I agree it does not make sense about Rogers-Sigi had an obvious winner but kids lose confidence quickly if not played. Herron is obviously just pissed and disgruntlled and I bet he is showing that in practice as well. You can't blame whats going on with reserve play either. Garey scored two in the reserve game last week. Garey made the bench but did not see a minute when Crew needed some goal production.
I continue to have a huge problem with the referees. They didn't give Chicago the goal, but the effect he had on the game was enormous. When one side receives 3 yellow cards (essentially in the first half) they have to play more conservatively, as they can go down a man on any legitimate 2nd card. It happened last with Gonzo. He gets a somewhat soft card for his first, and the legit second one puts him out. Continually, on Aug. 18 and Sept. 8, the visitors continually got away with chippy, crappy fouls that either a) got ignored, or passed off as "advantage", or b) earned them a "stern talking to" from the center official. In each of those games, a Crew player was taken down in the box (I think Gaven both times) with no call, despite the near-obvious PK nature of the act. The goalkeeper on Aug. 18th came down with a ball, then lunged with his elbow and hit a Crew player. Again, a talking to, no PK. That's despicable, and smacks of intentional bias by referees. So what happened? The F*re gets to run wild with cheap shots, while the Crew is called for every little minor infraction. I thought the Hedjuk yellow was a joke, he played the ball and then got run into? WTF?!?! Oddly enough, he and Guille got their 5th yellows, leaving Columbus high and dry next game. Coincidence? Who knows. Best of all, apparently they think going hard on Guille and Moreno makes them more "fair", but it's apparently D.C. that gets the most PK's, since J. Moreno has scored 30(!). Has the Crew (or any other MLS team) EVER received as many as 30 PK's? And you know, it's not like J. Moreno or Etcheverry would ever resort to diving. /sarcasm
You can't honestly say Hejduk jumping in with a knee was not worthy of a caution... I didn't see a good replay of GBS's foul but it looked like a flop. I would have thrown a caution on Oughton, too. What frustrated me the most was the little stuff the ref was not calling. Probably the most repeated act was a consistent bump on Moreno (mostly) or Virtuoso when going for a through-ball. This wasn't a legal shoulder challenge but a deliberate push-off or grab or obstruction that played the player instead of the ball. Especially at the end it was painful to watch the no-calls because that little nudge was enough to alter the runs of forwards letting a ball go out of bounds or giving a Chit player time to run it down. When compared to some of the early fouls called against the Crew where there was little or no contact just made me want to be ill. If you are not going to let Moreno and Schelotto buy fouls then other "trouble" players don't get the same type of call. MLS officiating has been better this season when compared to many previous seasons. Officials do make mistakes. But nobody above the Crew gives a poop. Other teams certainly don't care about us. MLS has other concerns.
From where I sat, I didn't see anyone near Hejduk until the ball was gone, and from the way Crew were getting bumped all night, I'd bring up a knee to defend myself too! And it isn't like Frankie is a six-and-a-half footer going up, he got it 'cause he was the only one there. And the number of times they'd jam a Crew player in the back, or kick between his legs with a push for extra action... That would seem fair, but it would also seem not to happen. Other teams have continued to receive the benefit of it, so why should they care? I question whether it's the "big market" mentality that has trickled down to ref's as a "Don't give Columbus an even break" attitude.
from what I remember seeing on the tube, GBS's was a foul. Mabye a bit harsh to give him a yellow, but not one I'm complaining about. On Hejduk's, Frankie had the ball and played it and then he and the f*re player's feet got tangled up. Or at least that's what it looked like to me from the replays. Now, I'm not one to question Guille's heart. Nor Rusty's toughness, for that matter. But, i give 2-1 odds that if this team was more competative in recent games, one or both of them stay on and play through their injuries. Neither one even limped off. Seemed very odd. Bill, I'm very much with you, but I really would like to see Bob get a chance and not throw him out with the bathwater. Did well with marginal talent after letting go of nee, and the former player turned manager seems to be working well in MLS. In fact, without McC's little "fantasy" comments, I'd be for keeping him. He's apparently backed off those comments, but it does call him into question as well. As has been said, Sigi was hired with total control of personnel so I wouldn't be upset either way should McC stay or go. Foto, Dwight, Dante, and Sirk can stay too. The rest can all go as far as I'm concerned.
It is ridiculous that Chivas USA, in two years, formed a team that is now a contender for the Cup. Their first season was a disaster, they fired the people they needed to fire, hired a new coaching staff, requested and drafted some good players, and now are way ahead of us. Mark Twain said: "stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".
Yet despite Chivas turn around are only filling about 10-11,000 seats a game with the largest Hispanic population in the USA. Each team has its problems I guess, winning is not everything I guess either.
And you know what Chivas did? They fired whoever the hell was head of marketing, thus showing that yes, winners make moves, stay motivated, and keep reaching for their best, no matter what area in the company.
In the Chivas-RedBalls game a Chivas player was bowled over in the box on a play that looked virtually identical to, and in virtually the same location as, Gaven being bowled over in the Crew game. Naturally, Chivas was awarded the penalty.
Really?!?! Because IMO it has been exactly as bad as previous seasons, if not worse. And surprisingly the worst of the bunch are consistently our paid full-time refs.