On Mullan And The Rapids Being Thugs

As your research shows, the Rapids aren't thugs.

The reputation exists among those that possess the deadly combination of little knowledge but insatiable desire to babble on the Internet. Your research will be lost on them.

 

It doesn't matter what our team does of how our fans conduct themselves...some people on this website will find any excuse they can to hate on us. Most of this "dirty play" shit is coming from Dallas and Seattle fans anyway...what a fv<king shock.

I lost a lot of respect for Dallas fans back when the Sala incident happened because a number of them called us out for poor sportsmanship for celebrating a win (god forbid!) while also defending Sala for going punch drunk. They recently bitched and moaned about the Henry incident last year...at the freaking Supporters Summit - long after Hartman had recovered from his injury and had played spectacularly through the playoffs. Then of course they got all huffy and accused us of playing dirty when we won the cup...even though Dallas wanted a physical game from the first whistle. So who really cares what those whiners think?

As for Seattle fans, we all know they have a massive sense of unwarranted self importance. They always go above and beyond on BigSoccer to blow everything out of proportion. Then of couse after this foul virtually all of us were shocked and we sent them our condolences...yet many of them still resort to calling us names, making threats, and doing what they can to pretty much shit on us. It would have made no difference had we defended Mullan or if we handled this in the classiest way possible like we did. I lost a ton of respect for Seattle fans since this incident. It is a pity that they haven't learned that class is earned, not bought.

Let the haters keep doing their little circle jerk. You can't be rational with irrational people. We should just ignore these people and keep doing what we do. We don't need someone patting us on the back and telling us what we're like.

 

Jason, that's a very good post and probably something that's not going to get a fair hearing on BS, esp. with emotions still running so high over the event.

and thanks for running down the list of previous disciplinary sanctions.

I wrote a way-too long explanation of why I think 5-9 games is too much (and fine, since I assume players are not paid while suspended). Editing it down will feel too much like an assignment.

So maybe I'll summarize by saying within the context of the way the league tolerates rough play (thus encouraging it in some ways) and the list of disciplinary precedents we have, 9 games, or much over 5 games is too much.

I could go for something high *if* it were truly part of a comprehensive and consistently applied overhaul of how fouls are called, cautions given, and red card and greater suspensions assessed. But if it's to appease a sense of vengeance and nothing else changes, forget it.

 

Alright...

Well, I think Mullan's a thug. Not just because of this incident (though it's pretty much cemented his reputation as such), but because, as you said, he's been pushing the boundaries all season and finally, inevitably, did real damage to someone. Casey and Pablo are both hacktacular and always have been, and Pablo in particular has probably done more to earn Colorado their reputation than any other player (although Casey's performance in the MLS Cup last year didn't help). Larentowicz is about like Olave and Beckerman were a couple years ago--heavily physical play, right on the line of thuggish, though I think their technical skill--particularly Beckerman's--has improved of late and they no longer needs to play like they did before (and I don't know where you're getting Borchers as "thuggish;" he has the occasional hard tackle like any center back but he's more intelligent than most of them and it shows). Moore and Smith I'd put into that same group. Cummings and Pickens I have nothing but respect for, everything I've seen from both of them indicates that they're class acts.

One thing I do agree with you on is that Colorado tends to display their physical side far more often than their technical side, and so even the non-thuggish players appear to be more interested in beating on people than in playing with skill. It's effective at times, obviously, but it's certainly not going to win you any fans. Colorado seems to me to be a team that in general is stuck about four or five years in the past, where physical play combined with a lack of obvious technical skill was more or less the norm in this league.

 

As for the "thug" debate: it's difficult to debate this. "Thug" is such a ridiculously blunt word, admitting of little distinction or nuance. I guess if someone wants to follow sports on this level, that's fine, it's ultimately an entertainment. But it's difficult to discuss it much.

People seem to just work with labels without much reflection, even the people are supposed to be the better writers, Wahl, Steve Davis, etc. (and yet, seeing how Bill Archer completely took apart Wahl's FIFA presidential campaign, maybe I shouldn't expect much out of Wahl). So some teams get annointed the "beautiful football" teams, and some are ugly. Despite the fact that all MLS teams look like clumsy butchers compared to the very best leagues in the world.

 

This is exactly what I mean. People are going to see what you see. I don't see it this way. What does it possibly mean? Does Jamie Smith grunt a lot? Does Kimura veer away from chasing a ball to throw elbows? I guess it would explain the Rapids puzzling inability to maintain possession, or their penchant for mindlessly clearing the ball from the backline. They don't want to play soccer, they just want to give the ball back to the other team so they can slide tackle them.

 

First of all, in answer to your question, I have never thought of your team as thugs--Conor Casey yeah, maybe a little--but not the team. In fact, the Dynamo was the only team that I thought was going that way. That was why I stopped watching their games last year. When they moved from SJ to Houston, it seemed like the hot sun turned them into punishing iron men.

Second of all, i was trying to find a thread where I could express my condolences for both Brian Mullan and Steve Zakuani. I could see that Zakuani was turning the corner towards becoming a great player. I hope he recovers his old self back.

I have admired Brian Mullan for his work rate and dedication since he started coming off the bench in SJ. But he's gotten a step slower and suffered a lot of injuries. I watched the tackle several times in slo-mo. It looked like he went into the tackle more protecting his body than trying to clear the ball. And as a result, he hit Zakuani's leg (which was not planted) with the full force of his hip. Should he get a monster suspension? No, because that's soccer. Does he deserve to be demonized? No, because that's soccer. Even if he did get thug-training in Houston. I feel badly for both players and wish them both the best.

 

Well, one of the reasons the team is probably considered to be thuggish is because our top players are the more physical ones - Casey, Mastroeni, Ginger Ninja. When you look at the other teams and their top players, they tend to be more finesse players and less physical. So when you think of Dallas, you think of David Ferreira and not so much of Ugo Ihemulu or Brek Shea. When you think of LA, you think of Donovan and Beckham's skill and Angel, and not Beckham's thuggishness. When you think of NYRB, you think of Henry and Agudelo, not Carlos Mendes. Since our best players are also known for being physical, we have that reputation.

 

I've held back from posting anything about this in an effort to let everyone's emotions cool. As usual your blog entry was accurate and expressed what I think most Rapids supporters feel, for the most part. My feelings are that arguments on both sides of the issue have some basis in truth. I'll try to give a simplified version of my opinion of the Mullan situation as well as why our reputation is what it is in some people's minds.

First, I think we as a team have a strategy to establish the parameters of what is a foul and what isn't, in the referee's eyes, early in the game. This is something we do very effectively, imo. Though, one of the consequences is we tend to have some hard challenges early in games until the ref has set his boundaries. First impressions are hard to overcome even if you have stats on your side. Now that having been said, I also believe if you choose to play an aggressive style, with hard challenges, you also have a responsibility to play in a way that isn't likely to seriously injure opposing players. Mullan crossed that line, imo. So there is some truth to people saying Mullan acted on his not getting the initial call if my observations of our past strategy are correct. What I don't accept is that dangerous challenges are coached into our team. Aggressive and constant challenges? Yes. Dangerous? That's on the individual.

I believe the tactics we choose to play also contribute to our reputation. High line, compress the midfield, challenge every possession from every position, all contribute to forcing teams into a style of play that isn't pleasing to watch for fans of that team. Lots of 50/50 challenges from loss of possession, which are often heavily contested, are pretty much a staple of any Rapids game. It's very effective for us but it will also never gain many admirers from the beautiful football crowd.

I've come to the conclusion, to each his own. I'm not interested in being part of a league where one style is the only option, where the team with the best attacking players wins by default. I like many styles, many more than we have now, so while I want players to suffer the consequences of dangerous play, I also want a league where tactics are allowed to decide matches, not a league where we dribble up the field unchallenged until a touch foul just outside the 18.

Sorry for the length but it is something I have been questioning myself.

 

I've never thought of the Rapids as being dirty. When I was living in Texas and was following FC Dallas as my primary team, I never thought of the Rapids as dirty. I thought Casey was bit of a bull in a China shop, and I HATED Ballouchy (spent more time flopping on the ground), but he's in NYC now. Dirty? No. Physical? Yes, and that's just fine with me; it got the Rapids a championship. Other teams without championships can laud their more graceful style of play; a style for which they have nothing to show.

 

Even knowing that they can be quite fickle, inconsistent, and arbitrary I'm glad it will be the discipline committee that looks into additional punishment for Brian and not an internet poll. Having said that less than 3 matches would be unrealistic to expect due to the severity of the injury (although using that as a deciding factor can certainly be debated) and more than 5 matches would be excessive based on an honest review of the play. As for the Rapids being thugs I would say they are not but they are creatures of their environment and their coach has (fairly successfully) implemented a style of 'fitba' that is pretty direct as opposed to pretty to watch.

 

I hope the MLS are a bit more rational then the seattle fans in figuring out this fiasco. I've never thought the Rapids nor Mullan to be thugs. It was an unfortunate accident, stemming from a vicious tackle. Contact sports are not always the safest profession. I can't stand the posters acting like this was some type of attempted murder, or aggravated assault.

I've never thought of the Dynamo as being thuggish either.

 

We seem to be suffering from an ugly reputation since MLS Cup, because it was a very physical game. However, from my view (and I have rewatched the game a few times) Dallas gave as good as they got. Jair Benitez is one I do not remember fondly, nor Ugo Ihemelu who I felt acted disgracefully.

As Jason has already proved, the statistics do not back up the claim that we are a dirty team. Not just in the fouls category. More physically inclined teams (generally called "thuggish" in MLS circles) also tend to be defensively minded. We were amongst the TOP goalscoring teams in MLS last year, and you don't score goals by elbowing or slide tackling players. We have the ability I believe to surpass that total this year.

Pablo Mastroeni is a physical, commanding presence in the middle of the field; a destroyer. He has always been this way. However, he is also a very good player (he was an important cog in the U.S. national team for awhile, including some great performances in the 2002 WCup). Conor Casey is a physical english styled center forward, thats his game. He will go down as one of the better goal scorers in MLS history and that isnt by accident either. Another thing I noticed is that Casey seems to be at his most physical when he feels he is being fouled or is being ignored by the Refereeing. Example; the MLS Cup. When did he become more physical? Immediately after Jair Benitez's hack on him went uncalled. He is not blameless for all of his poor tackles, but he is not a bad person or player. You will see him apologize to other players on the field for a poor foul. IMHO

Cummings, Jaime Smith, Folan, and Kosuke Kimura all seem to have the ability to beat players with skill. Larentowicz, besides being a physical CM, is a wicked deadball specialist, one of the hardest skills in the sport to master.

My point; you have to dig deeper to see a team's true colors. I watch the team consistently and know the truth. Sorry for the long post.

 

I have never used the word "thug" in reference to the Rapids or Mullan, but this foul was so reckless, ill advised and coming seconds after having complained so forcefully for a foul to be called on the oppostition that I can see why people would jump to that conculsion. Brian Mullan might not be a dirty player, let alone a "thug", but that was a dirty play:
1) no chance of getting the ball
2) coming in high with his legs folded up
3) not even looking down to check on the man before turning to the ref to complain again.

Thug? No. He's got too much talent for that label.
Dirty Player? Not sure. He has a long history in the league but frankly I haven't seen him enough.
Guilty of intentiaonally injuring an opposing player in a fit of pique? I think so.

 

There is a chance of getting the ball.

This was the problem

With the ref and the other players immediately on top of him I'm not sure he had a chance. I actually think the ref did well in his respose.

 

I think Brain is getting too old to get that ball, where a few seasons ago or maybe even midseason he makes it. Just a thought. Not to excuse him or anything.

 

Beckham's thuggishness? Ahem, did you forget that we had Dema Kovalenko on our team the past few years?

 

Thanks for your blog and this thread Jason. I had a similar vision for a thread like this but I was just going to address all the knee jerk trolling and where it originates in the BigSoccer echo chamber. My version was going to be ill researched and snarky offering little more than a few dumb jokes. This is much better.

 

I did indeed forget, though Kovalenko's worst tackles were before he joined LA. I was thinking of some of the horror tackles that Beckham has stuck in and when I think of LA hackery, Beckham is actually the first name to come to my mind. Sorry that your talented thug came to mind more readily than your untalented thug.

 

Someone posted this in the MLSN&A forum. The angle might lie, but it looks like his right foot's on the ball, it's certainly making a play on it. It's the left leg that's doing the damage.

Something else in the photos (not this one, but the others posted in MLSN&A), which I didn't notice before. Kosuke is behind Zakuani - he got caught up field. Whatever Mullan's other motivations, in that situation with the right back caught up, it was Mullan's play to make.

 

Very frustrated right now. I went over to Soccer By Ives and found this story.

Over 50% of poll respondents are calling for 10-12 game or "rest of season" suspension. The commenters were almost unified in calling for this kind of lengthy suspension. I figured I would make a comment, citing what JasonMa wrote in his blog post (and providing a link). I think I called the 10-12 game and the full season options "ridiculous" then cited precedent. I didn't use any inflammatory language, nor did I insult any of the commenters. I simply stated my opinion. And, of course, I also stated that I thought Mullan's tackle was stupid, dangerous, and deserving of the 6-9 game suspension.

Well, my comment was removed. I mean, WTF? It would have ben one thing if I had given some comment like those Dismemberment has been making on this board-- but what I said was very clear in stating that Mullan was in the wrong and deserving of suspension.

Sorry, had to vent.

 

Wouldn't be surprised if it's due to linking to another blog. Wouldn't be surprised if the Ives crew frowned upon that.

Edit: Wouldn't be surprised if I used the same opening phrase twice in a row (wouldn't be surprised if I haven't had enough coffee this morning...)

 

Hmm, I hadn't considered that as a reason. That makes a lot more sense; as I said, my comment was completely innocuous, I thought.