I forgot about the behind the goal view. Now that I remember it, I was thinking he was offside. Then I saw the high-angle view and thought maybe he was onside with his foot being level with the Portland defender's backside. In any case, the point I wanted to make is that if this occurred in England or continental Europe, we might still be in the middle of a VAR review while they were playing with the lines. I have no problem with a play like this being ruled as "call stands - no evidence of a clear and obvious error" regardless of the call on the field. I know some will argue that if you have the technology, you should get to a binary decision. I'm fine with keeping some of the human element in the game. I just want to remove the big "howlers".
I had no problem with this call whatsoever. I thought a good chunk of his leg was off from the angles I saw, and that's enough to convince me it's not a clear and obvious error. But we the media love to stir up controversy. Speaking of which -- why wasn't Santos booked for a rather obvious dive in the first half? Do we not do that any more?
08/06/20 Orlando City vs Minnesota United Disney ESPN Wide World of Sports (8PM ET) REF: Drew Fischer AR1: Micheal Barwegen AR2: Logan Brown 4TH: Joe Dickerson VAR: Ramy Touchan AVAR: Jeremy Hanson
Though I would note Dickerson and Touchan swapping roles for the semifinals is interesting. My understanding is Elfath is still there, so he makes sense for the whistle. The rest of the crew (outside ARs)? Maybe those two again? Or one of them at 4th with Fischer in the VAR role.
Elfath seems a lock. If Atkins is still at the tournament he will certainly be on a line. Perhaps Nesbitt or Hanson for the other AR or reserve position?
Just took a look at the PRO website and noticed that Joe Fletcher is not showing in the Senior Match Officials Dept. (http://proreferees.com/roster/support-staff/). Does that mean that he is no longer there or is it just an omission?
PRO just released the final assignments so I can post this now Elfath Nesbitt Atkins Dickerson Chapman Brown
Something I just found out that caught me by surprise: the drone cameras are nice and all, but they're not time synced with the Hawkeye system so they can't easily use them for offside decisions. They would essentially have to find the kick point twice (once for the Hawkeye cameras and then all over again for the drone camera specifically). So because the ball was obscured on that drone angle for the would-be Philly equalizer, it's basically useless for VAR purposes.
In the 73rd minute after the Nani v Villafaña kerfuffle. Logan brown drops his flag and leaves his hand up instead. Interesting mechanic from a FIFA.
Easily could have had 4 players sent off in this one lol Chará, Nani, Villafaña, and Ruan all pushing their luck. But hey, it's a final! I'm glad I'm not having to manage it.
Watching the highlights back, and I think that if lines were used like in the EPL, this would probably be offside, but definitely not clear and obvious, so a good non-intervention. I think Elfath did a decent job managing the game overall, but there could have been a few red cards as mentioned above.
Definitely not something the VAR is ever going to touch based on this image. I'm not convinced that Orlando knee (I think it's Mueller) doesn't just keep him onside anyway, but it is definitely not a wide margin either way. EDIT: might actually be the defender's shoulder that's closer to the goal line. Always difficult to tell when they're leaning forward like this.
I'm usually the first person to complain about officials keeping a match 11 v 11 at all costs. While Elfath could have sent anywhere from 1-4 players off, I actually thought he did a good job managing the game right on the line. I thought there were a few times where things were really going to go sideways, but it never really boiled over. Even the dustup between Pereja and Blanco (I think it was Blanco) quickly settled down. There was never a situation last night where I immediately thought Elfath was being way too lenient. Like the rest of MLS is Back, maybe it wasn't the most fluid or artistic soccer. But I certainly did enjoy the competitiveness and appreciated that the players were very serious about winning last night.
I should clarify that I thought he managed it all well. That's why he's there I'm not sure anyone on the broadcast realized that if they had gone to video review on the Nani/Villafaña incident, it would probably have ended up with reds for both. They basically did the same thing. Double yellow was fairly consistent with similar borderline incidents in the past. Ruan was lucky he only sort of made glancing contact with the studs. That kept him on the pitch. Chará I haven't seen more than one replay angle. Can't give a good judgment on just what happened there, but I suspect he should have been booked at least.
Here is the reason: https://ebusiness.cpaontario.ca/discipline/ReturnFile_Action.cfm?Required=Fletcher_032420
Guess he learned more than how to be a good AR at all those FIFA clinics. Jesus. How is he not in jail?