Just watch KC - DC for proof. every single creative player practically got broken in half in that match. and generally the worst they got was a whistle in the middle of the field. big whoop. At the end of the match Freddy had a semi break and got chopped down by Kerry Zevagnin from behind. No call. if your a creative player - why would you want to play in this league? Thugs won't let you play your game and the officials protect the thugs. After watching Youri getting flattened in that Fire match I'm guessing he never knew what he was getting into.
I agree. I see creative talent stiffled by this type of attitude that the referees have. KC is a team that has solid strong players but as for talent they are lacking. They need to get some creative players, maybe sign a quality foreigner who was not developed in the US college ranks. Adu made the game exciting but he sure got hacked, so did Quaranta. As for KC, I can see why they have attendance problems and why the ethnic fans ignore them. I feel like I'm watching a college soccer team.
I knew it was threading from the start. but it deserves to be re-aired every single week because it occurs every single week. MLS has people reading these boards and the more we bitch about this the better the chances it gets fixed. perhaps we should start a new thread every day
Creative talent? On the field? Hahaha, no, the problem was noone showed up, and both teams had all the creativity of a sack full of rocks. There was far far more physical play in the NE/SJ game, and that game was incredibly entertaining. This game wasnt thugged up, it just stunk it up.
Well, as it was somewhat touched upon in the thread link i provided.... Sure, there is thug defending and poor officiating..... Sorry, but this game was sorely lacking in creativity regardless of those aforementioned circumstances..... But there is something else i want to point out: Conservative coaching.... I mean, who else is in charge of putting so many men on defense, forget there is another goal on the other side of the field?..... Who else is so used to seeing MLS refs stink it up that they know how much their teams' D (including thugs) can get away with?.... Who else, through experience, knows that it takes so little to reach the playoffs, even if you play like crap at times and get one point here and there (fans boredom notwithstanding)..? Even more, who else knows that regardless of these crap games one point means more often than not that in the long term your job is not in much danger?
Moreno and Gomez can be creative, but Simms and Carrol couldn't pass them one good ball all night. Zavagnin needs to step up and KC maybe should be forced to start Preki cause their midfield can't bring the ball forward either. I thought Klein was rounding into form again but today he wasn't enough.
Brian Hall is a terrible official. How many hand balls did the guy miss in the first half? Then, late in the game calls that marginal handball on the KC player (Arnaud?) at midfield. No wonder Gansler went nuts. There were much clearer handballs that Hall let go and he calls that one scuttling a KC opportunity. The only thing I will give Hall credit for is giving Adu a card for diving. However, a few seconds later, he seemed to miss what was a clear foul on Adu. Maybe it is just because I am a Metro fan, but of all the officials in a league of bad officials Hall is the one who aggrevates me the most.
So I guess FIFA and all the coaches in WC2002 were wrong when he was the second highest rated referee (after Pierluigi Collina)?
Brian Hall is a very good referee. But, like everyone else on the field today, he had a bad game. Of course, the guy who taught my ref class said he is a total jerk, but that's beside the point.
He's not really a jerk, but he is quite 'political'. Unfortunately, that is a requirement that for USSF seems to be even more vital than skill and fitness to be a national/FIFA ref...
I must admit, w/o revealing results..... MOst of the other games are pretty darned decent.... What is starting to bother me right now that i think about it though, is how some of the players who are supposed to know how to keep a cool head, are not... I'm referring specifically to three USMNT members.... Mathis, when he took down a player away from the ball, a week or so ago... Was there any punishment, fine?... I do not recall any EJ and his "i faked injury" routine/ revelation to the press... Any punishment ? Just tonight, a blatant elbow from Pablo Mastroeni to a Metro forward..... Wonder if this one will be finally punished.... If we are to control thug defense and/or bad refereeing, MLS ought to start having the courage to punish those infringing the rules of the game.... even (or maybe ESPECIALLY) if it includes players from the NAts, who ought to know better..... Hopefully this is actually done, otherwise how can other players really contribute to making the games/refs respected.... Can't let stuff like this be gotten away with.....A review panel ought to be able to punish this, ala EPL.... Hoping i'm not disappointed, again......
This was more than conservative coaching. This was the exhibition where skills were absent, passing was void and any semblance to soccer was purely coincidental.