Goal of the Week: Clark and Mullan

Discussion in 'San Jose Earthquakes' started by TyffaneeSue, Jul 5, 2005.

  1. losgatosfan

    losgatosfan New Member

    Feb 21, 2005
    Los Gatos, CA
    Well I just voted....and it looks like you can vote as many times as you want, so just sit at your keyboard and keep voting....Mullan....Clark.....Mullan.....Clark.... :D
     
  2. i_heart_the_quakes

    i_heart_the_quakes New Member

    Apr 4, 2005
    Home at last!
    You didn't have to toss your cookies to vote again? I usually do.
     
  3. losgatosfan

    losgatosfan New Member

    Feb 21, 2005
    Los Gatos, CA
    Surprisingly no....I had never tried to vote more than once before...this time I just went back and changed the vote from Clark to Mullan to see what would happen, and it took it (or at least it seemed like it did...no error msg)
     
  4. DotMPP

    DotMPP 'Quakes fan in Stumptown

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Jun 29, 2004
    SE Portland, OR
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You could call it a "golazo olympico" because it would take him another 4 years to duplicate it :D
     
  5. alliu23

    alliu23 I'm a Yank til I Die

    Jul 28, 2004
    Williamsport, PA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    tossing your cookies isnt fun
     
  6. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
    I think Clark's goal is clearly the most deserving. That was a great fake shot with the left foot where he instead put his foot on the ball, moved it the right, turned around and nailed it in a perfect spot with very little setup time. And Gray did a very nice job controlling the ball before the pass to Clark, falling down, getting back up, etc. Everyone looked pretty tired there.

    Mullan's goal was probably offside, but he did make a nice finesse shot with a couple defenders defending the goal.

    The LA goal was good soccer, but the diving header on a soft pass like that is not all that difficult a play. Very nice pass though.
     
  7. FAS

    FAS Member

    Jun 5, 1999
    Los Gatos
    Awesome goal by Rico.


    mullan was definately offside but when the rednecks come back to our board trolling i'm denying it :D
     
  8. FAS

    FAS Member

    Jun 5, 1999
    Los Gatos
    Yes, they do, when will they ever learn that only Quakes fans are entitled to hang on the anger :D <grrrrrr again at jose corro>
     
  9. FAS

    FAS Member

    Jun 5, 1999
    Los Gatos
    better than tossing your beer :eek:
     
  10. Bajoro

    Bajoro Member+

    Sep 10, 2000
    The Inland Empire
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No, no, no, no, no, no, no! :)

    It makes no difference in the end, but he was only about 6 - 12 INCHES ahead of the man marking him.

    Don't JUST look at Jefe's freeze frame -- that particular picture is either a split second before or a split second after the pass.

    Make your own freeze frame. Pause the video player at EXACTLY the moment the pass is made. You'll see that Brian and the defender are much closer than they are in Jefe's shot.

    Offside is a beautiful thing if you learn how to use it properly. Mullan was maybe a couple 100ths of a second from making a perfect run. The fact that he gathers the ball a few strides clear of his defender has nothing to do with whether it was offside or not.

    (Quakes fans: don't feel like we snuck away from Dallas with a tie due to some horribly blown, obvious call in our favor. It was in fact very close. True, it was most likely a bad call, but it wasn't nearly as cut and dry as it looks from Jefe's freeze frame.)
     
  11. FAS

    FAS Member

    Jun 5, 1999
    Los Gatos
    What offside? :D
     
  12. losgatosfan

    losgatosfan New Member

    Feb 21, 2005
    Los Gatos, CA
    Well, I watched it several times on the Goal of the Week video, and he is offsides by at least a few feet, not inches. But, the Dallas defenders really blew it. Two of them sprint back for the goal line when they realize Mullan beat Garlick, and nobody actually challenges Mullan for the ball. They could have made it a lot harder for him by having someone come out to him, but they sat back and hoped they would be able to head it off the goal line....too bad for them :D

    I also maintain that NOT calling an offsides like that is not anywhere near the same thing as calling an offsides that didn't happen in the Chivas game. The linesmen are told to give the benefit of the doubt to the offensive man, and as Bajoro points out, often times it's not that easy in live action to keep your eye on the ball and the player/defenders.....although you'd sure think that MLS linesmen would be better at it than we see every week. :(
     
  13. Bajoro

    Bajoro Member+

    Sep 10, 2000
    The Inland Empire
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well, I'm beating a dead horse here. So this is the last I'll write about it (mercifully, I know). But I know some of you saw what I saw because I've gotten some email/PM.

    If you freeze the streaming video at precisely the moment the passer's foot strikes the ball, you will see:

    Mullan, about 6 - 12 inches ahead of his defender.

    Not a few steps. Not even a full step.
     
  14. TyffaneeSue

    TyffaneeSue moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 15, 2003
    Upstairs
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    As a referee who will get to call offside violations for the first time next season (in AYSO, offside kicks in at the U9 level) I think it is beyond the ability of a single human being with only two eyes to watch multiple players in different places at once. If you're focusing on the guy with the ball to note exactly when he passes it, you will not be able to see the precise position of all the defenders, but if you try to stay even with the 2nd to last defender then you may miss the pass.

    When there's only one offensive player running ahead of the defenders, the offside is obvious. That wasn't the case here. Besides, whoever made the pass (I can't tell from the fuzzy pic) would have had his view of Mullan blocked and did not pass in Mullan's direction. The GOTW video caption says that Brian "pounces on a loose ball just outside the box"--our Dallas friends will disagree, but that's actually a pretty accurate description.
     
  15. FAS

    FAS Member

    Jun 5, 1999
    Los Gatos
    It is difficult to look both ways at the same time. A few linemen I've known have told me they hae to listen for the pass being made while watching the player who is making the run.
     
  16. losgatosfan

    losgatosfan New Member

    Feb 21, 2005
    Los Gatos, CA
    I did, and he's closer to 2-3 feet ahead. You know the rule is where his TORSO is, not his feet, right? Mullan's left foot (his trailing foot) is slightly ahead of the defender's right foot (his leading foot), but his full torso is significantly ahead. The Dallas defender is leaning back, Mullan is leaning forward, which significantly increases how far offsides he is. Bottom line, I agree it is very close to a perfectly timed play, but he's clearly offsides.
     
  17. losgatosfan

    losgatosfan New Member

    Feb 21, 2005
    Los Gatos, CA
    Totally agree - and with the speed that MLS plays at, as we see on this play, it's only a matter of leaving a split second early. When Moreno makes the pass, it's through a lot of defensive bodies and depending where the linesman is, it would be hard for him to see clearly. I tried to see from the video which sideline he was on and where he was, but didn't see him anywhere. I'd guess he's on the far sideline, or else he would show up in the picture more clearly....if that's the case, it's even harder for him to tell when the ball is passed.
     
  18. FAS

    FAS Member

    Jun 5, 1999
    Los Gatos
    I think thats pretty much textbook defense though, once you see your keeper beaten you scamble back to the line to hopefully get a foot on the ball, and there was one Dallas player who came in with a sliding tackle too, even if it was a bit late. I think the real goat on the play for dallas was the one who stopped and tried to call the offside himself by putting his hand up, he was probably the player who had the best chance to stop the goal if he'd chased after Mullan and he shoulda played the whistle. Kudos to Mullan though, he finished cooly.

    I'd much prefer to see a blown offside to allow a game tieing goal for the Quakes than to disallow a game winning goal for the Quakes. :D
     
  19. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
    Not sure how y'all can claim to know by how much he was offside (or not), even with the frame frozen at the time of the pass. The angle we get from the camera is far from being in a position where you can actually tell. You really need to be looking from the side of the field at the same yard marker where Mullan and the defender are at the time of the pass. The camera angle is nowhere close to that. I think the angle from behind and above would tend to make Mullan look further ahead than he really was. That said, my intuition, from watching the video, is that he's a bit offside. But, again, hard to tell for sure unless you're at the right position to call it.

    Anyway, partial payback for what I think has been many incorrect offside calls against the Quakes this season, including the one that cost them the victory at HDC against Chivas, and several made on Cerritos runs as well over multiple games.
     
  20. Bajoro

    Bajoro Member+

    Sep 10, 2000
    The Inland Empire
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You are correct, good point.
     
  21. losgatosfan

    losgatosfan New Member

    Feb 21, 2005
    Los Gatos, CA
    JJ - the reason I think it's really obvious is that Mullan and the defender are basically right next to each other. Camera angles are usually only that deceiving if you are trying to compare one guy on the field to someone who is many yards away, and need to ensure you have the right angle. Here, they're right next to each other, it sure seems obvious that ALL of Mullan's body is ahead of the front foot of the defender, and with the body lean it's even more exaggerated.

    On a totally different aspect of this goal, in watching the replay now several times, I've noticed how Mullan uses only his right foot. He makes a touch with his right foot to beat the goalie to Mullan's left, makes another touch with his right foot and pushes the ball further to his left, and then contorts his body to get the shot off with his right foot. Is Mullan's left foot that bad that he doesn't have any confidence in it, or is it just that this was how he chose to play this one? It really looks like the play would have been a lot easier if he would have shot the ball with his left foot, after the first touch with his right foot.....
     
  22. yawnysan

    yawnysan New Member

    Sep 9, 2002
    Land of Gar
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    actaually, the linesman was on that side of the field close to the action, not the far side of the field. just to help in your discussion...not trolling.
     
  23. KMJvet

    KMJvet BigSoccer Supporter

    May 26, 2001
    Quake Country
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No matter the league, ARs get the offside call wrong a lot. It's huge flaw of soccer. In part because technology exists to aid them in the task so they'd be right more. Not perfect, but right more is still better than what we have now. As I've heard it explained, the reason of not using the lights that you can only see when you're looking straight across the field (so that they can actually tell what parallel with the endline is) is that FIFA doesn't like any change they can't implement universally, meaning all countries and all levels. But seems to me the game suffers a lot from that sort of rigid stance. More offside calls are got right than wrong. But as is, they're not a heck of a lot better than the flip of a coin.
     
  24. JazzyJ

    JazzyJ BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 25, 2003
    Well, they are close to each other but I wouldn't necessarily say right next to each other. And if we're talking about a foot vs. inches it may still be a factor that we're looking at an angle so far from the proper angle for judging this. Also, take a look at the video again. There's a Dallas defender much further across the field from Mullan who may be further downfield than Mullan's defender.

    I don't think he lacks that much confidence in his left foot. I think it's just where his strides wound up in relation to where his touches placed the ball.
     
  25. TyffaneeSue

    TyffaneeSue moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 15, 2003
    Upstairs
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Exactly. My sense--watching that video (and too bad we only get the one angle on the buildup to the shot) -- was that the action was likely to occur in the middle. Look at the angle of the pass and the fact that there's another Quakes player (marked by the downfield defender?) who would seem to have been a more probable target for the pass.

    As I said before, Mullan was probably not visible to the passer because his defender would have blocked the passer's view. Brian, once he stepped away from his defender, could see the ball heading toward the goal and saw his opportunity. I'd say he showed a rare mix of soccer instinct and skill. Calling the play offside is petty and pointless.
     

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