MLS turning dirty??

Discussion in 'MLS: General' started by lond2345, Nov 10, 2003.

  1. lond2345

    lond2345 Member

    Aug 19, 2002
    USA
    all the hacking and diving and controversy plaguing mls.

    recent incidents include Mathis, Dayak and Curtin. Of course we can't forget Dema Kovalenko out to break somebody's leg, Ruiz and his diving/hacking, stoichkov chasing withfield trying to beat him up and kicking his leg, and countless other incidents in this the dirtiest of mls seasons. If we put them all together we would fill up this thread!

    If this wasnt the good ol USA I would say mls was a latin league! yet I have been watching a lot of fox sports spanish, and while the game there is getting cleaner here in MLS is getting dirtier!

    just wait till chivas and america get to mls. The rest of mls will learn a lot of dirty tricks from the mexican teams and things will get worse!

    should mls fans be worried? is hacking/diving/controversy part of the spectacle of soccer? does it show that there is passion from the players??

    is all the crazy stuff that happens good or bad for mls?
     
  2. Greddy

    Greddy Member

    Jun 24, 2003
    Chicago
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Take out the "turning" in the headline. MLS is dirty. This has been a problem for a while. There are some players in this league who are not very good. Well, relatively speaking. When they can't keep up with people, or aren't good enough to defend them, they simple hack them. The only defense against this type of behaviour is to keep calling fouls, give cards, and don't be too scared to give that second yellow. MLS has turned into a very physical league, but not in the good way. As long as the refs crack down on these hackers, this problem will just kinda work itself out. The Mexican league has actually become far better because refs stopped rewarding hacks and hard tackles with non calls. The same will be true for MLS if and when the refs shape up.
     
  3. lond2345

    lond2345 Member

    Aug 19, 2002
    USA
    the problem is that mls refs allow almost murder to take place before giving out a card! I see the problem getting worse due to mls refs being so passive.

    I find it very funny how in mls refs don't give cards while in mexico they give cards for the smallest fouls! the refs are total opposites of each other!! they will both drive you insane.

    It is hard to reach the balance of allowing physical play and not giving out cards like if they were gifts.
     
  4. Fah Que

    Fah Que Member

    Sep 29, 2000
    LA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    There is a difference between dirty play and physical play. Dirty for me means a player goes out there to injure another player on purpose or diving. There are a few instances of dirty play but overall not bad at all. What do you want the ref to do in the future exactly? Hand out a card whenever there is contact?
     
  5. bostonsoccermdl

    bostonsoccermdl Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 3, 2002
    Denver, CO
    I agree that the league has a potential problem with this stuff getting out of hand.

    I think 3 things need to be done:

    1) invest league $$$ to get better refs. Invest in the ones you have, and get better ones...

    2) MLS must have all the refs on the same page with consistancy. Even if certain refs call a game slightly different, make sure that each refs stays consistant witihin that game.. I have seen to many games where the refs tolerance for fouls was all over the spectrum. This is what makes the players do irritated.

    Call a tight game or let 'em play, just dont waver back and forth....

    3) Enforece the rules and dont take any crap, except maybe from the team captain..
     
  6. Elder Statesman

    Mar 29, 2002
    Central Park South,
    It seems that most of the dirty play in MLS comes from the foreign players. Meanwhile, many (not all) of the American players are cissies from American suburbs that will opologize ten times if they run into you.
     
  7. Casper

    Casper Member+

    Mar 30, 2001
    New York
    I was hoping that MLS was getting D-I-R-R-R-R-T-Y, and that Cristina Aguilera had signed on as league spokeswoman, or had agreed to perform some capacity with Chivas USA.
     
  8. Matteo

    Matteo New Member

    Jul 21, 1999
    isn't that the chick who performed at halftime of mls cup 99? or was that bethany spears?
     
  9. bostonsoccermdl

    bostonsoccermdl Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 3, 2002
    Denver, CO
    FIXED
     
  10. Brownswan

    Brownswan New Member

    Jun 30, 1999
    Port St. Lucie, FL
    To quote Curly of the Stooges 3: I resemble that!

    Like we need Mexican's to teach us dirty tricks!
    We taught THEM dirty tricks! Look at Texas. :)

    And have they EVER had a Richard Nixon? Petty tyrants, yes; mordida, yes; la tourista, yes -- but we have Enron, Martha Stewart, junk bonds, MLS!

    Please, do not sell us short. We invented dirty tricks.

    (Fall enrollment in Sarcasm 101 is stilll open.)
     
  11. SFIU_94_Coach

    SFIU_94_Coach New Member

    Mar 4, 2003
    Wisconsin
    After watching the FA Cup game on Fox Sports Firday night, I think the two leagues are very similiar in physical play and "dirtiness". Mind you I thought the game was played smoother and quicker than MOST MLS game, not all.
    I also think refs need to call the game 100% the same way thoughout, you see some players getting away with murder and notheing and a different player commiting a soft foul getting a card.
    And to say that all the dirty paly comes from foreign players is just stupid. That's like saying that DC is just dirty team , oops bad comparision. But back to the issue, yes some are but there are American players that are just as bad.
    Whenever the league deceides to get consitantly good refs, the league will only get better.
     
  12. lond2345

    lond2345 Member

    Aug 19, 2002
    USA
    no question that foreign players have brought dirty play into mls (stoichkof, kovalenko etc) and american players have learned from them.
     
  13. purojogo

    purojogo Member

    Sep 23, 2001
    US/Peru home
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I have to completely disagree with this assessment...If you mean stuff like diving, hey maybe you are right...But the hard, constant tackling has been part of MLS since the beginning...The American players, which when the league began were on a good percentage very clumsy on the ball, did not need to learn how to hack...They relied on this due to their lack of technical ability....Now, there are far fewer American players with no skills whatsoever, but the hacking continues, and it is not as often the case with foreign players, who tend to be hacked much more than they give back in return
     
  14. lond2345

    lond2345 Member

    Aug 19, 2002
    USA
    luis hernandez popularized diving while kovalenko introduced criminal tackles.
     
  15. purojogo

    purojogo Member

    Sep 23, 2001
    US/Peru home
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Diving produced players like LD!..OK, all kidding aside...I think you are making a generalization w/o merit (not a first in Big Soccer), but come on...There were American players in the first two yrs who epitomized all that was wrong about playing soccer based solely on hacking...I wish i could remember the names of those players, but to be honest they really weren't woth remembering then, much less now...That's how poor they were..To presume they were the consequence of foreign influence is just a tad too much to believe....
     
  16. mutinywxgirl

    mutinywxgirl Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 6, 1999
    St. Petersburg, FL
    Yep, it was her......my how things have changed!
     
  17. masterklh

    masterklh New Member

    Oct 21, 2003
    Massachusetts
    What was the name of the Goalie from the EPL who said MLS was not as physical as Europe, and is more of a technical league... I believe that was just this year wasn't it?

    European champions league, and just the average match are much more fierce than MLS. They have far more passion, and more fans cheering brings that passion out more.

    MLS isn't that bad. Your always going to have bad hacks and nasty fouls... Just need to learn the hackers it wont be tolerated.. those that do hacks intenionally.
     
  18. Shaydee

    Shaydee Member

    Apr 8, 2002
    New Jersey
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Mark Williams from the Crew doesn't think MLS is a physical as England
     
  19. masterklh

    masterklh New Member

    Oct 21, 2003
    Massachusetts
    Well, I guess there is a difference between Physical and dirty play. MLS can still not be phyiscal and be dirty... but watching a few games this weekend, it did not look all that bad. Teams are just playing far more aggressive and doing what it takes to win..if that was only how the entire season was played...
     
  20. lond2345

    lond2345 Member

    Aug 19, 2002
    USA
    lol!
     
  21. socrne1

    socrne1 Member

    Liverpool FC
    United States
    Feb 12, 2003
    Chicago
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I dont agree totally that it is all foreign players, but some that are getting older or loosing a step might fall into this category.

    I think it will get cleaner when the refs become more consistent. It could also be caused by a lack of uniformity in the players ability throughout the league. If you take a MNT game friendly or not, you do not see this type of play, so it is the players with the inability to keep up with the better players that are doing a majority of the hacking.
     
  22. andrewt14

    andrewt14 Member

    Jul 25, 2000
    Atlanta
    The players are definitely responsible for their dirty play, but referees can discourage it by calling fouls and giving cards when cards are due...especially second yellows. It seems like a player has to commit a red card offense to get a second yellow with most referees. I am guessing the problem has been worse in the playoffs because referees do not want to influence the next game.

    DC United was a disgrace to the game with the way they played and bickered with the referee all year, and most of their players who were culprits are foreign born (Etcheverry, Stoichkov, Kovalenko, Quintanilla). However, many of the hacks lacking in talent are American born (Franchino, Pierce, Heaps, Petke, Whitfield, CJ Brown, M Clark, R Williams, Leitch, Arena, Garcia, Talley, Suarez, Dayak, Weibel).

    Really, the best way to control the problem is to punish the perpetrators consistently and fairly.
     

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