well take a look at some of the calls from the Inpact-RB game just look at the highlights of the game. http://www.newyorkredbulls.com/blog/post/2012/05/19/match-highlights-ny-2-mtl-1 what do you MLS fans think.
To be honest, I thought the refs did a pretty good job this weekend as a whole. I didn't see every match, but I thought the refs called their respective matches pretty consistent.
Now that I've seen the whole game, I think Ismail had an okay game. Yes the first PK was a bad decision. Tthe second PK was borderline, but that was the AR's decision. The rest of the game, his calls looked correct, and his positioning was good.
We saw a match this weekend where a penalty was correctly retaken because of encroachment into the box. That didn't happen in this match. I admit I haven't seen the entire match, but that definitely stood out in the highlights.
Seems like a good thread for this comment as well. On 5/12, we had a ref in his first game for the Fire/Sporting match. Jose Carlos Rivero. I was in the stands and had questions about a number of calls that were critical to the game. One was the first Sporting goal that appeared to be severely offsides. Second was a penalty kick awarded to the Fire on a tackle in the box. The third was a red card issued to Roger Espinoza after he made contact but where he got the ball first. There were also a few more yellows given in the game. After watching on tape, this guy and his crew got every single call right. There was no offsides on the Sporting goal. The Collin tackle in the box was from behind with contact made (even if there was the slightest touch on the ball, you can't come at it from that angle and go through the guy) and the red card was a pretty blatant elbow to the head. So, kudos to that new ref in that game. I didn't see the game at issue in this thread, but if the guy made a mistake or two but then had a solid game, it gives me some hope that the young refs might be a step up in quality.
Is it just me or have there been more first time refs this season than there have been in previous seasons?
There's probably a good write-up on this in the internet somewhere. I don't have the exact details, but basically, MLS and USSoccer spun off a professional MLS referee body to manage and improve MLS refereeing. So my assumption is that part of that new program is working to bring up a lot of new referees. They hired a british ref guy to run it, which SoccerAmerica's Paul Gardner complained about. But apparently, the Brit is supposed to be mentoring an American to eventually take his place. The feeling was that there was no American ref who had the ref credentials, and experience handling the media and a $$M budget. Some feel that MLS referees working every week is too much (especially since they have other jobs). E.g. if a ref has a bad game, it would be good if he could have 2 weeks off. I thought that was kind of opposite to the common thinking about referee recovery (i.e. get back on the horse after you fall off), but this was a FIFA ref who told me this, so who am I to argue...
I haven't looked his name up but the guy who ref'd the Timbers/Fire game this last weekend was excellent. Now, the line judge on the west sideline (opposite the Key Bank Club side) was horrible, having gotten a few out of bounds calls wrong.
This is purely my own opinion, but I do feel like the refereeing has improved this year. Or it might the disciplinary committee suspending guys for fouls/antics the refs missed. In either case, my ref satisfaction index is very bullish this year.