2022 MLS Week 34 Referee Discussion

This document seems to answer all relevant questions. Though, of course, I'm sure MLS could make exceptions if both teams agree (and perhaps not?). But it does seem like this covers everything:

https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/2022-mls-match-delay-postponement-cancellation-and-forfeiture-policy

 

Good, albeit extreme, reminder of why players stand in front of free kicks.

Even in MLS I've never seen a sequence like this before. pic.twitter.com/djgq9UXy8q

— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) October 5, 2022

And this is why referees should address it aggressively. And why they should be able to do so without the free kick automatically becoming ceremonial. Very well done by Conger here and I don't think, given the reaction of the Charlotte players, there is any controversy about it. But if Conger isn't proactive, this goal doesn't happen.

 

Watch how his wrist flexes before the ball makes contact. He’s making his arm more rigid and seemingly creating a barrier to make sure it doesn’t get by. Sorry, but I think this is simply a deliberate handball. Focusing too much on overall arm positioning is missing the forest for trees, in my opinion. Honestly, I think handball is the expected decision. And at the very least, it’s not clearly wrong.

 

It's in the highlights video on this page, almost exactly halfway through: https://www.mlssoccer.com/competitions/mls-regular-season/2022/matches/miavsorl-10-05-2022/

And to @StarTime , I respect what you're saying here but I want to make clear that I would call this in real-time, too. There are a number of intangible factors here that I can't cite chapter and verse from the Laws, but a big element is "who benefits?" You can go down the path of "well it's flicked from close distance" but the simple counter argument to that is that defenders, in tough situations, are often more likely to deliberately handle as a reflexive action when they have less time to think about it. This flick is deft. It beats the defender by playing the ball to a space that will be behind him as he runs toward the corner flag. In other words, the defender is absolutely screwed here if he doesn't handle. We only get one good replay in the highlights package but I think I see more of a chicken wing deliberate handling than a total accident that just happens to perfectly deflect the ball away from a very dangerous goal-scoring opportunity. When you add in that Rivas is coming in with what would probably be the perfect angle, I have no reason to doubt the call. My focusing on the wrist tension is only for two related reasons: 1) it's a component that gives the VAR enough to say "check complete" even if he can't prove it is deliberate and 2) Geiger/PRO had an internal memo a couple weeks ago talking about wrist/arm tension as something to look for when making such assessments, so it would be on the mind of Jurisevic and, likely, Rivas.

One other very interesting part of this play is that there's a huge argument for DOGSO-red if you stop and think about it. #2 is running away from goal and the ball will be behind him. #25 is behind the attacker. And the attacker will get to the ball before the goalkeeper. It's actually a pretty clear red card the more I think about it. But my suspicion is the actual check of the handball and the check of the offside in the APP might have distracted from any discussion around that. So once Rivas doesn't give red, it's hard to get there just from a process standpoint.

 

Very interesting to see who gets what on Decision Day. Obviously many of these have playoff qualification implications and then some that don't still have implications over playoff positioning. And then a few have no significance whatsoever.

It would appear Chilowicz and Villarreal have the two biggest matches on paper. Chapman's is very close, with Villarreal's match mattering for determining how consequential his will be.

Radchuck, Luc-Lazierre and DeOliveira with the only three completely meaningless ones? Though, Rivas' comes close because it would take a lot for Dallas to move out of its current playoff position.

With all hands on deck for simultaneous matches, it's also interesting to see the deeper FO pool and who goes to the VOR among active CRs and ARs (Gonzales Jr., Bazakos, Freemon and Mendoza among active referees).

Elfath's absence is conspicuous, but I'm sure there's a valid reason, which very well might just be them keeping him away from any potential controversy so they can use him once early in the playoffs and then again on MLS Cup.

With all that said, we can't forget assignments were made well before we knew exactly which match would mean what, so there was an element of guessing here. But the very big ones and very meaningless ones seem obvious.

 

I don't know the exact details, but I'm sure others on this thread can chime in with that information. It sounds vaguely familiar, but I still think assignments were made before Monday.

 

I think DOGSO goes too far only in the sense that it seems very harsh for an act that some (as we see above) will see as a non-punishable handball. And it is challenging to get to via review for the reasons I lay out.

But from a factual standpoint, what argument(s) do you have against it?

 

I've been reliably told that Decision Day assignments were published last Tuesday, so that is a reduction in the standard 18-24 day requirement for notification. But still means PRO didn't know the result of the matches from this past weekend. All of this is accounted for in the CBA, of course.

 

See above. They were.

 

Right. Last Tuesday.