Oh please. I'm sorry, this game may just be 30min in, but this has been ridiculous..... Tell me Mastroni didn't deserve a yellow and Cunningham didn't take one of the worst dives ever. That was incredible.
Definately a red on Marshall. Last man AND a tackle from behind. And who the ******** is the play-by-play idiot??? He just said that Fernando Clavijo played for the United States in the 1982 World Cup!!!
I'm arguing against a red on Marshall. The laws say "obvious goalscoring opportunity," not "last man back," and that angle wasn't all that easy. The tackle from behind argument -- in principle, perhaps, but not in precedent.
Direction is one of the main principles of a straight red for Denial of an Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity, so if he was angling away from goal, you're right, it shouldn't have been a red.
He wasn't angling away from goal, but he was at the side of the box. He needed to do a lot of work to create a good angle. Not a sure thing at all.
The law also says any violent, intentional tackle from behind should be a red--Marshall's tackle met both criteria. He spiked him hard on the Achilles and wasn't even close to the ball. That's a red, folks. Plus Hall bought the Cunningham dive. Another poor showing in crucial moments from the "supposed" best ref in the U.S.
Hall was horrendous in the Dallas/Colorado game. I mean horrible, and I normally don't complain about refs because I used to be one, and I know how hard it is. Didn't Hall just get selected referee of the year? Hall had me singing "I'm blind, I'm deaf, I want to be a ref" at the FCD/Rapids game.
Let's just hope he is not the ref at MLS Cup. Is it possible to rescind his "Referee of the Year" award?
Anybody who saw any of the Fire games Hall reffed this year knows that Hall is incompetent. Him being named ref of the year is a sad joke and shows how poor MLS refs are.
Hall was embarassing. I thought Marshall should have seen red for the violent slide from behind, not for denying an obv. goal scoring opp. or being last man. Hall gave a card on a no-contact dive. Didn't give Mastro a 2nd yellow. BUT, hey, it wasn't Hall's fault that Cunningham was so bad. Or Kirovski.
is Hall on schedule to "embarrass" his home country at WC '06?? methinks he was the highest rated CONCACAF referee. btw, i'm not saying he's bad ... i'm using your guys's language, that's why it's in quotes.
I didn't really understand the called-back corner kick. Was the foul committed by LA? - in which case advantage should be played to Colorado. Or, was the foul committed by Colorado? - in which case shouldn't it be a goal kick to LA? Hall blew the whistle after the ball was played, which makes it a live ball no? What is the rule for fouls on dead ball situations? Anyway, I had high hopes seeing Hall in person in Salt Lake this year. I was quite disappointed with how he called both games. I think MLS refs need a little competition from the bench and probably higher pay. They are so important to the quality of the sport.
Strangely enough, Hall has received very strong reviews at every international tournament he has worked, and has done fairly well officiating CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers. I've watched many of his MLS matches, and a good number of his international matches, and wondered how they could possibly be the same man. His worst international matches are better than his best MLS matches.
My other justification for showing Marshall red on the tackle - in addition to "from behind" and "cleats up" is how far away he was when he began his slide and how far away he was from the ball when he committed the foul. Clearly, no attempt to play the ball in a reckless and violent manner.
I thought the Marshall tackle was a red card. Close enough to DOGSO, and a bad tackle from behind besides. No guts from the ref there. Hall had some VERY bad moments, but he was an improvement over the refs for the last 2 LA playoff games against SJ, who let things get out of hand. Okulaja for the 1st game, and I can't remember the 2nd guy - Vaughn?
Do you think his realization that he should have red carded maestroni and didn't had anything to do with his not issuing a red card? I felt it should have been a red card as well, at least that was my initial reaction, I haven't had a chance to go back and review the play yet.
The only thing that makes sense to me is that it was a foul on LA before the ball was kicked, and he was criminally slow in blowing the whistle and stopping play.