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RSL’s Alexandre suspended one game

Alexandre (Getty Images)

When Real Salt Lake forward Jean Alexandre came in for a studs-up challenge on D.C. United defender Jed Zayner in the 49th minute of Saturday's draw at Rio Tinto Stadium no foul was called, and no card was handed out. That hardly means that Alexandre escaped punishment from the league.

Alexandre was suspended one game for the challenge and won't be available for RSL's game at Chicago Wednesday night. Real Salt Lake shouldn't be as shorthanded with Alexandre unavailable, as Will Johnson has already returned from Gold Cup duty, and Alvaro Saborio and Arturo Alvarez both had their teams eliminated from the tournament as well.

What do you think of Alexandre being suspended? Think the challenge was red-card worthy?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Ahhh, yes… with integrity… Right, until it means the game. RSL striker are far too forthright and virtuous to ever atempt a flop in the box to garner a call! Need we venture to utube and see for ourselves, SkinnyJ?

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  2. The PK call against DCU was pretty easy to make, and would be made in any league in the world. I don’t think RSL was outplayed in either half. Pontius’ chances were the only thing that gave DCU any hope, besides the dive.

    The officiating throughout the game was horrendous.

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  3. now the question is, what will the USSF do with this referee who so blatantly missed a foul deemed dangerous enough to earn a retroactive suspension?

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  4. isnt “admitting the ref was wrong” precisely what MLS is doing by suspending this player though there was no call on the field?

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  5. The league decided in the off-season that there was too much “hard” play against skilled players. So pre-season there was an announcement the league was instructing refs to be quicker with cards on hard tackles made with players on the ball. This action (suspending Alexandre) is consistent with that. Both teams (RSL and DCU) have lost skilled players (Morales and Boskovic) due to hard, illegal fouls while those players had the ball. I’m surprised that RSL fans see this more as uneven b/c Davies doesn’t get something.

    The issue isn’t league retroactive review of everything. It’s the league being consistent about a policy to try and protect attacking players or players with the ball. Frankly, RSL went from the consensus best team in MLS (in most power rankings) to now a good team but one that I think most (other than RSL fans) expect to probably make the playoffs but not go further. And that’s due to the loss of Morales more than any other factor.

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  6. disgusting…davie’s gets a free pass…garber’s status is approaching full on criminal (not criminal mastermind – he’s not smart enough).

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  7. to me the real story here is if the league will go back an rescind Henry’s red card. I mean if you can view the tape and suspend Alexandre for this tackle then you should be able to review tape and take Henry’s joke of a red card away. However mls has only rescinded red cards on cases of mistaken identity (SKC’s vs Revs this year). This isn’t quite fair that a player can be suspended after the fact but non-deserving suspensions aren’t rescinded. It would go a long way for mls to admit to fans that the ref was wrong!

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  8. Matt, the problem is that people don’t get seriously injured when people on the other team dive. Studs up challenges however…

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  9. Bad officiating was a problem, but RSL fans should not be complaining about losing 2 points. The penalty call against DCU was just as bad as the penalty call against RSL. And RSL was completely outplayed in the second half and was lucky to escape with a point after Pontius hit the crossbar twice. RSL just does not look like the same dominant team after Morales sustained the season ending injury. They still have lots of quality players and hopefully will get out of their slump soon.

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  10. I don’t mind it, but its just annoying. They always say the referee made a ruling on the field and we stand by that, etc. Just do one or the other…

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  11. Matt, did you see the tackle? It was studs up and definitely worthy of the red card. Reckless tackling is a much bigger problem for MLS than diving. As a result of reckless and unnecessary tackles, within a two week period, the league, the clubs and the fans lost Zakuani, Ferreira and Morales for the rest of the season. When quality players get knocked out in droves, this lowers the overall quality of the league’s play, ticket receipts, etc. As for diving, it is rarely punished retroactively. There was plenty of diving in Barca – Real Madrid Champion’s League clash, but nobody was suspended for diving.

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  12. The verdict is still out on davies I mean dovies. BB was smart to keep him out off GC team. He had a poor touch on a scoring chance and Wingert beats him to the ball then Dovies goes down and gets rewarded the pk. Horrible call. It was that bad heavy touch that CD isn’t ready for nats. I can’t imagine his dives are impressing BB.

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  13. I think the league handed out this suspension on the basis that it was reckless and could have caused an injury. You would think RSL fans would understand the suspension given the recent injuries from reckless tackles. As a DC fan, I do think Charlie should sit a game or two for the dive, not impressed with him at all at the moment.

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  14. Obviously you don’t know what your talking about, you should go to the MLS site sse for yourself, before you make “comments” about things you have no “knowledge” of.

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  15. Ha, my mama is much, much more intelligent than you. The offsides call was as easy as it gets for a linesman (even for MLS), and DC’s handball was also as obvious as it gets (did you see even ONE player complain?).
    Where you are most incorrect is where you state that ANY player would have done that. You couldn’t be more wrong. Most players play with integrity and a desire to keep that ish out of the game. Embellishing contact is one thing, but to totally flop in anticipation of contact, and then to totally act the fool after the PK, that’s a whole ‘nother thing. What he did is the act of a desperate and insecure player who can barely get off the bench for a mid-table MLS team. And to act that way in a stadium where he was honored 18 months ago was a huge error. I just wish we had our full team so we could have overcome his nonsense and win regardless.
    The true suspension should be for Terry Vaughan, ref extraordinaire. The sideline assistant had the best view and tried to wave off the dive, but Terry chose to override him. Hopefully the league will address these issues later in the week.

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  16. Not sure how you switched subjects….

    Last I looked the four teams that qualified for CCL are the top four points teams in the league.

    Do you want to comment on the protest in Greece now ?

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  17. Dude, I’m a DC fan. Pontius’ goal was rightly disallowed. Wolff was a yard offside when he took the pass from Kitchen and played it to Pontius.

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  18. RSL fans upset because Davies did what ANY player on the field would have done in the same position — sold a ref on a call in the box. Forget the fact that DC had a goal called back off of a bogus offsides call, then RSL benefits from a VERY questionable PK call for their own goal. Add in the red card foul (as per story) and the two shots off the crossbar for Pontius and RSL was LUCKY to excape with a point. Bunch of damn crybabies.

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  19. Davies dive also cost RSL 2 points. If the league is going to go back and look at film and punish players after the game for doing something that is AGAINST THE RULES, don’t you think they should also go back and suspend Davies for doing something that was AGAINST THE RULES?

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  20. I saw the play, and shouted “That’s a red” when I saw the first replay of the incident. He came over the ball, and if you don’t think the force involved in that kind of collision can break a leg, then you must be made of metal or something. It wasn’t malicious but the play showed a clear disregard for the safety of the other player, and that’s a red.

    This is totally independent from Davies’ flop. RSL play a midweek game, so the league had to act quickly on Alexandre. They may yet come back with action against Davies.

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  21. You obviously didn’t see the tackle, the guy cleared a 50-50 ball away and followed through to Jean’s raised foot. Contact on the players foot is going to break his leg? You don’t know what you are talking about, you weren’t there. However, you are right about one thing, the two aren’t close, Charlie’s acting was far more damaging to the game than Jeans raised foot could ever be.

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  22. ARRRGHHHH RAAARRRR OMMMMGGGGGG I’M SO MAD!

    Wait, MLS did something it and other leagues have done before in handing out a suspension based on a foul that should have but wasn’t called during the game…but everyone is crying because they didn’t do something completely unprecedented and penalize diving?

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  23. If they are going to retroactively punish Alexandre, they must punish Davies as well. If you’re going to try and be fair, be consistent!

    Davies’ dive is worse for the sport than Alexandre’s tackle, IMO

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  24. Also, RSL should show some balls and appeal this. It would be the first time they’ve shown any since the CCL loss.

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  25. Good for the league for taking a stand against such garbage, and dangerous, tackling. He could very easily have broken dude’s leg. As much as Davies dive was pathetic and embarrassing, the only harm it did was to Davies reputation. The two aren’t even close, and people compareing them like they are are naive. And probably RSL fans.

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  26. Surprising. Disappointing. Jean did not leave his feet, did not come through the player, and was worthy of a yellow card and worst in my opinion. He was trying to block the ball and missed. It was not from behind and only close to the player as the other player’s foot was in the air. No malice, no intent, playing for the ball, not the player’s upswing.

    I agree with Matt that the league should suspend and fine Davies for DIVING. Embellishment means he actually was touched in any fashion. His was intentional and Machiavellian, in its design to change the outcome of the game.

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  27. I would complain. Cheating and diving has no place in US soccer. If you have to cheat to win, you don’t deserve to win. Lose with honor in defeat. Don’t cheat to win.

    Chalk up another fan disappointed in Diving Davies antics. Can’t cheer for him anymore and I don’t want him NEAR the USMNT.

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  28. Like the top 4 teams from the league should qualify for the CCL, that’s what kills me, nevermind pro/reg, that’s not happening anytime soon. We’d do much better if LA,Ny,Dallas, and RSL qualified for the CCL, not the Open Cup, MLS Cup winner, SS, and cup runner up.

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  29. Total joke… That sort of thing happens every game, it was a 50-50 ball, Jean was clumsy and the foul caused no injury, wasn’t even a tackle, just a raised foot… Suspend Davies for diving and then joking about it, that whole saga is making an absolute joke out of MLS referee quality or lack thereof… Eduardo was suspended for two games for a lesser dive in Celtic v Arsenal a couple years back, the same penalty should apply to Charlie.

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  30. Davies can still score no doubt, and plenty of top players all over the world dive like: Messi,Ronaldo,Villa,Tevez,Sneijder and more even Bedoya took a dive in the Panama game. I’d bet you if Diving Davies scored a WC winner for us no one would complain. If people have watched his games he has scored from the run of play plenty of times. Plenty of leagues have divers, even David Ferreira dives from time to time for FC Dallas.

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  31. That is absolute garbage. If nothing happened, NOTHING HAPPENED! The league is focusing on punishing the wrong things. The punk that broke Javi Morales’ leg is back playing for Chivas already! REALLY? Just pure stupidity from a league that just can’t seem to get things quite right…

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  32. Fuuny every week the league is suspending someone, guess they’re trying to crack down on the rash challenges.

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  33. it’s shameful that MLS reviewed this game but chose not to suspend davies. embellishment or “selling the foul” is one thing but going down in the box with zero contact from the defender like davies did is blatant cheating. he should be ashamed but he’s apparently not. the guy’s got no class and i’ll never be a CD9 fan again.

    i hope the MLS refs blacklist him and that it hurts his USMNT prospects when bob realizes that davies no longer has the skill to play at this level so he’s resorting to this crap.

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  34. If this is worthy of a retroactive red card then the league should send a message about Davies and his “embellishment.” The players might take diving and flopping more serious if they knew they could get suspended or fined. MLS can send an example here but they probably will not because Jean Alexandre is no Charlie Davies.

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