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Klinsmann speaks out on Dempsey’s suspension

JurgenKlinsmannUSMNTTrainingUkraine1 (AP)

By DAN KARELL

Jurgen Klinsmann isn’t a fan of Clint Dempsey’s two-game suspension for violent conduct.

Major League Soccer announced on Friday that Dempsey was suspended for two games for an incident with Toronto FC defender Marc Bloom last Saturday, keeping Dempsey out of the Sounders lineup until April 12. In addition, Dempsey was the recipient of a number of fouls, something noted strongly by Klinsmann in a response to the Dempsey suspension.

“It’s very disappointing to see Clint be the only person punished from this game (against TFC),” Klinsmann said. “There is a foul against him in the sixth minute that should have been a red card. The persistent fouling continued throughout the game, and he’s getting punished for a reaction following all those fouls. Yes he made a mistake, but if opponents don’t get penalized for consistently fouling, it only encourages them to continue that approach.”

Earlier this week, Klinsmann defended Dempsey by saying that the league and referee’s had to protect players such as Dempsey. Klinsmann is worried about losing one of the U.S. Men’s National Team’s best players ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Since joining MLS last August, Dempsey has been fouled more times per game than any other player in the league who has played a minimum of 300 minutes. Dempsey is averaging 3.6 fouls received per game.

“A two-game suspension for that moment seems very harsh, and it comes at a very bad time for us as it throws him out of a rhythm before the game against Mexico,” Klinsmann said.

The USMNT faces Mexico on April 2 in Glendale, Ariz. Dempsey is expected to be in the squad composed of MLS and Liga MX-based players.

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What do you think of these comments? Agree with Klinsmann? Think that the suspension was harsh? Think that the suspension was deserved?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. What hurts Dempsey heading up to Mexico game and World Cup is his decision to play Minor League Soccer rather than Premier League Football

    Reply
  2. Clint is always looing to embarrass his opponent. Folks will make you pay for that attitude at any level. Also, Clint hold the ball too long sometimes. In any league you will get nailed for that, and he does. they call the fouls but he needs to move the ball off his feet quicker. He doesn’t do that, he holds the ball and slow up play. Not saying that’s a bad thing necessarily but it’s how he plays and there will always be a price to pay for any player who pays like that

    Reply
  3. The rough play in the US begins in the high schools. The 50 yrd wide fields combined with the lack of technical essentially dictates the style of play. The ref system here (yes refs work their way up the ranks also) acclimates them to this style at the same time…. all the way back to the days when the ref HS and they get used to it and come to accept it as the US style. Fast forward the career into college, where again, technical is not the US strength and leads right into the pro ranks where players have been conditioned to the style of play. As a Club travel coach, of HS age players, I spend the first month after getting them back, breaking all the bad habits they relearn each HS season from untrained coaches who get them 5 days a week for a couple months. Coaches who know nothing better than kick and run and get physical.

    Reply
  4. I probably should be paying more attention, because I wouldn’t have described MLS as being that physical. Sure, it’s rougher than La Liga, League 1, Serie A and the Bundesliga, but no way is it more physical than the EPL.

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  5. Dempsey committed a foul that was worthy of suspension. Most of the fouls committed that are missed would draw only yellows and the discipline committee seems to do nothing about them. If they really want to cut back on the fouls, issue yellow cards for missed calls and let the accumulated yellow cards result in suspension. They could even use a missed second yellow to suspend a player for the next game. That would send a clear message to the players and the referees to clean up their respective acts. I know there would be a lot of howling about players not knowing what would be punished, but they would figure it out soon enough.

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  6. It’s not that the officiating in MLS is terrible. It’s that it’s terribly INCONSISTENT. I’ve seen really great games called followed immediately by a performance in which the ref is the star of the game.

    What is a red card one week isn’t even a yellow the next. The players literally have no idea what they can or can’t do in terms of physical play which leads to situations like the one Dempsey now finds himself in.

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  7. Wow. Last week both Dempsey and Palmer were being pushed in the back and went to swipe the arms away and hit something else. Both were deemed violent conduct. Yet, a lesser penalty, jump kicking someone directly in the nuts by Armando is only a serious foul. Ridiculous.

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  8. I understand JK wants to protect Dempsey, but suspending the high profile National Team Captain DP for two games for nonsense conduct, rather than giving him a pass or lesser sentence, is exactly how MLS send the message that it won’t put up with nonsense conduct. That may inure to the benefit of Bradley or Donovan or other high profile players down the road (including skilled non-US national team players). Plus, it sets the precedent at two games, meaning future nonsense conduct should be punished even harsher. Of course the league needs to be consistent. But the players should have heard the message and hopefully we won’t seen a trend in a bad direction.

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  9. Okay, I have a question. We all, or most of us anyway, want the USMNT to make a good showing in Brazil, maybe even get out of our group. While everyone here is talking about the players, which players will make the squad, which players will start, and so forth nobody is talking about this part of the team.

    What do you think? Who will be Klinsi’s main asst. coach in the 3 send-offs, and who will sit on the bench with him in Brazil? Vasquez or Herzog? Or will we see some one else given this job?

    Reply
      • He’s stuck by him through some much harder times, I just don’t see Klinsmann pushing him to the side now, this close to Brazil. Vasquez is no doubt one of many question marks with this team. However I will say the US has played better the longer they have in camp like over the summer and Gold Cup. Like it or not, we just have to hope at this point.

      • You do understand however, this is the same duo, Klinsmann & Vasquez, that Karl-Heinz Rummenigge sacked before one season was completed don’t you, saying to the press that he had to do it for the good of the club, with only 5 matches left in the season.

        The same guy who Klinsi told everyone that he telephoned to get his permission to release Julian Green for the 2.April match with Mexico. The same guy who gave permission for A. Herzog to come into Bayern’s training grounds on 14. Feb. to meet with Julian and give him an invitation to join the USMNT in Frankfurt.

        If you know all this, and add to the mix what Bayern did, they give Julian Green to the USMNT (and of course, Julian Green and his family were involved in this, they would not have considered it for a moment had Julian simply said he didn’t want to, he wanted to play for the German National Team) and they had important reasons for doing this.

        Don’t you think that they, having first-hand knowledge of the coaching ability of the Klinsi-Valquez pair may have suggested, as a part of the Green deal to maybe have another coaching person the help these two?

      • Jack Del, I mean really, don’t you think in the 10 or 12 days leading up to the sacking, Bayern’s losing to Wolfsburg 5-0, losing to Barcelona 4-0 and losing to Schalke 1-0 at the Alianz and Bayern’s being in 3rd place, tied with 2 other teams, and in danger of losing out of the Champions League had anything to do with the sacking.

        And you seem to believe Uli could have taken this decision all by himself?

      • That was the harder times I was speaking of. Also about a year ago today a report came out with US players saying neither knew what they were doing.
        Personally I just think Klinsmann’s ego is too big to say he’s wrong and make the change now. Perhaps he’d let someone in more behind the scene. I just don’t think he’ll name a different assistant.

      • That is the same thing Philip Lahm wrote about in his book about when Klinsmann and Velquez were coaching Bayern. The exact same thing.

        And I totally agree John, at this point it will probably be behind the scene.

    • Anyway, I still believe, as I stated here 3 or more weeks ago when I said Julian would declare for the USMNT in time for Brazil, this was a deal made by Bayern and the Bundesliga with the total involvement of Julian Green and his family, and U.S soccer. I also said it was very important to them in moving their brand world-wide, and especially into the U.S. (And boy-oh-boy am I happy that they did it, I am thrilled in fact. I think this one move may be the catalyst that will get our kids playing soccer for real and their parents taking notice, I personally believe this will work out more in our favor.)

      Because it is Bayern that made the deal, knowing they have first-hand experience with the Klinsmann-Valquez pair, and knowing how important it is to them I simply conclude that they would not do this without having some assurance on the other end. That the coaching, in training and during matches, will be better than what they experienced.

      Yes, it is my opinion.

      Reply
      • Expat,

        You already wrote “I still believe”, “I think”, “I personally believe”, “I simply conclude” over the course of two paragraphs. Ending that run with “ Yes, it is my opinion” is unnecessarily defensive.

        I have followed FC Hollywood since the days of Beckenbauer, Muller, Breitner and Maier but you have provided this site with a lot of good, more up to date, insight into the Munchen side of things.

        A few months ago, when this Green business started heating up, I posted that if Bayern had a say in the matter they would probably want Julian to go with America. Right about that time it was announced that Bayern was going to be the MLS All Star opponent. Bayern were making an effort to expand their brand in North America. It became obvious that Bayern had plenty of German and European internationals to push their brand over there but a big USMNT star in America? How wonderful for Bayern’s marketing people.

        And of course, playing for the USMNT in the World Cup and being an integral part of the team over the next calendar year would give Green valuable, additional developmental experience. This kind of experience was unlikely to happen with Die Mannschafft, at least not this quickly. .

        Of course a bad World Cup could dent Green’s confidence but Bayern seem very confident in this kid. They are not worried that JK’s ineptness will screw up the kid. And that should be a source of comfort to USMNT fans.

        Everything you posted has confirmed my initial suspicions.

        Bayern has always struck me as a very political place. I don’t doubt they look down their nose at JK’s coaching abilities and the USMNT.

        “According to Hoeness, Klinsmann’s only specific proposal was the signing of Landon Donovan, “about whom Hermann Gerland says he wouldn’t even play him on the reserve team.” Gerland was coach of the reserve team of Bayern Munich from 1990 to 1995 and again after 2001, before serving as assistant coach under Klinsmann successor Jupp Heynckes for five games. It is planned for him to serve in this function under new FC Bayern head coach Louis van Gaal.”

        http://www.spiegel.de/sport/fussball/0,1518,626538,00.html

        After all they did fire him not that long ago. But money talks and the people the USMNT most likely have to thank for Green is Pep Guardiola , who has declared he wants JK’s job someday, and Bayern’s marketing department

        Everything should go well going forward as long as Julian Green does not let Hoeness’ people do his finances for him..

      • GW, thank you for your thoughtful and informative reply. And yes, I realize I was very defensive. I appreciate what you said.

        And yes, Bayern München is called FC Hollywood all over Germany and even in Munich.

      • It is interesting that Julian’s father said they’d never really talked about the World Cup that Julian’s focus has always been on Bayern first.

  10. Even if it were his job Klinsmann should find a better way to get his point accross, one that doesn’t make him sound in like a major beatch.
    Out of fairness, I expect him to talk about Clint’s diving in front of the press next week.

    Reply
  11. JK has been incredibly supportive of the growth of MLS. He has gone out of his way to support MLS players making their way onto USMNT. If he says MLS is putting players at risk through the wrong priorities for officiating, he more than most should be taken very seriously.

    Reply
  12. I am a Real fan and not a Dempsey fan. To give him a two game suspension and no penalty for the fouler who created the situation is ludicrous. The foul deserved a red card at the time and did not even get a yellow. A suspension for the original foul would make Dempseys suspension acceptable.

    Reply
  13. The DC may have been right in giving Dempsey a suspension, but if that is true then how was this not a straight red or at least a deserving of a retroactive suspension.

    http://cdn2.sbnation.com/assets/4169613/jackson-swipes-dempsey.gif

    The MLS likes to tout that there stars, but the level of play in the league is a joke because this happens all the time.

    And to all of you saying the SSFC guys are whining, I look forward to hearing from you when a thug like Jackson or Mullan takes out one of your players.

    Far more guys have been hurt due to the thugs than have ever been hurt by the turf at Seattle, Portland or Montreal.

    Reply
  14. This is from the same coach who not so long ago complained that the US players were afraid to hurt people. The same coach who is building the US national team around one of the dirtiest players in the history of Bundesliga, Jermaine Jones, who’s really good at one thing only — fouling people. Hypocrisy, anyone?

    Reply
    • “The same coach who is building the US national team around one of the dirtiest players in the history of Bundesliga, Jermaine Jones, who’s really good at one thing only — fouling people. Hypocrisy, anyone?”

      Correction- should read: Hyperbole anyone?

      Reply
    • BS. There is a difference between playing nasty and deliberately hurting people.

      Jones wasn’t trying to hurt Neymar, just giving him a little reminder that he MIGHT get hurt.
      Big difference.

      Reply
    • Mr.M,

      Horse manure.

      There is a difference between playing nasty and deliberately hurting people.

      Jones wasn’t trying to hurt Neymar, he slid under him and carried him out of bounds.

      That was just a gentle little reminder to Marcelo who was pulling all sorts of unpleasant stuff on our guys that his Golden Boy MIGHT be vulnerable.

      Big difference.

      Reply
  15. So, to summarize everybody’s respective positions:

    1. Dempsey is a thug at worst, a tantrum-prone whiner to some, and to others he is a saintly and skilled tactician trying to draw fouls and protect himself when the fouls are too harsh.

    2. Klinsman is a meddling whiner sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong, or a saintly and wise motivator of both his players and the entire league.

    3. To some, MLS is fast becoming the equivalent of the Scottish Premier League in terms of fouls and hard tackles, and the referees and league administrators are not properly addressing the situation. To others, we should welcome the hard fouling because it will better prepare us for mind games and physical play in Brazil.

    Well, there really are two sides to every issue.

    Reply
    • 1. Dempsey is a thug but he is OUR thug 🙂
      2. He is trying to score points with Dempsey since he said that Dempsey hasn’t done sh## in his career.
      3. We are evolving, not sure where it will lead us.

      Reply
    • Excellent summation, but why does everyone ignore the Owners who have a stranglehold thru single entity. They could put an end to it, but they are colluding just like the baseball owners with steroids and NFL with concussions. Cherche the owners.

      Reply
      • Don’t know if they’re colluding… some of the owners have a real problem with how teams like San Jose play.

        Would say it’s more of a college product problem than anything else.

        Watch an NCAA game. There’d be 2 or 3 reds a game with a professional referee. Those guys have no mercy.

    • Bill The T.

      In the last 10 years after he moved to England Dempsey has never gotten a red card.

      Including his club and the USMNT, from the 2004-5 season to the 2013-15 season Clint has had as a many as 7 and as few as 2 yellow cards.

      He has averaged 6 yellow cards a season.

      Mikey TFC moved to Holland about 8 seasons ago. For his clubs and the USMNT he has averaged 6.4 yellow cards per season and he has two red cards.

      In case you think he has gotten better as he matured he had 9 yellows in 2012-13.

      I’m too lazy to look it up but both probably averaged about 50 games a season all told for the US and their clubs combined. So both of them probably averaged a yellow card once every 8-9 games.

      That’s not a lot.

      But the key thing is Mikey is so much more beloved by USMNT fans so he must be more noble right?

      Reply
      • You know they play different positions, right? You’d expect a defensive midfielder to commit more tackles, and therefore more fouls, and more cards, than an offensive minded player, right?

      • Mr.zax,

        Over an 8 year period Mikey has played a variety of roles for club and country in midfield, right?.

        He has done the box to box thing and the defensive holding thing and the attacking midfielder thing,right? And if you have watched MBTFC for as long as I have you will know that he tends to get very involved and see plenty of the ball, regardless of where he plays, right?

        Deuce has mostly been an attacking midfielder and much of his 10 years he has been his club and country’s primary if not their only serious attacking threat, right?

        He sees just about as much of the ball and gets about as much contact as Mikey does, right?

        Therefore he has always drawn extra heavy attention from defenders leading to greater card opportunities, right?

        I’d say it evens out, right?

        Both players are probably about average if not a little below average in terms of accumulating cards, right?

    • 3. MLS has ALWAYS been too physical and lenient on hacks. remember dema kovelenko? that legbreaker extraordinaire had a long a storied mls career.
      to me, its a major reason the usmnt hasnt moved forward much beyond second tier status internationally by year 20 of mls.
      the american neanderthal beer nfl mentality is what the league wanted to appeal to initially…so they encouraged it…i wouldnt be surprised if mls tells refs behind the scenes to allow fouling…..its time to end that and move to a more tactical style closer to the rest of the world.

      Reply
  16. He’s not wrong. Lots of these substandard MLS players hack players they can’t dispossess. Refs shouldn’t allow them to get away with it. Dempsey knew what he was doing.

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  17. If Klinsmann think the treatment of Dempsey during the World Cup is going to be gentler than what TFC just gave him then I understand his remarks.

    I don’t think that.

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  18. I agree, Dempsey deserved the 2 match ban. But this may turn out to be a blessing. Dempsey has to get some control over his temper (a poster used the word petulant, and with regards to Clint it is the perfect word) in order to help the team.

    Maybe this will teach him a lesson that he seems so very badly to need.

    Reply
    • He’s not turning into a baby. You just have to realize that Klinsmann’s main concern is the USMNT. He doesn’t want anything that negatively affects his team or his players. Plus, as a manager, you always want your players to feel as if you got their back. It really is as simple as that.

      Personally, I agree with the suspension and feel Dempsey deserves it. It’s very easy to see though, that Klinsy is taking the correct position here, all things considered.

      Reply
      • His main concern is the USMNT but he is also the US technical advisor or whatever his new role is called he got in his new contract. As the technical advisor he oversees all development of the game in the US, and that includes the MLS. His argument is simple: we want a more technical league not a more physical league.

  19. Klinsi needs to zip his lip. Toronto was very physical throughout, but Dempsey’s crotch-shot was of a different variety, and he deserved to be fined/suspended for it.

    Dempsey often behaves like a petulant prick on the field. The chip on his shoulder can work to his advantage if he channels it into aggressive offensive play. It can also cost him and the USMNT big-time in Brazil if he kicks-out/crotch-taps someone during the WC. He needs to drop the attitude and be a captain/leader for the team.

    Michael Bradley should be our captain. Period. Klinsi’s unwavering faith in Dempsey is just another example of his poor man-management/judgment, IMHO.

    Reply
    • Klinsmann is right. Despite your hatred for him, MLS is lousy at punishing persistent fouling and dangerous play. Referees allow the thuggery to continue and it has a noticeably negative impact on how the game here is played. Constant fouling is not a strategy MLS should be encouraging as a method of dealing with a more skilled opponent.

      Reply
      • “Constant fouling is not a strategy MLS should be encouraging as a method of dealing with a more skilled opponent.”

        I couldn’t agree more.

      • or it needs the current refs to clamp down and call fouls by the letter of the law not the wild west. its not a matter of being a better ref….i get the sense the refs see the fouls but just decide not to call them cuz “thats how mls is”….they aren’t always oblvious/stupid.

    • I like your post and agree totally. Dempsey has always been a bit of a punk. Bradley has had his moments but they seem to be behind him now. We need a clear leader and Dempsey isnt it

      Reply
      • Punk or not, fan of Dempsey or not, Jack Del (above) is dead on. JK’s comments go beyond Dempsey, and really have more to do with improving the league (and thus US Soccer) overall.

      • Phrased poorly there. No one referred to Jack Del as a punk. Should be clear I was talking about CD, but… ya never know.

      • ultimately Klinsi’s comments arent really about Dempsey at all, they’re about the crap, lenient officiating in MLS, and I agree with him 110%.

    • National team coaches protect their players throughout the world. JK is doing no different, and should speak out because matches throughout the league are poorly officiated to the detriment of skilled players…those that also happen to be on their way to Brazil this summer.

      Though I agree a one game ban and fine were in order for this specific action, can you point out specific instances where Dempsey has behaved like a petulant prick on the field over the course of his career? I’m not sure I’ve seen anything like this while he is with the USMNT or while he was in Europe, under circumstances where there exists better officiating. Getting in a guys face…yeah…a physical confrontation, though?

      Toronto, even more so than KC before them, were BRUTAL in this game. The number and force of their fouls were excessive, to say the least. If the league allows this to persist, better players in their prime will not want to come play in MLS. Persistent fouling should not be an acceptable game plan for any team.

      I also happen to agree with you that Bradley should be captain of the USMNT, as an aside. Clint, for me, is a better individual contributor…

      Reply
      • Mr. Supporter,

        Those of you who want Mikey as your captain, you’ll have to either get capped by the USMNT or signed by TFC and then ask for him. Or get the job as manager for either one of those teams

        Team captains are either picked by the manager or by the team and their duties vary considerably. In other words, the captain is there for the manager and the team not the fans.

        And if Deuce lets them down I assume they will handle it internally.

    • I have followed Dempsey’s career pretty closely and I believe that this is his first red card or red card equivalent. As far as I can remember, he has never even missed a game due to yellow card accumulation. If he is such a dirty player, why hasn’t this happened more often? Then there is the FACT, not just opinion, that he has been fouled more often than any other player in the league. As far as this incident goes, yes he should have been disciplined, but 2 games is excessive. I have been hit much harder than the guy hit by Dempsey and did not react nearly like the player, dropping down and rolling around. He obviously greatly embellished it.

      Reply
      • According to official Barclays Premier League statistics, in 218 appearances in the BPL, Dempsey got a total of 21 yellow cards and no red cards, or about 1 card per 10 games. I haven’t been able to find statistics for his international career. In case people have forgotten, he has played in two prior World Cups in 2006 and 2010 and has not been a disciplinary problem.

      • While given it’s soccer you have to sadly presume Bloom was embellishing, it really all depends on how well targeted Dempsey’s shot was.

  20. Klinsmann has a pretty clear motive for doing this.

    He’s using it as leverage to put more pressure on MLS and PRO to clean up officiating and protect technical players. I’m sure he is disgusted by what Dempsey did, and he didn’t actually say he wasn’t.

    It’s brilliant actually.

    Reply
    • +1

      It’s the perfect comment to make. How exactly does MLS have the grounds to punish Dempsey (he should be punished, by the way) when they turn around and ignore much more physically dangerous tackles consistently.

      Hope he keeps up the pressure on MLS/PRO to help make the league less physical.

      Reply
    • Well said actually, MLS had to do something, one game would have been appropriate, but the issue must be addressed or Falcao might have company…
      He’s protecting his players, good for him.. but cue the haters.
      Would everyone be complaining if it was Donovan or Bradley? No… they would be saying JK is protecting his players… but cue the haters

      Reply
      • True, that taints it a bit as well.

        Players like Henry and Keane and Beckham who come over and instantly remark at how physical and rough the play is. Coming from the EPL, it’s a pity nobody paid them any mind.

        Some people even seem to relish that reputation like some counter culture badge of pride.

      • Because not everyone thinks soccer should be played by flopping around on the ground whenever you get touched like they do in La Liga.

      • flopping is an entirely different concern. i see guys kick other players hard in MLS games without even getting a foul called against…shit like that needs to end …..and it will make the quality of play increase instantly.

        the tactics that work in MLS do not translate internationally. why do you Liga MX kicks MLS’ ass? its not talent. USA has been whipping mexico in international matches.

  21. I think Demspey’s actions warranted a fine if anything. Unfortunately MLS has now established at least two, maybe more, precedents that should be concerns to everyone. First, they’ve completely ignored actions on the field such as reckless tackles and tackles from behind (Jackson is guilt of a couple, as well as Dempsey) that they have made priorities for officials to call in matches. How can they expect the quality of officiating to improve if they can’t/won’t enforce their own priorities? Second, while I agree that retaliations on the field should be punished, MLS has now established that any action (push, slap, raising arms) will be a minimum 2 game ban. I guess we can hope for some consistency going forward, but something tells me that the next several incidents that are similar in nature will go unpunished.

    Reply
    • So when the USMNT coach comes out with a public statement against the state of officiating in MLS, you still dismiss it as “whining and moaning”?

      Then at what point will you consider an argument about the officiating and its effect on play in MLS?

      Or are you completely happy with the officiating from the temporary referees and hope it never changes?

      Reply
      • If you asked most players in most leagues what the defining feature of the MLS is, they’d say “physical”, meaning rough, play.

      • “It’s a very, very physical league that it’s taken me longer than expected.” – Alex, Chicago Fire.

        “I didn’t expect the league to be so physical, so strong physically on the field but it’s similar in some ways to the French League.” – Andres Escobar, FC Dallas.

        I also think players like Javi Morales, David Ferreira, and Steve Zakuani might have something to say.

      • Klinsmann was, in my opinion, not complaining about the referees but about the players that fouled Dempsey. He didn’t mention that Bradley was fouling Dempsey, but that’s Klinsi. He wouldn’t accuse MB of hurting a USMNT team mate; but I think that’s what he meant. In general he was talking about US players hurting the USMNT by fouling Dempsey. Klinsmann knows not to antagonize refs, even though he needs to if he wants to change things. But, oh well, that’s the culture. Referees retaliate, too, sometimes.

    • I think he’s voicing what is becoming a major concern among everyone who cares about MLS: refs who dont crack down on persistent fouling and overly physical play are damaging the league and game in this country.

      Reply
      • Well if the league wants refs to protect their major assets maybe they shouldn’t lock them out….just saying.

      • that is ridiculously stupid reasoning. the refs have ALWAYS allowed WAAAYYY too much physicality in MLS….its becuz we have the culture of violent physical contact in major sports i.e. nfl, boxing, mma, even basketball is and can be violent with a lot of contact. this physicality is a HUGE probelm to the development of a good national team. thug tactics and players that dont translate internationally win in MLS and its holding the USMNT back. THANK YOU JURGEN for speaking out!! Now take on MLS as a whole…or, after Dempsey or Donovan go down…then say I told you so….I hope this changes in MLS!

      • Physicality is being taken out of sports not encouraged. Flagrant fouls in basketball, stricter rules for boxing and harder to get licenses, hitting zones in football, flags for spear heading. I wouldn’t agree that this is a professional sport culture. I think the MLS is trying to get viewers anyway it can almost like NHL with fighting. Soccer players get made fun of enough for being wimps. They are trying to change that in the MLS

      • Truth be told: MLS should protect all players. Deuce stands out because he’s constantly getting hit, but fouls rarely get called.

      • Fouls rarely get called? Are you trolling? How do you think they tally the “most fouls in the MLS for those with 300 minutes”? He’s getting lots of fouls called. Problem is, Seattle uses Alonso in the same way with persistent infringement against the opposition, so if they’re going to start red carding the opponents they’ll start red carding Ozzie. Then the complaints would be about the refs not letting them play. It’s a lose-lose situation that just happens to impact the most vocal fans in MLS. Shame most of them don’t have better understanding of the sport.

      • go re-watch MLS cup 2013….i couldn’t watch it there were son many uncalled fouls. it was laughable. i couldn’t believe i went online to see what people were saying and A LOT of people posted that they loved the game. Unbelievable.

      • how is he trolling? spot on comment re. Alonso, who happens to be one of my favorite players, but he and Chara from Portland are persistent foulers, just what Klinnsman is speaking out against

    • No, it sounds like he watched the game “on tape” (or whatever the present equivalent is) and took note of the persistent infringement, including the time of the first incident. The author is the one editorializing about injury risk. Klinsi is saying that while the response should not be excused it should be seen in context, and that the length of the suspension is inappropriate “to the crime” in that context.

      It’s a nice gesture but MLS likely won’t lessen the suspension, particularly to the extent challenged in a “but we’d like him ready for….” manner. You don’t want special cases.

      Reply
      • In other words he watched the game “on tape”. Just like MLS.
        If the go back to punish they should go back to protect also.

      • Klinsmann’s speaking up only when it concerns his best player makes his complaints ring less true. If he is really as concerned about anyone being fouled, he needs to tell the referees. Klinsmann knows that Dempsey is no angel. He is in a good spot to change the fouling culture, but he would be more influential if he complained about fouling in general and not about fouling only Dempsey. As long as the refs do not call fouls objectively, they will continue because fouls can change the game.

      • Dempsey led the EPL in scoring with the exception of RVP. If you can’t find respect for Dempsey as a USMNT player trying to make his way back from injury, then you simply don’t watch soccer or maybe it’s that you don’t understand what you’re watching. The context of the comment was funny though… just aimed at the wrong target. Dempsey IS our best player. There is nobody even close to doing what he did at the level EPL or equivalent leagues.

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