From http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-galaxy19oct19,1,2858210.story?coll=la-headlines-sports " Earthquake defender Craig Waibel, a reserve with the Galaxy last season, was hit with a red card by referee Michael Kennedy for his hard slide tackle on Moreno. Waibel did not think he deserved the ejection. "Look at it this way," he said, "if I didn't want [Moreno] on the field, I wouldn't have gone after the ball. I don't try to take people out. "I'd slide tackle my mother if she was wearing the other jersey. I don't try to take people out." That was a horrible tackle that deserved a red card. However, throughout the season, players and fans alike have defended actions like these, chalking it up to "giving it their all" or "he touched the ball... but the leg was on the way" (paraphrasing, of course)....It's not news that MLS refs are not very good, neither are CONCACAF refs in general....However, one thing that comes to mind are the CONCACAF Champion's Cup games...Unable to follow games on TV, i remember people on MLS boards often complaining how they'd usually would get someone expelled from their teams, which showed a "bias" to American players/clubs...There might be some of that, sure, but could it be also that we are using a standard of refereeing in MLS where harsh tackles are too readily accepted as part of the game? Whereas in CONCACAF competitions the CA and Mexican refs do not condone the kind of play that endangers the skilled players, our refs too often go in the complete opposite direction, so that when it is time to compete in international club tournaments, we lose players due to recklessness, or even just "too aggressive" plays that would have been condoned/forgiven in our own league....Any opinions?
It's an odd mix in MLS, because the refs don't seem to be consistent about what they call, they make some harsh/bad card calls in some situations, and they let people get away with murder in others. US soccer is a lot more physical and fast-paced than (what I've seen of) Mexican or CA soccer, and if we play in the Champion's Cup with a ref not used to our style of play, we're going to have to be more careful. But I'm not going to say we should aim for their model of behavior, because I like a good, physical match. I mean, if we had English refs, there'd probably be a lot fewer cards (besides ones for Ruiz's dives). Ref's just need to be consistent, and the players just need to understand that if they are playing with a ref from a different league, he might view things differently (happens in World Cup, UEFA matches, etc.).
Thing is, a lot of the Concacaf cards have been on plays that weren't hard tackles. In Costa Rica the Revs had a red card plus a PK for a handball call that didn't look like much of a handball and was clearly outside the area. But I do think that MLS refs allow too much dissent and disrespect, and too many professional fouls. There was a play last night where Jolley broke up a four-on-two breakaway by taking down the guy who had the ball. Anywhere but MLS that would've been a card.
Exactly, and here lies the problem with MLS officiating. Obviously officiating isn't perfect, I mean even the EPL has some scanalous calls (the Newcastle tackle that got SAF ejected comes to mind). But the number of them in MLS are mind blowing. You'll see a play which should have been a clear red let go, and then see a slightly less harsh challange (still deserving of a red card) and see the card pulled out, much to the shagrin of the player. Basically without more consistent officiating we will continue to see comments like these from players and posts like these from BSers. And every team has a ref that they can't believe is still in the league (for Fire fans, it is St. Silva). As to the CONCACAF thing, the Champions Cup is a joke, and the level of reffing within it only proves this point. The reffing in foriegn countries towards the MLS is laughable. But, its what it is.
But the problem of course is that almost everything we play for internationally (Gold Cup, qualifiers, Champion's Cup, heck even Copa America if we go) is going to have refs from regions that tend to protect (rightfully) the players with skill, attack minded ball-handlers, of which there are a lot due to their styles of play....The only times we will have European or English refs as you mentioned will be either in friendlies played in Europe (USMNT or youth teams, or the Galaxy in the Peace Cup in Korea,- then again they might have been all Asian refs), or during the World Cups and even here it would only be a possibility, depending on the teams that remain in the tournamnet or refs' performances...So I think it really should come down to our players cutting down a bit on the aggressiveness, because i do not think we will be able to convince CONCACAF or CONMEBOL teams to imitate our style, and/or bring their refs to view things the way MLS refs and some players and fans see them and call them...
Right, I agree. I wasn't saying we'll have much contact with English refs, I was just saying that I don't think we want our refs to be more like the rest of CONCACAF. Think how many more PKs Ruiz would win, and how many more cards his opponents would get, when it should be the other way round. There is a difference between protecting players and letting players flop about. Our players should just be smart enough to know that things will be different south of our borders. Of course, there is little we can do about the calls that are just plain bad (beineke's post), besides having MLS stand up for itself. The refs will get better as the league gets better and they get more experience. There are a couple obvious things they could do that would help thought (Ruiz the diver and Steve Jolley the thug). Do the officials have a website or something? Do they issue press releases explaining what they will and won't let go? And I've never seen 'assistant refs" (linesman!) have quite so much influence as in MLS...