Young Players: Who were the Matchday 31 standouts? Charles Boehm Monday, Sep 9, 2024, 03:33 PM mlssoccer.com Peyton Miller Defender · New England Revolution
I don't think Miller looks as good playing on the right - but with Sands playing well, I wouldn't change it up.
The question Wiebe discusses is what the defender's arm was doing - IMO, he's using it to shove Nacho off the ball, and that shouldn't be protected usage.
It changed the direction of where the ball was heading. He had his arm maybe 6 inches out from his body, which could be argued as a "natural" position given he was going for a header, but instead of the ball bouncing toward the goal, it now went the opposite direction. The ref didn't have a good game. At least twice he got in the way of passes, which says more about his lack of positioning than anything else. He also ignored his linesman on what could have been the game winning goal, when he clearly raised his flag for a foul several seconds before they scored. Fortunately, that was a "clear and obvious" situation where even VAR couldn't screw us.