Comments on: USSF Says Red for Torress Not Warranted

By: twotone

twotone — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 01:16:15 +0000

guess who got cautioned for diving this weekend?

By: twotone

twotone — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:43:21 +0000

US Soccer governs the referees, not MLS. They cannot suspend the player for diving. only MLS can do that. They can, however, suspend the referee for making a poor decision.

By: saban

saban — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:42:23 +0000

I meant absolved of blame if not in consequence. And sorry, I missed that this was USSF finding not league. Mea culpa.

By: bob1007

bob1007 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:24:08 +0000

saban…

I had no idea the league absolved Torres of the red card. Where did you find this information as I can’t find it anywhere?

By: saban

saban — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:42:28 +0000

I stand by my original statement.

I’m calling out how the league handled the matter. This involves how they handled Torres, Quanranta, and the ref.

They had decisions to make regarding each. They absolved Torres of the red correctly, and punted on Quaranta & threw the ref under the bus with the weak statement,

“…take appropriate time to evaluate and analyze the situation prior to issuing the red card.”

What’s a ref to do, hold a seance? Poll the fans? Flip a coin? Seek inner peace?

The most he can do is ask the lineman. What if after calling the fould and pointing to the spot, he consults with the linesman about issuing a red card, and the linesman says “It shouldn’t be a PK”.?

Refs can’t/won’t do that.

By: bob1007

bob1007 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:30:05 +0000

^^^^^^
While this is true, the league does have the capability to reviews such issues. While they can’t overturn the final outcome of the match, the league can correct an error to an individual player that was wronged by lifting his suspension/fine that was erroneously implemented in the first place.

By: texgator

texgator — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:18:41 +0000

Guys…the USSF doesn’t issue suspensions for MLS games…the league does.

As for the idea of “Better paid” referees to solve the problem, do I need to remind you that horrible missed calls exist in EVERY league at EVERY level and even happen at the World Cup?? Refeering is not a perfect science…even the best miss calls. The standard of never missing a call is impossible, and you will never be statisfied.

By: jonesing

jonesing — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:18:20 +0000

Jason apparently you failed to read the complete article and missed this:

“Note: The focus of this clip is the potential DOGSO event and not whether a foul actual exists. Hence, when viewing the clip, assume that the defending team has committed a foul. ”

You missed the point. The article is specifically on the topic of Red card no red card and both examples only talk about whether the red card was warranted or not.

By: Big B

Big B — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:01:35 +0000

US Soccer didn’t say it wasn’t a foul, just that a red card wasn’t warranted. For the sake of training refs, they assumed the foul. So I don’t think they’re throwing the ref under the bus.

In fact, by not treating the “foul” separately, they seem to be sticking by the PK call and just saying that the ref only erred in judgment between yellow and red cards. Thus, no suspension for diving. Which is ridiculous. This would have been a good opportunity to discuss the fact that going down multiple steps after incidental contact is not a foul. Or a PK. Or a card.

Agreed that US Soccer needs to demand better from its refs or find new refs. Too many bad calls (like the PK and red card last Saturday) directly affect the outcome of games across MLS. That and I’m tired of seeing seat-belt soccer (i.e. clutch and grab) and ultra-physical play go unpunished (see Dyanmo, Houston on both counts).

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:48:29 +0000

You all missed the point. If they said that Torres “only” deserved a yellow, then they’re saying that the call for a foul was correct. The two go hand in hand, as the USSF would have made a statement if the entire play was incorrect.