Major Link Soccer - It Is What It Is

by Dave Clark on Sep 19, 2011 9:56 AM PDT in Major League Soccer: News & Analysis

The Seattle Sounders came away with another victory and carrying another injury. The 3-0 victory was a bit more than the numbers suggest, but Sagarin sees Seattle as strong against an average team at home so it wasn't unexpected. Seattle and Real Salt Lake are also the two teams with 7 wins against top 8 teams in MLS. The full extent of the injury to Mauro Rosales won't be known until later today, but step one is who will start Tuesday in Champions League play.

As injuries to special players mount up it has become more and more common to blame it on the quality of refereeing. It almost certainly isn't that simple. The mix of player quality, playing conditions, playing style and the referees are all a factor according to the Shin Guardian. But one of the myths that USSF doesn't review decisions should be thoroughly debunked now. Still, let's understand that in no league is anyone satisfied with the quality of referees. It is vital for USSF and MLS to get better, but no one will ever be satisfied. There will always be injuries. There will always be bad referees in sport. It is what it is.

Don Garber continues to talk expansion, but this time there is more nuance. It is no longer a key component to the business strategy of the League. They definitely want to be in New York, but aren't limiting talks to just NYC. Vegas, Minnesota and Florida still seem a bit in play. Comments last week that made it seem as if the league was stopping at 20 were ratcheted back. But it is clear, they aren't in a hurry and they don't need to expand after 20.

If you think it is odd that the USA is pursuing dual citizen's Jurgen Klinsman points to massive soccer nations like France and Germany that have used the same technique to improve their fortunes. If the pattern continues maybe we'll see more dual English, South Korean, Italian and someday Iraq and Afghan players? Currently a majority of these dual citizens are related to US military bases overseas.

CCL opponent CS Herediano continues to roll. Their most recent win saw them put 5 on the board and a second shutout. CSD Comunicaciones fell in league play 0-1. CF Monterrey hasn't had strongest season andfell to Cruz Azul 1-2. FMFStateOfMind will be recapping the league's action later today or tomorrow.

The University of Washington's men's team went to Texas picking up a win and a weather cancellation. Brett Richards (4 goals in 5 starts) has been strong and it will be interesting to see Portland try to claim they developed a player when they didn't have an MLS Academy and he was over 18 when he played for their PDL side.

Buried in the sidebar as a FanPost you will find the current all competitions PP90 chart. Fredy Montero joined the group of men with a greater than 1.00 number.

Alliance Council voting for 2012 is active. We just had a meeting which will result in what should be significant news that will define the Democracy in Sports concept more than ever before. There will of course be a large post on that when we go public. I need only 4 votes. There are weekly updates on vote totals to make this a bit more transparent.

Lastly, Dizzo had something come up and so I'm covering. Huge thanks to him for doing this twice a week. I just learned his process. Hopefully you find these a service.

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I definitely find these posts valuable.

by ryanhealy on Sep 19, 2011 10:32 AM PDT reply actions 5 recs

We shouldn't conflate all those factors...

…some are inherent to the sport while some are things that can be dramatically improved upon, like refs who don’t whistle overly violent play and a league that refuses to retroactively penalize the play when a ref misses it.

Pressuring refs and the league to protect players could dramatically improve the situation. It’s a mistake to say that reffing is the only cause of injuries, but it’s also a mistake to hide behind the straw man that players can always get hurt, so there’s no reason to try and make it safer.

It’s a good thing that fans and coaches are highlighting the most obvious and most controllable of those factors in an effort to make things safer (not perfectly safe, but safer) for the players.

by mrbs on Sep 19, 2011 10:46 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs

I set up no straw man that there's no reason to try and make it safer

In fact I’ve written about specific ideas on how to improve things. I would also add two other changes. Official hand&arm signals for the nature of the infraction. Only the captains and the players actually involved in the play can talk to the ref.

But Rosales wasn’t hurt on a violent play. If you insist on calling that play violent, rather than just a typical hard foul, than Alonso, Parke and Scott will never finish a game.

I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart

by Dave Clark on Sep 19, 2011 12:43 PM PDT up reply actions

You're right

I was being more general in both cases (both in people setting up a straw man not being you, and in violent play not being the Mauro hit).

That being said, I think the reffing and the league policies should be highlighted as the things we should try to get changed, instead of being grouping them with all the possible causes of injuries (maybe bad artificial turf falls in there too, but that’s a bigger issue).

I’d support all the ideas you posited in the linked article, too.

by mrbs on Sep 19, 2011 1:08 PM PDT reply actions

(sigh, reply fail)

by mrbs on Sep 19, 2011 1:09 PM PDT up reply actions

From the headline-

I read this entire post in the voice of an angry Dennis Green.

by Wisepunk on Sep 19, 2011 2:45 PM PDT reply actions

Bad referees are part of the game.

Fans who complain about bad referees are part of the game.
Analysts, who point out that bad referees are part of the game, are part of the game.
And now, for the the first time in the history of soccer,
a fan, who points out that analysts, who point out that bad referees are part of the game, are part of the game, is a part of the game.

by Eastside Ajacied on Sep 19, 2011 9:08 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

You sir get a rec!

by SoundersForever on Sep 20, 2011 12:22 PM PDT up reply actions

Is Alex Prus retiring?

In a September 18 tweet, he said he is “thinking about hanging my whistle at the end of this season”. Too bad because he’s one of the few good referees in the league.

by Eastside Ajacied on Sep 19, 2011 9:11 PM PDT reply actions