Vela’s card was really interesting and does feel a little disconnected from how the game is otherwise being officiated. Is that SPA, 80 yards from goal?
I'm a little confused about some of the reaction here, saying we need a better angle to see if he made contact. Isn't attempt to strike a red card regardless of if contact is made?
Seen a lot of this in recent weeks all over the league. These sorts of taunts are unsporting and should result in yellows, in my view.
So Murillo should have got a 2CT and the free kick went the other way. Right? This is kinda turning into 2004 MLS. Which I guess should be expected. And maybe best for the league. But so annoying when it’s not how anything has gone all year.
Credit where it’s due, what he just did with Vela and Chiacarito was great and well-timed. How much it matters practically is up for debate. But it makes clear where he stands and basically advertises he’s been lax up to this point. Chapman knows what he’s doing here. And I can’t say it’s objectively a bad thing. It’s only the disconnect with the rest of the year that sticks out.
Chapman hasn’t inspired a lot of confidence in me today. A reckless foul by Murillo unpunished and a foul by Edwards, that earlier in the year would have been a clear SPA, would have been second yellows for either of them. The commentators mentioned (and I agree) that the players know that Chapman is going to bend over backwards to keep 22 players on the field here. Good luck keeping a game under control when you refuse to punish players appropriately…
The stakes help and Chapman knows it. I really don’t think we can discount the idea that this is a deliberate approach and Chapman, confidently, knows what he’s doing. There might be a red but it will be an obvious, no questions asked red. The issue isn’t “can Chapman control this?” He can. It’s “is it okay for this game to be officiated so differently because of the setting and situation?” That’s open to debate but I imagine most regulars here lean toward the “no” category.
I didn’t word things well. I’m questioning, based only on the replays I’ve seen, whether there was a head butt. There’s little doubt Puig is squaring up, but based solely on the ground level FS1 replays I don’t know whether Puig moved his head to make contact. Maybe that doesn’t matter and it would still be a red, but I’d really like to see an angle between players to see exactly what Puig did or didn’t do. I’m definitely under the impression that this probably should have been a red. If Chapman and Rivero had access to better replay angles and ignored a head butt, then the points made about being lenient, keep 22 on the field, etc. are absolutely valid and justified. Even after seeing the replays multiple times, I just can’t tell for myself if it crossed the line from “squaring up” to a VC head butt.
ok, on the headbutt: 1). Who is the PRO director of officials? 2). How did he respond to a fairly obvious headbutt in his own world cup playoff game? I mean, this doesn't have to be that hard. The MLS has, for approximately 25 years, had an "anything goes in the playoffs" approach. They hired a head of officials who modeled that (with a headbutt no less!) on his WC R16. Heck, the GM of PRO modeled that in his WC final (!!!), and was invited back 4 years later (where he did the home nations R16 game no less). So the leaders of PRO have demonstrated through their own officiating that not giving a red card in a playoff match is absolutely the right thing to do.
Easy yes, but not supported or more importantly encouraged by MLS/PRO. Elfath had the same taunting in his game the other night, he literally grabbed the player during live play and got him away. What they permit, they promote. I can say for damn sure I wouldn’t want to officiate in MLS. Yeah, that baffled me. No idea why that was a card and Vela didn’t seem to know either. I was good with this one, it’s a 50/50. And he didn’t even give the Galaxy player a card. So even if called against Murillo, he prolly still doesn’t give a card.
watching now this is mimicked by kids is so disturbing, particularly when it’s your own kids. watching 8 and 9 year olds do this is so depressing. My son and a friend was pulled out of a game by the coach for some vigorous dissent (the 14 year old referee didn’t do anything). I told him NEVER to do that again and he just looked puzzled. It’s à behavior they mimic, just like a stepover or Cruyff turn. there was no emotion in it, no anger, just “this is how the game is played”. I know that’s not the primary concern of the MLS board of governors but maybe someone should think about where this is leading.
Sure. But again, this is a worldwide problem, not an MLS-specific one. I'm seeing more and more elite referees shying away from the "instigative" yellow, as it were, in situations like this. Maybe it's a by-product of the threshold for VC red getting higher--meaning, yellow+yellow no longer feels like justice in the way yellow+red did. Take last night's example. If Puig sees red, it's easy to throw yellow for the instigation. But if Puig only sees yellow, suddenly we are saying the two types of behavior are equal if the instigator also sees yellow. So both actions get downgraded. And then you have Oliver yesterday who watched much worse instigation on video and just ignored it, presumably because of some silly instruction in England not to give extraneous yellows via VAR. SPA's been a point of emphasis, even in the playoffs, but I just didn't see it here. When you layer on the fact that it was Vela and you probably don't want to burn a "soft" caution on him, it just stood out. Okay, if you start from the premise that Chapman was never carding anyone there, fine. And given he hadn't sent off Puig, that is probably the most judicious route anyway (you can say 1 from each team escaped at that point). But from a purely factual standpoint, while the ball might have been 50/50, the foul (and severity of foul) was entirely on Murillo's side. That's a nailed-on caution for Murillo if seen correctly. I would add, in summation, that MLS must be ecstatic with the product that was put on the field last night. If only that could have been something other than the late Thursday time slot. So we can sit here all day and critique individual decisions OR the general approach OR just lament the disconnect with the regular season. But Chapman came in with a plan, he executed it the way he and MLS almost certainly wanted, and no one is talking about him today. In fact, the decision that he took that we didn't like led most directly to the match occurring the way it did. In the end, those factors matter even if Friday morning (and real-time) referee nerd handicappers wish they didn't. I would venture to say that if Penso isn't slotted for a conference final, Chapman just locked in that spot for himself. And even if that slot isn't open, he'll be very happy with how he ended his season and his employer, PRO, will also be very happy.
I watched this match last night in a hotel room right before bed. I watched it mostly for entertainment and hardly for refereeing. I don't have a ton of comments about the sheer amount of decisions made in the match, but I have a couple of thoughts with really no basis behind them other than my harebrained theories. Regarding Vela's caution: This match appeared to me to be refereed very "old school" in the sense that the referee wanted the players to decide the match at all costs. Chapman did not want to buy into histrionics whatsoever (look at how he handled dissent/histrionics on restarts), and Chapman did not want to be "sold" into making any calls. The match felt more like an adult amateur playoff without a broadcast or VAR. With that framework....wasn't Vela the player who "earned" a free kick near the penalty area right at the end of the first half? On replay, wasn't that incident moreso simulation than anything else? Couldn't the referee crew have pulled up the incident in the locker room at halftime to double check? Perhaps the Vela caution was finding an opportunity to stick it to a player who successfully deceived the referee earlier in the match. Vela "earned" the caution earlier, but it just took a while for the appropriate opportunity to present itself. Yup, I agree with almost all of this. Heck, some of the social media posts I've seen are praising the referee for how he handled last night. I'm paraphrasing, but I saw some comments like: "My scottish terrier gives harder head butts than that. Glad common sense prevailed." "LAFC can't complain too much about Puig because Murillo would have also been sent off for two yellows if Galaxy was down to 10 men. Glad it finished 11 on 11."
To skip back to the first match for one second, am I the only one who heard Noonan yell "What the f*** Matt?" after Miazga was booked? it was a completely senseless caution that would have left him suspended for the conference final if they advanced - maybe the field microphones serve some benefit after all...
I don't disagree with anything you said. Yes, PRO/MLS must be ecstatic with the way the game was managed and no one is talking about him today. But that is down to pure dumb luck. Take away the non-red card to Puig and I think Chapman managed the game exactly as to how everyone expects an MLS playoff game to be managed. Don't give soft yellow cards, keep the foul count minimal and avoid soft second yellow games. If the Puig incident doesn't happen, you're not hearing anything from me. But the Puig incident did happen and it almost had a huge impact on the outcome. If that doesn't warrant a red card in a playoff game 10 minutes in then what does? How far removed from professional wrestling do you become? Luck is not a plan and is not a viable strategy. If LAFC doesn't win that game and Puig scores the game winner, there is a different story. You don't think LAFC are asking questions of Chapman and PRO as to why Puig stayed on the pitch? The EPL has tried the "look the other way" philosophy via VAR and it has backfired them multiple times this season (Chelsea vs. Tottenham a prime example). To be fair to Rivero (VAR), even if he had done the correct thing and recommended a review to Chapman, nothing would have changed. Chapman would have jogged over there and done a quick cursory glance (because he has to) and stuck with his initial decision of yellow. This is the second consecutive game where their opponent should have been down a man after 10 minutes due to a simple/expected red card only for the referee to not give it. Look at the reaction after RSL vs. Austin match. Was there any complaints from anyone about the 2CT that RSL received? Look at the reaction of Mastroeni after the red card. Just a look of "what a ********ing idiot my player." The same reaction would have occurred after last night. "Puig is an idiot." Sure the game might have been 3-0 in favor of LAFC, but no one would have complained. I have no problem with adjusting the way MLS playoff games are officiated compared to the regular season. However, you can't just completely change the rules of the game.
How would you describe his style? A few other notes I want to make: Someone mentioned the “standing over taunting” incident(s) in the Montreal - Orlando game, and there was also one in Philly on Thursday as well. I’m disappointed that all these have been permitted and think PRO should put out a point of emphasis about it as soon as it’s practical, but who knows what they’ll do. I’ll also agree that Chapman got very, very lucky in this game that the missed early red card was for the team who eventually lost the game. We can speculate MLS are happy with how the game turned out, but how can that PRO be? If Puig scores the winner surely that’s not a good look. Are PRO ok with that risk? The last few games have been a disappointing end to what had been a very progressive season of refereeing that had, until now, had clear and consistent interpretations for misconduct, in my opinion.
2 points here: first, PRO does not put out points of emphasis, the league does. If PRO had its way, they’d stamp out the consistent disrespect levied their way by players, managers, clubs, or even the leagues own web show. PRO works for the league and they decide how they want their league officiated. Second, I’m really not sure how to take your comments regarding the disappointing end to a ….. Perhaps we only hear about the decisions you don’t like, but going back quite a ways, you have seemed pretty disappointed with the officiating in FC Cincinnati games for a while. Here is a controversial take - the league is more fun to watch when Alan Chapman let’s the greatest rivalry in the country go at each other for 90 minutes instead of throwing a wet towel on top of it and blowing 50 fouls and giving 4 reds. This is an entertainment business and that game was entertaining. Alan, PRO, nor anyone else have an obligation to stop behavior that might make its way to a youth field because they see it on TV. We can debate the academics of those decisions but on the night, he allowed a wildly entertaining game to take place.
Man that tackle on Driussi It wasn’t as hard as it could have been but going right through the back of his legs…
Completely agree. Dickerson and crew were on it tonight. They really controlled things well. I’ve long been a Dickerson fan. Tonight might have been his best game that I’ve seen. He has to be one of the next, if not the next, US FIFA.
I went back and skimmed Fischer's match and unless I missed something, other than the first caution (where Fischer should have played advantage and 100% took the blame immediately), the same could be said for that match, too. I think it was a very clean Sunday. I also have finally been able to skim Ford's game, which seemed to be officiated similar to Chapman's, just not as heated. The yellow for kicking the ball into the prone player was in the same zone as the non-red for the headbutt/attempted headbutt. But again, I think both Chapman and Ford did what they set out to do and fulfilled expectations for what PRO and MLS would have in those matches, given the incidents. I don't think PRO has much to be upset about with the playoff officiating so far. I've heard some rumblings that PRO didn't like the handball penalty given to RSL via VAR, but other than that, I can't come up with anything major where they'd be disappointed with the outcome.