

— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) August 13, 2021

What cracks me up about this game is how the local media are acting like the result is a grand statement on how much further ahead CA is that the Union. WTF game was Tannenwald watching? They scored off of a fluke deflection and an iffy PK. I mean, sure, they are clearly a bigger and more successful club. But I have no idea how the hell you come to the conclusion he came to from the match last night.

He's sort of a low-key bad hot take artist, though. Remember when Marco Fabian scored that fluke goal in the playoff game against Red Bull and he was all over Twitter going on about the quality Fabian brings and how it pushed the Union over the line. Like...dude...it was a fluke and he still was a giant waste of money.

 

I get we are all disappointed about last night's result. That said, the team has been consistently improving every season for the past 6 years. They won the Supporters Shield last season.

The good thing about MLS is that there are multiple ways to build a team to compete. Teams don't have to spend millions of dollars on transfers if they don't want to.

It's not like the Union have told fans one thing and then done another. They've said from the beginning that they aren't spending money on Chicharito, Vela, Ibra, Villa, Almiron*, etc. So not having high priced DP's should not come as a shock. The Union have never said anything to suggest that this will change.

*they may spend on an Almiron like player (not $10M+) though. It's easy to see them spend maybe $1M-$3M on a transfer fee. A young player that they can increase the value of and sell later on down the line for a nice profit to be re-invested into the team.

On the Burke PK shout: Powell had a similar incident minutes earlier in the other penalty area. Both plays were treated the same. Both were shoulder to shoulder.

Was the call on Martinez harsh? Yes, it was harsh seeing as the ref had a good look and angle of it on the field to begin with.

Flach was his normal self. Lots of energy and running but with no real impact or substance. He's not a great passer either. He played the same way he has for the past 3 months.

I'd honestly rather have Sullivan starting his spot or McGlynn going forward. Bring Flach on as a closer. Flach is a very poor man's Ale Bedoya. He's 20, so he's going to improve, but there's a big gap between him and Bedoya.

Glesnes was decent last night, not great, but very serviceable. He did good job.

 

The upper body contact was fine. The lower body contact, however, was similar to what Martinez did. If one was a pk, I felt the other should be, too.