At what point will people on this board start calling Brian Maisonneuve a hack? Through six matches he's committed 24 fouls, for an average of four per match, and he's received three yellow cards. He's currently the league leader in fouls committed and yesterday he racked up an "impressive" nine fouls (half of the team's 18). Looking at the league leaders in fouls committed one would see Maisonneuve leading some players always called hacks on this board - Tyrone Marshall, Carlos Ruiz, Richie Williams, to name a few. If a certain red-headed defender whom wears #5 for Columbus racked up these figures some people would be posting left-and-right calling him a worthless hack. Granted, that certain red-headed defender has his share of caution points in his career, but let's be a little even in our criticism.
That's a lot of fouls, but: He did mark Clark out of the game. He appears to be slightly hurt and came out early the last two games. See DGA's post re subs... Maybe that's the role Greg's assigned him - Duncan plays the same role in that spot.
I consider a hack someone that fouls HARD almost every time he fouls. Someone like Doyle used to be with SJ, and Titus, Franchino, Pierce, and others are now. Maze is in the category of persistent disruptor in which you can place guys like ABMOD and Armas.
I am really surprised that Mais has taken the introductory course to the McCardme school of defending....
Without knowing the numbers, I wondered this as well. Not so much for hard fouls, but for those grabby -- I'm a step late -- fouls that take away from the flow of a game. I was wondering if he was hurt. I think it's a shame that Mais spent his absolute prime years battling injury. I hope that we aren't seeing the permanent and cumulative effect of those injuries. Having said that, I have to say that the Crew have been the most enjoyable team to watch this year (outside of the Fire of course ) from a pure spectator point of view. I think that Frankie may be the piece you have been missing. He is solid in the back, and his passing and crossing skills are much improved from his time in Germany.
Maisounove has always played this way, but alot of his foulds are technical fouls of a strategic variety, not intended to injur another player.
Bingo. Does that make him a hack? Probably, in the league of Franchino, CJ Brown et al...probably not.
Mais is one of the best slide tacklers in MLS and makes some great takeaways. It appears he's nursing some minor injury as he's obviously spent and hurting some as he comes off and collapses on the bench. He's a half step slow right now, but I heard he's been treated and should be ok by SJ.
He does go to ground a lot, but he's not a reckless tackler. He's still probably the best open-field tackler in the league. Sadly, most refs wouldn't know a clean pick if Mais did it to 'em. I think he was more a victim of poor officiating last season. This season, he's clearly committing more professional fouls. Little bumps, tugs, and the like. I'm not sure he's earned all of the fouls he's been tagged with, tho. At least he doesn't flat-out kick people, like Williams. Franchino, Kovalenko, and Marshall are in a league of their own. Those guys are reckless hacks who are going to end more than one career between them (hell, Kovalenko's already got one himself).
LOL. Channeling Walt Wheeler: "The Crew have gotten a lot of mileage out of billing Maisonneuve as the "best slide tackler in MLS." At least once a match Maze will leave his feet and someone, someone will comment about the lost art of slide tackling. Certainly it has its place in soccer, but there is a reason it is a "lost art." The effectiveness of slide tackling is and has always been overrated. Rarely does something good happen when a player is on the ground. Being labeled the "best slide tackler" is akin to being the best fielding left fielder in baseball, it is much ado about nothing." http://www.cybersoccernews.com/mls/crew/030508Crew-coladv.shtml Anyway, I agree with CrewPens: Maiz is a hack; but he's our hack. And I think the hesitation I'm feeling is that he's never really gone through someone and made me squirm: but if you lead the league in fouls then something isn't right.
But you can't say that a slide tackle isn't a useful tool. There are situations where you don't have much choice but to use it. It would be like saying, "I heard that headers will cause brain damage, so let's just stop doing it." Why don't we make it a no contact sport while we're at it?
You also have to realize that the certain red-headed defender has only put in 7 minutes this year while Mais is fouling every 21 minutes (on average). Team Stats as of 5/10/03 I have the utmost confidence in the red-head. If he gets more playing time, he WILL foul more than Mais.
and the other two are with the Revs...it's just a matter of time. In fact, Marshall finally got carded during the match with LA. You also forgot about Jay Heaps of ....
If a great deal of Mais's fouls this season are little bumps and tugs or "professional fouls" I am fine with that. Being as though our outside backs are moving forward so much into attack I can deal with Mais slowing down an attack 35-40 yards from goal with a little tug, I think it just makes sense if it will stop a counter and allow our boys to get back. Whether or not those have been the sorta fouls he has commited though I don't know, I just haven't been paying that much attention to his fouls.
That seems to be the majority of the fouls I've seen. Beaten by a step or less, he'll give a little tug on the shirt (OK, maybe a big tug) and slow down the opposition's transition. He has a few fouls closer to the 18-yard box (and inside as well) and those have been slide tackles at an extreme angle.