Great Post by Flying Tomato

It's good to see Trudo back in the blogosphere (I wonder who figured out how to register for him) - his latest post (see below) is a beauty and I can't agree more. I know the ref is proud (justifiably) of his reffing skills, but all of the defending of the refereeing in the Prem etc has to stop. Granted, most of the time the refs do a decent job (world cup excepted- I continue to maintain that the performance of the officials in Germany was scandalous) but these guys are mostly part-timers who make way too many glaring mistakes and the game has to see a few changes. One, as Trudo says and which I said over the summer, football at the highest levels isn't suited for one ref. The biggest complaints that I have heard about adding another on-field official comes from refs who seem to see such a suggestion as a threat to their manliness. Two, technology needs to be embraced: for goal line decisions and to analyze diving (do this after a match and give out cards retroactively), perhaps even to get offsides calls and penalties right if this can be done without interrupting the flow of the game. Third, diving and all the theatrics have to go. As just said, use video replay and give out heavy penalties for simulation. Fine the coaches while you are at it- if Jose or Arsene had to pay everytime Drogba or one of the Arsenal starlets acted like they were shot from the stands, this stuff would stop in a heartbeat.

The Ref = Sympathizer

The Ref seemingly cannot go one minute without posting about the mistreatment of refs. Here is what i have to say on the topic: get over it. While the ref does get an ungodly amount of unfair and cruel criticism all over the world, I feel that endlessly supporting them is neither helpful nor constructive. In fact the whole debate over which calls are right and which are wrong, and what player did what and what the referee saw etc ad nauseum...solely serves to distract us from the real point. With the game as fast-paced as it is, and with certain players (not excluding Arsenal lads) bent on diving, girl-slapping and other theatrics, the modern football match needs more referee presence on the field. It is all well and good to say that Graham Poll was right or Howard Webb could not see the action. The linesmen are not there to carefully observe fouls and other goings-on and should not be expected to do so. The conflict will end when there are two head referees on the field. Full stop. No more Mourinho/Ferguson whining. No more Arsene Wenger blindness and existential philosophy. No more Jordan love-dogging to every under fire manager. 2 refs, 1 field, better game full stop.

Has to End

Ok so I just posted last night about some other good stuff so go down a little and check that out. But right now I need to get this out there. Referees DO NOT SCORE GOALS.. THEY DO NOT FOUL.. THEY DO NOT HAVE CRAPPY DEFENSES... THEY DO NOT HAVE HORRIBLE TEAM FORMATIONS IN THE STARTING LINEUP...

I say this because Wenger is now coming out and saying that the linesman is a liar in the case of saying that Adebayor should have been sent off. He got Lampard to say he was not hit by Adebayor. Yet Wenger doesnt say anything that Lamps back was turned and that all that Adebayor needed to do to get a red was attempt to throw a punch. And now Warnock is also coming in and saying that referees lie and that it should be investigated. Look I understand the pressure that the Premiership could have on a coach, especially one in Wenger's position of having to win a trophy (whens the last?) or Warnock who needs to avoid the drop... but in the end their team winning is on them and not the referee. Wenger now has a meeting with the FA to explain himself and I hope with his French accent he just, uhhhh hoooww doo you say, je ne sais pas, i do uhhh not know, trips over himself. This is the stuff that once the FA can prove is a crock of bull needs to take down Warnock and Wenger...

Oh yea Wenger - Eboue got his three match ban as well, classy english (ooops cancel that) team you got there..

Please someone tell me I am going insane here and all this crap isnt true, where is the redhead to defend his coach when you need him?

More of the same...

So over the past week we have seen some great games... Arse v Chelsea, ManU v Reading, and then Arse v Blackburn...

Everything swirling around Arse again because of their tries to get the suspensions lifted of their players for violent conduct. As I said before, Howard Webb did a great job in getting everything settled, taking his assistants advice and then dolling out justice. He gave Mikel and Toure reds before being at the start of the fight. And with that the FA came down and handed Toure a suspension and I believe Mikel one too. If you look at the replays the red and the suspension is hard done on Mikel, I know I am a Chelsea fan so I am biased but if you take a step back all Mikel tries to do is get away from the situation... Now here is where Wenger gets in the way, he does not believe Adebayor should have gotten his red even though replays show him coming in and throwing a punch, and Eboue gets off free in the end as well with his punch on W. Bridge. Like I have said, Wenger needs to come out and discipline his own players in the press, they are not perfect! this latest thing is ludicrous.

ManU v Reading - FA Cup 5th round Replay
Great game and unbelievable first 6 minutes. ManU destroyed a back four that had no communication and was basically invisible. However the red devils should consider themselves lucky cause in the end they deserved the extra half hour at least fight their way back to a respectable 3-2 defeat. I like that Howard Webb got to follow up the Carling Cup final with this game, it shows that the FA is behind their referees. I will still be partial to Reading for giving some Americans a chance and its unfortunate that Bobby is out for the rest of the season.


Arse v Blackburn - FA Cup 5th round Replay
The whistle sounded a lot I will give the critics that. Mr. Poll was up to his usual antics and I believed the game was going to end with a goal on a freekick. However McCarthy's goal was a piece of brillance and Senderos needs to check himself because he was horrible throughout the game. The one-nil scoreline is what many expected from the previous clash between the teams. The only American in the game, Friedel, made some great saves and the first 20 minutes had some great pace. The short passes were excellent. Another thing to come of this game is to show the bias of Football365.com. I usually like how they have opinions, they have a great referee section, and their articles are usually better that BBC and Soccernet, YET they have such a thing for Arse its rediculous. Everytime Arse lose its cause of the ref or the other team's lack of offensive football and everytime Tottenham win its because of the ref or some luck. This time they take it out of Mr. Poll who has the ManU v Liverpool game this weekend. Headline seen below:


Hopefully you can read that. I know Poll has made his mistakes such as the WC and one or two this season in the EPL but this is insane. The first was a clear dive and the 2nd would have been iffy at best.

looking forward to the weekend

Carling Cup Champions

Ahhh yes the first hardware of the year handed out to none other than the blues.... Since I havnt heard back from my red-headed friend (The one Arse fan amongst us - See the bottom photo) I will use the internets to show my celebration. I caught a little of the first half and then the last 25 minutes of the second.

First off credit to youngster Walcott for an amazing first goal and showing that England do have something to look forward to. From my understanding the gunners had excellent starts to both halves but just lost steam. On a note about the whole "young gunner" thing, yes Arse did play some of their younger players maybe 4 or 5 that dont normally start but if you looked at their bench and the people that came on (Helb, Adebayor, and Eboue) how much younger were they than normal? More on Arse - the stand in Captain should be ashamed of himself, the foul was miniscule and then for him to start a fight with such precious time to go? rediculous. Adebayor to also throw a punch or two when he came on as a sub and had a full load of steam to get one back. rediculous.

More on the fight. Howard Webb did a great job dealing with it. He tried to break up the original tussle but then let the teammates work it out and just took in everything that happened and was correct to send of Adebayor which was the hardest card to call because it happened in the thick of things. However I wonder what his reasoning is for the red card on Mikel was for... Mikel did commit a foul but then for Toure to come at him, Mikel did a lot to step away from the fight and not allow things to continue. He might have done a little shove back to give himself some space, i have no problems with the card, i think both had to be sent off if one was gone but Mikel was obviously upset because he had tried to get away from the situation. Webb should also be credited for handling the John Terry situation brillantly and relaying information to Jose and the Chelsea bench, he should receive a lot of applause for noticing it was a head injury and getting the right people involved. Overall Webb did a great job taking in information and talking to his other officials.

Now onto the champions!!! Chelsea were underfire at the start of both halves but they showed their composure. Especially after Terry went down again, and if you see the kick to the face it is unbelievable that he was back at the stadium to celebrate 2 hours later. Lamps showed his skill by leading his team on the charge after the incident - sparking interest back into the match with a long range shot that powerfully hit the crossbar. Once again I would like to point out that Sheva made a difference. He was a threat that had to be watched and thus drew attention away from Drogba. Sheva had a brillant strike only a little later that also hit the cross bar. Now finally to the man of the match - Drogba. If people arent talking about him as being the best striker they should be. Two more goals his 27th and 28th of the season should show that he is a force to be reckoned with.

Overall a great win and a great game that just was unfortunatly hurt with the injury to Terry and the brawl at the end.. I wonder what the Frenchman will say now and just which peice of hardware will be next.

Brief note

Love the new design! Good job, Ref.

My CL Recap

So I was thinkin about trying to so some live blogging on my thoughts on the game but that was too tedious of a task after being up since 7:30 and having to sit through 3 straight classes. I know its not a tough life but eh I was fore-going my afternoon nap for the games. Plus my internet broadcast from China was slacking on sound for the Chelsea game while being perfect for the 'pool-barca game. So my thoughts:

Chelsea 1-1 Porto
As the red head of the group will certainly be proud the underdogs held the visitors to a draw. Terry being out for the Carling Cup and being taken to the locker room was not a good sight to see. The defense looked horrible with him on the sidelines until the sub was put in and Essien being dropped down to the defense. Essien I believe has to be one of the most underrated players in the world, he has truly shown his world class status this season with the different possitions he has played and the stuff he has done. With Robben in the game it was a world of difference and that led to our goal. Sheva, I believe and I know meanbaldguy will say different, is coming into his form. While it might be late, he has scored goals recently. Totals are 9 goals in 35 total first team showings, but think of the recent goals in FA and League Cup games - along with a few prem goals (Maybe he is a fantasy pick up?). My confusion from the game is taking Robben out at halftime, it didnt seem to do anything for the match. But I will take the tie going back to the Bridge and look forward to the game in Cardiff this weekend.

Barca 1-2 'Pool
Ok so I had the sound on for this game but wasnt paying as close attention. Of course the story line is that the two golfers connected to win the game for the mersysiders. Bellamy and Riise both got their goals. Bellamy got a great game after all the reports saying he is done for at liverpool and that should help him stay with the club but who knows. Barca seemed lost going into halftime with the score tied and came out lost for the second half. The return leg should be interesting.

in response to the trudo comment in the cl recap yesterday:
Ok you think we are bashing on Wenger but get this he deserves it. Jose gets it plenty but think about the last time you read in the news something about Jose. As someone pointed out on F365, we havnt heard him complain in over a month now - check the chelsea news reports there is nothing there. now about Sir Alex there is no doubt he plays the media and plays it to his advantage - i am thinking about Worldwide Soccer manager and playing mind games with the the opponents. But if we are talking about the ManU game, he has plenty of reason to complain because that was disgusting the way Lille reacted to getting scored on and from the reports the fans were being crushed. And I am not hating on the French cause I am mostly french in heritage and I love my french-ness - hell they created democracy (think of ricky bobby and finish it).. But Wenger needs a change of policy on his comments cause he should come out against Henry's dive and taunting against wigan - a captain should act better. he should come out against Jens and all the stunts he pulls. and he should come out in cases not just saying the other team decided to play deep and protect the ball - honestly come on..

enough for now - i get some rest

Yesterday's CL action

Watched the end of the Arsenal/PSV game and then watched the taped replay of the Real/Bayern game on ESPN Classic. A couple of comments: first, it is good to see that ESPN finally deems it worthy to show a second game in lieu of highlights from the 1959 NBA championships or the 1999 Strongest Man Competition- a small victory for football but a victory nonetheless. Second, Arsenal is eminently stoppable and despite all their young starlets I am not buying them as the side of the future. If you play at all physically (go Blackburn!) they run away and hide. I know it was only a 1- nil loss on the road and they probably will win big at the Emirates in two weeks, but I couldn't be happier- if Arsene would only go back to France. Finally, the Real game was fascinating in a lot of respects. Despite Seamus Malin's fawning, Beckham did in fact play a superb 60 minutes of football- agressive, with pace (shocking) and smart- probably the best player on the pitch until the team went into a stupefying defensive shell which convinces me yet again that Capello is not the right man for this job (not that I have a clue who is). Robinho's insertion did nothing and he looked like a circus act- dribble around like a lunatic and see if something happens. The replay in Munich should be fascinating. Can't wait for today's action.

The Federation at its finest

I already sent this article to the red haired memeber of the group but I will post it here as well..
From reading this second article my first understanding has changed...

The whole rotation to awarding the World Cup based on regions and confederations is a great idea, largely in part because South Africa deserves to host the Cup and could use the money. With South America backing Brasil it should be interesting to see if anything comes of their lack of infastructure and proper stadiums. My understanding before re-reading the second article is that in 2018 the Cup was going back to Europe. But actually FIFA has not decided which confederation will get the nod. Of course with England stating that they had the backing of the Government and more say on IFAB they could out run us from the get go. However there are plenty of anti-england fans right now on the world stage especially since they got the 2012 Olympics. Yet is that enough to out weigh the anti-america stuff going on right now?

In the end I would love for us to get the 2018 WC but in the short term I would love even more a new USSF president

A long time coming

I take time away from the necessary work that must be done due to my recent illness to write about the game right now. As my tag suggests being "the ref" I feel that I must comment on the recent stuff going against refs right now. Just recently wigan v arse P. Dowd was given a stern talking to from the wigan organization because of his handling of the situation.

I think back in the day to my beloved Gtown Hoyas and when Coach Esherick went off on Big East referees and their handling of Mike Sweetney. Yet he came out at referees after a WIN not a loss. As he stated it would have otherwise been seen as sour grapes. Much like it did seem with Paul Jewell. There is much difference with Bball and soccer in this matter because many more fouls are called I believe in Bball and its much more of a stop and start sport. In soccer you can look at replays and see individual things that in Bball are more technicalities.

How this relates to Wigan. Well this is more for me to go off on the bastards at Arse than anything. Wenger is such a tool, he should be coming out against Jens but doesnt. Ok I digress and will be here - JENS is a bastard. What type of Goalie gets 5 yellow cards in a season and has to sit out? All of them being either for time wasting or running at the referee or at an opposing team player. He is ridiculous and should be sent back to Germany - prolly the best move Ill ever agree to with Wenger is to not sign Jens up for another season. Back to the topic. Wenger should have come out and said his opinion about Dowd. Given Wigan more credit because they didnt deserve to lose 3-1 and should have been up 2-nil to begin with. And if anyone complains about referees it is Wenger, Paul Jewell has been a decent man on the sidelines unlike his arsenal counterpart.

In the end Dowd got a lot of hell. Some of it deserved although it should be interesting to see what comes of him talking back to the players supposedly. That he used "industrial language" when you see Rooney make a fool of himself every time he talks to a ref.

Now the upcoming Champions League. My predictions - Arsenal lose after playing wigan in extra time and then a boring draw to blackburn over the span of 4 days last week. Chelsea pull out the win away either that or get an important away goal draw. Ronaldhino v Liverpool is of course the game to watch and with the recent news at both Liverpool and Barca it should be interesting who is more motivated.

thats all for now

Best take on the Beckham stuff

With all of the Becks haters trashing him and the apologists (like me) calling him one of the best passers ever, the link below offers some of the fairest reviews of his career and his decision to come the US.

HERE

What I want the draw to be

Ahh the Champions League Draw is set for tomorrow and if only I had my ways, although I am sure UEFA will have theres...

Liverpool v Barca - get one of the bastards to knock off the other bastards
Manchester United v Real Madrid - Make Beckham's return be for other than a Charity Game
Arsenal v  Celtic - have to have an English team take on a Scottish team
O. Lyon v Roma - So Scott wouldnt be able to watch his team on ESPN 2 once again
AC Milan v PSV - What can I say? I like this match up
Chelsea v Lille - So Drogba could speak French on the field
Valencia v Porto - Battle of the Iberian Peninsula
Bayern v Inter - The only other remaining big clubs eliminate one of the others from the Competition


my guess - uefa will get 'pool to play celtic and arse to play barca, manu will get lille, chelsea v porto cause of the jose connection

we shall see

Adieu Adu!

The Freddy Adu era is over at DC United. Bout time. While he may turn out to be among the best players ever is soccer, the betting here is that it's not going to happen and I'd be surprised if he makes that large an impact on soccer's larger stages. He's a good player, has shown flashes of excellence, but they've been too few to warrant the salary he's commanded from DCU and MLS (over $500,000). Part of the problem has been his attitude: he arrived at DCU expecting to start and play 90 minutes every game. But he was only 14! And there's a world of difference playing among other teenagers and playing against folks who started their professional careers before he was born!

Not all of this was his fault. He was signed in part to put MLS on the world map and this was too large a burden to place on the shoulders of someone so young. And I think he bought too much into the Adu hype going on around him, thinking that he was better than he is, and not working hard enough to get better.

Maybe he'll flourish at Real Salt Lake in a central midfield role or as a striker. But at DCU he clearly was not better than either Moreno or Gomez, so there was no way he was going to start in place of either of them. So in the long run, perhaps this is one of those deals that helps both teams as well as the players involved: DCU deals away an attitude problem and gets the right to replace him with a foreign player as well as a draft pick; RSL gets a "star," who may help them draw fans to their home games.

Of course, this depends on how long he stays state-side. Adu worked out with ManU recently and turns 18 next summer. He wants to play with a European club, but wonder whether he'd accept a second level club or agree to sign with a club like ManU with an understanding that he'll be on loan to a bottom table club for a season or two. As hungry as ManU may be for better off-the-bench options late in games, that role probably would not sit well with Adu and I don't think he's ready for the speed and strength of the English game. I can't imagine him replacing any of the starters for ManU or any of the better clubs in the top leagues at this point in his development.

Also leaving DCU is Nick Rimando, who lost his starting keeper's job to Troy Perkins this past season. Not to take anything away from Perkins (who was named top MLS goalkeeper in 2006), I always thought Rimando did a solid job for United. Here's hoping he has better luck -- and stays healthy -- with RSL.

chelsea looks unimpressive (again)

yes they should have won- the two hit posts in the dying moments were heartbreaking- but this team is going backward until they unclog the midfield. playing with 4 central midfield players (any of which i would be happy to see at Man U, except maybe for Ballack- he is stealing Roman's money) is nuts and the congestion it produces is startling. they looked so much more a threat once Robben and swp were introduced (no thanks to swp who continues to waste away into something resembling an MLS player- it shows there is a cost when you sell your soul to the devil for a few pounds). i am not sure what his greatness is thinking about, but this is not working.

Klinsmann withdraws from consideration!

ESPN is reporting that Jurgen Klinsmann has withdrawn his name from consideration for the USMNT head coach position. The article notes:

"Klinsmann, in a statement sent to ESPN, said: 'Sunil [Gulati] and I have concluded our discussions about the U.S. men's national team program, and I have withdrawn my name from consideration as coach. I'm not going to go into details about our conversations. But, I certainly want to wish the next coach of the U.S. men's national team much success, and I want to, also, thank Sunil for the opportunity to exchange ideas.'"

Apparently, the problem was neither money nor the potential Nike/Addidas conflict. Rather, the issue was control of the program. According to Fox Soccer Channel, "there had always been the question of whether or not Klinsmann would accept the culture of U.S. Soccer. Power, and the sharing of it, was said to be a consistent theme in the talks and it could be that despite agreeing in principle, the two parties could not settle on an agreement that would give Klinsmann the autonomy he desired."

Fox is also reporting that for now, Bob Bradley, the Chivas USA coach, will lead the team on an interim basis as it prepares for friendlies against Denmark and Mexico.

This is a stunning disappointment and it lends support to the Ref's comment earlier this week that what the US MNT needs is not only a strong coach, but new civilian leadership at the top. If team control is the make or break issue, one has to wonder whether the team would be more successful if the coach has the authority to make player personnel decisions as opposed to other team management officials. Given the results from Germany, I'd have had no doubts about trying it Klinsmann's way until such time as it proved unsuccessful.

I think

US Soccer needs a new president

The Ref Gets His "7"

Just got word from the Ref: a very high score on his recert exam coupled with fast times on the 12 minute run and the two sprints: Ref is now a Grade 7 referee! Way to go! Shows what hard work and studying can do for you (the same type of dedication he's bring to his college course work, to be sure ;-) ).

England

Will never have success with all the attention that the press gives them.... Saying McClaren is NUTS on the cover of the sports page the day of a hyped friendly doesnt exactly give confidence to the players or the country. Unity supports the players... The olympics can be an example of a country coming together behind a team and winning like "the miracle on ice" or more recently the Ivory Coast and getting into the world cup. But it should be the opposite. I believe that the trudo wrote in one of his college essays that France united together after they won the WC in 98. It was a diverse team and they were winning and it was uniting a country that has many differences.
So through all this it leaves me to believe that England just have to win for any unity to happen. The problem is how many games do they have to win. Red Sox fans are still in a daze after winning the World Series over 2 years ago, yet put that in major competition form for England (such as Euro and WC) and England would never be satisfied.

So in the end I am going to sit back and watch England self destruct

Chelsea whining must stop

Today sees another article (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=390277&cc=5901) with a Chelsea player complaining about the ref. This all comes from the top, with Jose seemingly whining after every game. I watched the game vs tottenham, and felt that Graham Poll (The Ref's favorite) did a fine job- Drogba did push off on the disallowed goal, albeit ever so slightly but it doesn't take much of a shove to get someone off balance, Terry did seem overly agressive after the incident in front of the goal and shame on him for doing so when he had a card already. Chelsea pushes everything to the edge- hard fouls, not moving back from the ball for free kicks, diving, complaining about everything during the game- and they have since Jose got there. All of which is fine, but then take your yellow cards with some grace when they come.

Half way there!

Belated congratulations to the Ref, who passed his on-field assessment for an upgrade to Grade 7! Not only passed but received high praise from his assessor, one of the top guys in US soccer's ref community. All that's left are the upgrade class (and recert exam) and the physical fitness test, both of which the Ref should pass with ease.

I had the privilege of working one of the lines in the Ref's upgrade game, and it was clear that he was in control throughout. He demonstrated good use of the advantage call, letting play continue, while acknowledging that he saw the foul but letting the players play through. He called two penalty kicks, one a clear easy foul (hard charge from behind) and one a tougher call on handling in the penalty area. It was the right call, but not as obvious as the first. The assessor made several important suggestions for improvement, but on the whole, it was a great afternoon.