Most recent PRO Inside Video Review edition covered rounds 2 and 3 of the group stage. There were eight reviews in those two rounds, so not all got covered in this video. http://proreferees.com/2020/07/26/inside-video-review-mls-is-back-round-2-3/ The Gantar handball is shown here, which I know there were some questions about. The DOGSO is not, but I can confirm that PRO viewed the decision (and use of VAR to get there) as correct.
07/30/20 Philadelphia Union vs Sporting Kansas City Disney ESPN Wide World of Sports (8PM ET) REF: Ramy Touchan AR1: Micheal Barwegen AR2: Jeremy Kieso 4TH: Allen Chapman VAR: Robert Sibiga AVAR: Logan Brown
Yes and no. While there is some chaos there, I'm always impressed with the efficiency. I think it is clear that they understand what they are doing, what they are looking for, and are communicating in a way that they all understand. Almost like a trading floor or some other context where what sounds chaotic from the outside is choreographed and, well, almost beautiful. (And I love that PRO/MLS shares these, which seems to be quite unusual. Wouldn't it be interesting to hear the PL dialogue?)
No one has noticed yet that they are now broadcasting the live audio of the discussions? MLS/PRO wanted this and after a trial run/assurances, PSRA agreed and it's now in place at least for the rest of this tournament. The process of the check is not subject to broadcast. But from the moment the referee makes the first tv signal to the moment he makes the second one, the audio will be live on ESPN and Fox Sports. Essentially, viewers have real-time audio of OFRs now in MLS. This mirrors what the Australian league does. I should add that this will could be a little interesting. The audio clips shared for Week in Review are always either the best or most efficient cases--or at least an edited version of a good case/example that might not have been an overall efficient OFR. In other words, sometimes the discussions at the monitor are a bit messy and there can even be a little debate/frustration. It's going to be interesting to see if and how some CRs or VARs act differently or try to be more clinical knowing that every word is now broadcast live on national television.
07/31/20 Orlando City vs Los Angeles FC Disney ESPN Wide World of Sports (7:30PM ET) REF: Joe Dickerson AR1: Jeremy Hanson AR2: Chris Wattam 4TH: Marcos DeOliveira VAR: Ismail Elfath AVAR: Kyle Atkins
i know I’m late to the party but I just watched this live in the Orlando v. LAFC game. Interesting hear Joe and Ismail talk thru the offside decision. Will be fascinated by a red card or Pk decision. of course during their commercial break.. oh I mean water break. Alexi Lalas had a nice piece to say how this helps humanize the referee and he posed a similar question to Mass that it’ll be interesting to hear the dialogue for a more controversial decision. ** I didn’t even think about it either but Joe only spoke with Elfath he didn’t chat with the AVAR. I imagine this is by design. I know some MLS VARs do sometimes ask for an opinion from AVARs at times. But that’s mostly for silent checks. Is this standard procedure just for 1 official to communicate with the referee? @MassachusettsRef
It is standard procedure for only the VAR to communicate. In fact all other officials are supposed to be silent during the check so that only the official and VAR are speaking
LAFC - ORL: They broadcast the referee instructions to the keepers before the post game penalty kicks to determine who advances. Pretty standard stuff except for when he mentioned VAR would be used to check they stayed properly on the line. He concluded that with sometime like, "I don't agree with it, but that's the way it is." I'm not sure what exactly he didn't like. Odd that he'd feel the need to state that at that time.
It was pretty clear to me that he was talking about the yellow for leaving the line early. For what it’s worth, I 100% agree with him.
08/01/20 San Jose Earthquakes vs Minnesota United Disney ESPN Wide World of Sports (8PM ET) REF: Jair Marrufo AR1: Corey Rockwell AR2: Felisha Mariscal 4TH: Joe Dickerson VAR: Drew Fischer AVAR: Jeremy Kieso New York City FC vs Portland Timbers Disney ESPN Wide World of Sports (10:30PM ET) REF: Robert Sibiga AR1: Jose Da Silva AR2: Cory Richardson 4TH: Ramy Touchan VAR: Allen Chapman AVAR: Kathryn Nesbitt
he was trying to be empathetic to the goalkeepers. Make himself seem more human. He clearly saw Vermeer was not a fan of the law and read his body language.
The instructions were great. It was the part where he said he didn't agree with the instructions but had to enforce them that I found odd.
I've been impressed with Dickerson so far in the matches I've watched. I like his presence, and I think he calls a solid match.
I mean anything that handcuffs a referee, with very little wiggle room. They’re not going to like that... I mean knowing Joe’s personality I think he does try to relate to the players at times. I don’t think joe was upset about the instructions but the law itself. I think he even uses that verbiage. Agree. It’s also EasY to have good presence when your extremely fit like he is. I’d wager he is one of the fittest referees in the group.
Eh, the fact that this is a pretty universally hated Law combined with the fact that it changes next season, I can easily see myself saying something similar. I would expect not many referees are particularly interested in sending off a goalkeeper for this, but if they make it clear that it's mandatory, then there's no excuse.
This quick VAR clip presents an excellent brief conversation about whether a play was a handball or not. Hitting on the important considerations and coming to an answer very quickly. https://twitter.com/MLS/status/1289732826494050305
08/05/20 Philadelphia Union vs Portland Timbers Disney ESPN Wide World of Sports (8PM ET) REF: Allen Chapman AR1: Corey Rockwell AR2: Jeremy Kieso 4TH: Ramy Touchan VAR: Joe Dickerson AVAR: Kathryn Nesbitt
interesting to see Rockwell doing the ol' squat and lean on the corner kick. A million years ago when I was a young grade 8 I had a chance to work with the highest level referee in our area that everyone had a lot respect for who chastised me greatly after the match for doing that. And it always stuck with me after that
I hope PGMOL was taking notes on the VAR review for offside. That's what should happen on a close call like that. Do I think the Union player was onside? Probably. But "probably" isn't a clear and obvious error. Even the angle high above the field didn't show a clear and obvious error. It didn't take that long to determine the outcome. No matter what the call on the field was, it wasn't a clear and obvious error. The call on the field should stand.
Pursuant to the myth that good-faith transparency will ever satisfy: Why didn't we hear the VAR conversation in real-time on the Philly disallowed equalizer?— Subscribe to GrantWahl.com (@GrantWahl) August 6, 2020 Right, @ManiacalClown? And as for the decision, I would disagree with @RefIADad that he was probably onside. In fact, I think when you piece the evidence together you get somewhere more like probably offside or maybe very likely offside. The high camera isn't good enough to show the kickpoint accurately. The camera above the goal, facing from the end line, helps do that while you can also see the grass cuts. Nothing is perfect, obviously. And in the end either call would have likely stood based on the available angles. But I'm pretty convinced this was a case where the flag was right to go up (as opposed to most "could have gone either way" scenarios, where the default position is the flag should have stayed down).
He looks likely off to me. AR would have been able to see the foot ahead of the body of the defender, which means a flag would likely be expected. Yes, it's close, but the players are right next to each other. That makes it easier for both the AR and the VAR to perceive their relative positions. As an aside, this is like 2 or 3 key offside decisions where the comparison was one player's foot to another player's ass.