P/I/P Match 29: Revs @ CLT, Sat 9/21/24 4:00p [R]

Have no fear, Charlotte! How many times have we been just what the doctor ordered when it comes to curing a sick opponent?

 

How in god’s name is that not a handball? Unbelievable.

 

Agreed, but in a prime example of this team's softness, they get more focused on complaining about the non-call than continuing the play. Then Carles picks up a needless yellow.

 

Honestly I’m tired of this line of reasoning. Yes, the team is soft, yes, Porter is a douche, but it doesn’t matter. The refs need to do their god damn job and call obvious penalties, and at this point we’re on track to have dropped 5 points this season alone because the refs were too chickenshit to do their job. It’s hard enough to win games without the ref working against you.

 

I officially give up trying to interpret the handling law, or trying to understand how different refs can see the same things and come up with radically different interpretations, or trying to understand the purpose or process of VAR. My eyes tell me that was a handling offense, but at this point I just don't have a clue anymore.

And I totally get why they would be frustrated since the season has been crap and one of the reasons is that all of the "breaks" seem to go against them. Still...the captain talking himself into a yellow card? A coach just coming off a fine and suspension continuing to harangue the fourth official like they can do anything about it? The captain and the center back getting into a shoving match at the end of the half?

Brutal.

(I will add I saw a replay request flag thrown during a U20 WWC game recently, I think it was US-Mexico. I think that would be an interesting thing for a case like this).

 

It was (another) awful call against us...but still, my main takeaway is still that this team needs to grow up and take care of its own business. I'm not one of those "athletes are role models and should act impeccably" guys, and I actually think the ritual of arguing of a ref's decision is secretly part of the drama of the game, kind of like a hockey fight or a baseball manager going nose-to-nose with the umpire. But with this team being sooo bad, and the whininess being so excessive that it seems to have a direct impact on performance - I can't help holding it against them. And it all starts with Porter. I'm sick of it.

 

This my take as well. Calls should even out over time. I'm also not a fan of blaming others for your failures. Mentally tough teams in any sport play through this stuff and keep grinding. This team seems to fall apart whenever something negative happens.

 

Now 2-0. Parker asleep. Lima on…..

 

Red to Borrero…..

 

That needs to be his last appearance in a Revs uniform. You can't have childish behavior.

 

3-0. Like the Montreal away game in reverse.

 

Porter out. It's not just that they suck. It's that they're so dislikable - by far the most dislikable team I've ever tried to root for. I don't recall ever have such a negative feeling about my own team.

Not only has Porter managed to make each player the worst version of themselves in footballing terms, but he also seems to have made them the worst version of themselves in terms of character.

Yes, the refereeing has been awful, to an almost laughable extent. But what, do we seriously think there's some anti-Rev conspiracy? If the string of bad decisions comes down to anything other than luck, it's probably that the team have made themselves so insufferable that refs subconsciously favor their opponents.

Porter OUT. If nothing else, give me a team of lovable losers.

 

It’s not that there’s an anti-Revs conspiracy. It’s that the league clearly loves some teams and the refs are predisposed to give those teams the benefit of the doubt on any close call. The Revs will never be in that boat. There may be some seasons where the bad calls even out on both sides, but then there will be other seasons where we get the shaft, and this season is one of those. Again, ask yourself if Inter Miami gets that as a penalty today? Same question for the one against St Louis, and the one against Toronto, and the one against NYC in the Leagues Cup.

I’d be thrilled for Porter to get canned, and even more thrilled for Bilello and Onalfo to get fired into the sun, but look, the Revs are an unfashionable team, and so they’re going to get boned by the refs from time to time, and it sucks.

 

On the plus side, Arreaga's assist on the first goal was a thing of beauty

Even Vrioni would have had trouble not scoring with that set up

 

I pretty much agree with everybody's comments about the team being soft. The Revs have played 29 games and scored 32 goals, basically 1 goal a game, if you take out the 5 goals against Montreal it's below 1 goal a game. I understand the frustration of all the calls going against your team, but if you can't score goals, you're not going to win anyway. They might need to focus more on scoring goals than complaining to the ref. When I coached I used to tell the players that they needed to focus on the game and not argue with the ref. Arguing with the ref was my job during games, their job was to play soccer.

 

The only thing impressive about Bilello is how he is able to NEVER get any sh*t on himself in Kraft’s eyes. Anyway, what’s the point? Kraft soccer - the eternal home of mediocrity. Why would they want to do any better.

 

What kills me (besides their record): as others have observed, they are boring to watch. Case in point: I tuned in MLS 360 towards the end of the 7:30 matches. The finishes of Columbus - Orlando and RBNY - Atlanta were riveting, with multiple goals for either side, some in stoppage time. We have nothing this interesting to watch.

 

On the plus side... I didn't actually watch the game.

Like the rest of you, I've been beaten down by the crap performances, the whingeing, the hopelessness.

Porter has to take the fall for this. There's enough talent on this roster for us to be a mid-table team, and we aren't anywhere close.

 

The problem is they're trying to change the way the rules are applied to take out any judgment or ambiguity to support var. Like they did with that stupid rule that disallowed goals if the ball touched the hand or arm of a player on the scoring team whether it met the criteria of handling or not.

 

No way they can Porter after this year, Kraft isn't going to pay salaries for 2 coaches at the same time. This is despite the fact that we should have been about 3 or 4 in the east with the players we have. It's all about bad luck, he'll say, pointing out that we haven't got a PK for us at all this year. Wail, if you never put yourself in a position to get one (like dribbling into the box, forcing a defender to lunge) PKs aren't going to appear out of nowhere. But it doesn't help when you have only Vrioni and Wood as your strikers, and Onalfo wasn't smart enough to see what literally every single fan saw.

A former manager used to say, "yuh ken blame thu rafferee effyalake, but a thu endathadey, yuh gut tae a loo a yuurself inna mirra." These are words Porter needs to hear, and I would be happy to translate for him.

 

Agreed. I am absolutely mortified for the ref AND the VAR assistant for that non-call.

I'm usually not one to berate refs too much, but this is the straw that breaks the camel's back. I mean, I thought our lack of PKs was just bad luck and not creating enough threatening chances, but after seeing this I can't help but wonder.

Why is it that we always get screwed on PK and VAR decisions (or in this case not even going to VAR)?

I get it, the guy didn't mean to hand ball it, but neither did Carles in the Orlando game. This one was ten times worse than the Carles one, so no wonder why Carles of all people was super upset.

Shame on the league!