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Good afternoon all. So it isn't quite "mid-day", well it is in California, but it's time to go over some topics of the day and some of the things that have been going on in the soccer world. Apologies for the slow posting day, but I will try to catch you all up on some of the day's topics. Let's get started.
If Oliver Stone were an MLS fan, he might be ready to write a JFK-like conspiracy flick on the 2009 LA Galaxy season. No team in MLS history has had more game-changing penalty kicks earned by opponent's handballs and while arguments can be made for the Seth Stammler penalty vs. New York, and for Will Johnson's call against RSL on Wednesday night, you throw in all these calls and also things such as Javier Morales' suspension, and the conspiracy theorists have a lot to work with.
Is there a conspiracy to help LA reach the playoffs? No, not really. At this point you can simply call the Galaxy lucky, something Bruce Arena might want to appreciate before he goes complaining about a penalty call against the Galaxy that was far more obvious than most of the penalty calls that have gone in the Galaxy's favor this season.
Everyone's favorite comeback story continues in Brazil, where Ronaldo scored two more goals to lead Corinthians to a 4-3 victory against Atletico Paranaense in the Sao Paolo state playoffs (and yes, that does sound like a high school tournament).
Okay Chelsea fans, since Didier Drogba was man enough to apologize for his absurd behavior after Wednesday' Champions League loss, I suppose I can apologize for the blanket coverage of Barcelona's series victory. Chelsea has a right to feel as if some calls didn't go their way, but when the dust settles I have a feeling Blues players will realize that they had plenty of chances to finish the series off without the help of the referee.
Back to MLS, where Josh Wolff turned back the clock and helped the Wizards score an equalizer vs. D.C. United on Wednesday night. KC has some nice pieces in place to play well, but the stable of forwards is best described as bland. If KC could find the right forward to bring in via the Designated Player slot, the Wizards could very well challenge for a title. As it stands, KC's forwards will doom the Wizards to mediocrity.
While Darren Huckerby is out for Friday night's match vs. the Red Bulls, San Jose defender Chris Leitch has made the trip to New Jersey with San Jose for Friday's match at Giants Stadium against the New York Red Bulls. it remains unclear whether he will be actually cleared to play in the match. Leitch is recovering from a concussion suffered against Chivas USA last Saturday.
Speaking of Huckerby, reports out of England are linking the Earthquakes winger to a return to England. Before San Jose fans go too crazy it should be pointd out that foreign players are ALWAYS asked about returning to their old clubs and they NEVER say "No, heck no, I'd never go back there."
That's all for now. I'm under the weather today but will look to post more tonight. For now. Feel free to share your thoughts on these topcs and any soccer topics of the day in the comments section below.
I personally don’t think there is a favoritism towards any one team. However, I do believe that there are teams which are hated by the refs.
Coming from Columbus, I personally know why the Crew is disliked by most refs – OSU. Its a major drag on the pro teams in this city when it comes to the objectivity of refs I think.
But to believe that the refs are well enough organized to prop one team up above the others is ridiculous, so its not a matter of figuring which MLS team the Refs like, its more a matter of finding out what in your city the Refs hate, and then seeing how the calls fall from there.
As an RSL fan, I never believed there was a conspiracy. Both PK’s were warranted. RSL gave the game away by going into the prevent (wins) defense the last 10-15 minutes. However, the referee was atrocious. This, unfortunately, is a weekly occurance in the MLS. I’d estimate 60-75% of the games I watch are poorly officiated as opposed to 15-20% of the premiership games I watch. The MLS talent improves yearly, the officials need to catch up.
reguarding wizards…
whats crazy is the backline doing so well, Besler – Hohlbein – Conrad – Watson… thats a rookie starter, vet and 2 young guys and they have the best D in the East. Besler is quitely having a very solid rookie year, heck he took Harringtons spot, who was projected as the 3rd best LB in the MLS by this site. (Harrington should be starting LM instead of H. Gomez)
I think LA’s gotten a series of lucky calls. That’s it.
But, to the notion that it couldn’t happen here, or that USSF refs are too incompetent to pull it off, I have but 2 words:
2008 Superliga.
As obvious a frame-up as I’ve ever seen, outside of Italy. While Mexican soccer players are hardly known for their class and composure in the best of times, their frustrated behavior spoke volumes about what they thought of the multiple missed and wrong calls late in every single game. And while it’s sad that it went underreported in North American media, I think that speaks more of the ambivalence to the competition than anything.
Ballack is always chasing guys….he wont apologize…
Too many Gals getting their panties wet over a comment Ives made. He even said the conspiracy theory isn’t valid. Get over it.
Ha, same kid posting twice – I called it
Guys (actually guy), seriously, some of you (well, one of you) really missed the point on the LA conspiracy thing. I wasn’t saying there really is one, but that there had been enough incidents for the conspiracy theorists to try and harp on.
THERE IS NO LA CONSPIRACY!! Is that clear enough for everybody? All the calls that have gone LAs way have been legit EXCEPT for the Wallace “handball”. One handball does not a conspiracy make. Call LA very lucky (which i did in the original post before some angry LA fans skipped over it in full defense mode).
Clear enough guys?
Wow Zach and Galaxian, STFU (and learn how to spell “losing” while you’re at it – and btw I have a feeling you’re probably the same person posting under two different names). You people want your team to get hated on so you can spew righteous venom. Too bad Ives said in his post that THERE IS NO CONSPIRACY.
Where’s Ballack’s apology?
You have to remember is that Brazil is bigger than the contiguous United States. The state championships are a unique part of Brazilian football that arose in the early part of the 20th century because the speed of transcontinental travel was too slow to sustain a national competition. The state championships were therefore the main competition that teams participated in for many years.
And there are a lot of teams at the state level. In the state of São Paulo, there are 105 teams that compete in the four different levels of the state championship (20 each in Serie A1, A2, and A3, and 45 in the Second Division). This is in a state that’s almost twice the size of England (SP is about 96K sq mi vs England’s 50K sq mi). Or to give an American example, the State of New York is 54K sq mi and has maybe ten or so soccer teams from MLS down to PDL? You’d know better than I would, Ives. SP is about twice the size but has ten times the soccer teams. Actually, come to think of it, I don’t know if New York could total 105 professional teams across all sports. Might be an interesting research project for someone.
LA Conspiracy, WTF 🙂
Ives, If you consider Chelsea’s considerable chances as at least one of four penalties that should have been given then yes they should have won.
KC would be better if Adam Christman were healthy. They need a target forward. Look at how valuable Diccio and Casey are. Christman’s maybe not quite in that league but I think he’d help.
Ives isn’t the one making the conspiracy charge. He is poking fun at its use by so many posters. That’s what many of us are responding to…the silly anti-LA posters.
Ives rules!
@ A.S.
I was so excited to see “Chelsea” in the lineup for PTI. But it almost did more damage confusing Barcelona with their crosstown rivals Espanyol. That’s like talking about Nakamura’s FK and having him standing in front of a Rangers logo. My mouth dropped. I almost would’ve rather have them not talk about the game, then publicly embarrass Americans as stupid Anti-soccer morons.
I never even thought of the Galaxy being involved in a conspiracy until now. You have completely convinced me Ives!
But hey, they gotta keep the face of MLS looking good somehow, Donovan has in fact scored in every single game so far(the majority of them being PK’s).
Since LA has more ties than Dallas has points, somebody has to be controlling strings over there …
If you want to make the argument that MLS shouldn’t suspend players after the games for misconduct that is missed by the referee, then I can understand the complaints about Morales’s suspension.
But if you’re saying that Morales shouldn’t have been suspended for his actions, you need to watch the tape again – about 2:16:30 into the game on mlsnet.com. It’s a blatant elbow at Mastroeni and very much deserving of a suspension. If the referee had a better view of it, it would have been a red card and a PK for the Rapids.
Um, did anyone read the part where Ives said that there is NO pro-LA conspiracy?
Conspiracy for LA? Yup, look how far THAT has gotten them . . .
In other news, Beckham doesn’t want to come back at ALL any more . . .
I must say, I do love me the conspiracy nut jobs – thanks for feeding that frenzy Ives. Exactly what has this grand LA “conspiracy” achieved over the past several seasons? Anyone, anyone, Bueller?
At least in Italy, when there is an actual officiating conspiracy, the teams who conspire seem to actually benefit? As an STH, I guess I should be pissed that the conspiracy/Beckham premium I’ve been paying hasn’t at least bought me a playoff birth.
Truly disgusted by the level of bias you’ve shown Ives. Get over NY loosing to LA on PK. Its not Galaxy fault that opponents cant keep their hands down.
Ives I cant believe what i just read. I expect this kind of below the belt stuff from ignorant fans but from a man of your stature its truly disappointing that you have gone down the road of LA conspiracy BS. Ok everyone admits the DCU pk was a horrible call. You know what get over it. All other have been legit and I realise you are a redbulls fan so your are reacting to NY loosing to LA via a PK. The Galaxy are hated simply because they made an aggresive move and tried to take this league to the next level by bringing in the most famous athlete on earth, while other teams chose not to take that risk period. It hasnt worked out except for the business side which makes the haters even angrier. These calls happen to all other MLS teams yet I have never heard anything, or seen anything posted on this site against other teams.
I agree with Rudy and Kaiser’s posts. Especially Rudy’s. Why would the team in the largest market not get help too? That team has needed more of it than LA over the years, hasn’t it?
Baaah to MLS conspiracy theorists.
“Did anyone else catch PTI where they had the Espanyol logo up for FC Barcelona?
“How F’ing embarrassing???!!!”
They were talking about the game on PTI? That’s great! They could put up a FC Dallas logo for all I care – the important point is that they were talking about it at all.
“@A.S. – So all defenders should just run with their arms behind their backs or at their sides for the entire game? What a ridiculous claim.”
No. They should not put their arms up and out while in the box.
Why do you think Stammler was called for a handball?
All I know is that over the last five years that I have followed MLS closely, the team that had had the most “luck”, the most “breaks”, and the most “calls go their way” is none other than the vaunted DCU. I think that Kaiser does have a point, though. There is way to much whining about conspiracies. The sporting world is a human endeavor shaped by human errors. It is supposed to be a diversion. Let’s enjoy the brillance of the game at whatever level- and rue the fact that the players, coaches, owners, referees, and (yes) fans are plain humans. This “insight” should be basic to grown adults.
The Corinthians game was not part of the Sao Paulo state tournament. It was a Copa do Brasil quarter-final game. Atletico Paranaense is not a Sao Paulo team, they are from the state of Parana.
Did anyone else catch PTI where they had the Espanyol logo up for FC Barcelona?
How F’ing embarrassing???!!!
Quit whining about conspiracies! MLS officials aren’t good enough to pull one off! If you watch MLS each week you know its true…they are crap.
I agree that the DC penalty was horrible, but every other one was obvious.
Besides even if there were a conspiracy, it would be a “thank you” to AEG for carrying the league for years until it was stable, and bringing Beckham in so every other team could make $$$ when he came to town…even though it was LA that had to put up with the wanker.
Chelski sucks. I only wish Ballack had actually grabbed the ref so he could be suspended for a year or something.
As for the Galaxy conspiracy, I’d have to say I don’t buy it, especially after the cheap penalty RSL was given last night. That was so incredibly soft. If anything, the ref was trying to give RSL the win, but alas Chris Seitz is all reputation — gave up 4 to Seattle reserves two weeks ago and now lets the game-tying-goal through his legs.
BTW, I’m not a Galaxy fan. Just calling it like I saw it.
Zero Cool – I couldn’t agree with you more. It is always a conspiracy with the Galaxy. This is a pathetic excuse for the angry supporters of other MLS clubs. Your team didn’t win because they couldn’t score any more goals or defend properly, period! There are always going to be calls that either go your way or don’t, we really need to stop blaming the officiating. I am almost sure that the people complaining wouldn’t say anything if their team would have won these games.
Please, the only b.s. penalty L.A. was awarded was the one against DC. Now the galaxy is responsible for a red card given to montero in a completely different game? You’d think there would be conspiracy to keep New York from being the joke they’ve always been. That is the biggest market after all….
Get over it. Red Bull sucks, Monster is better.
A day of soccer to remember yesterday because for one day at least the refereeing in the MLS was better than the refereeing in the European Champions League.
Any word yet if the British media has a picture of Tom Henning Ovrebo wearing a Barca kit?
Hey Ives, i sit in the LARS section (Galaxy Supporters section) during matches and its not atypical of us to begin yelling “ahhhh, the conspiracy starts early!!!!” every time we get a call our way. Being the team that signed David Beckham we will always be looked at with hatred and under a fine tooth comb. Its interesting that when we get a call in our favor its the MLS Conspiracy, yet when NY, Columbus, KC, TFC, DCU or any other team in the league get a call in their favor that they probably didn’t deserve its chalked up to horrible officiating. So just to make this clear, when a bad call is called for the Galaxy its a conspiracy, when a bad call is called for any other club the refs are terrible.
How people believe we have world class refs who are just making calls so we get points, and they’ve all got the worst refs on the planet makes no sense to me.
At first I didn’t want to believe the LA Conspiracy, but I believe that it is there.
While the Johnson penalty was well deserved, I think that if the Galaxy are behind late in the game, the refs will just look for any reason that they can give a penalty. Any other game, any other time, the ref is not looking for it. LA has benefited from too many late penalty calls for it just to be luck.
Also, you have to look at players who are getting suspended before the galaxy play them. Javier Morales was suspended after the game for a very weak elbow to Pablo. And Fredy Montero’s elbow was deserving of a YELLOW card, not a strait red.
I think it is very important for the key franchise in the MLS, which is the galaxy, to do well, and I believe they are getting some extra help. Their team is HORRIBLE. No way they should have as many points as they do.
RSL v LA last year Deuchar was called offsides for what would be the game winning goal!!!!
PROOF: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KJAD8ItV5zI/SB-fGk1l7aI/AAAAAAAAAPk/jv-Qwjm0bKc/s1600-h/Picture+1.jpg
When DCU had an aging team under Ray Hudson with Etcheverry and Stoichkov, it was a team that relied heavily on dives and calls for PKs to score goals. I think there is something about a slower, aging team that has to rely on stuff like that to snatch a goal. Maybe it’s veteran, savvy players who just do a quicker and better job of selling the penalty. Maybe it’s knowing “I can’t beat this guy” so instead looking for ways to draw the penalty call.
Ives, Corinthians beat Atletico-PR in the Copa Do Brazil, not Sao Paulo state championship…Atletico-PR won the Parana State championship last weekend.
that’s a pretty crap apology there Ives, “without the help of the referee.” no one from chelsea asked the ref to help them win.
calling one penalty from four possible (i’ve no bias here, but there was certainly one in there–the malouda foul for me) would hardly be help. it would have been just.
I like to see any of us call a game with out the help of slow motion instant replay and different camera angles. It is a split second call they have to make.
@A.S. – So all defenders should just run with their arms behind their backs or at their sides for the entire game? What a ridiculous claim.
Pique’s hand was already there. He didn’t place it there so he could block Anelka’s flick. Anelka flicked it into Pique’s arm = ball to hand.
Watch the first half of the LA-RSL game and tell me the officiating was fair and consistant with a straight face. It was more than 30 minutes before RSL finally got a call to go their way, and this was after 10+ calls for LA.
In the end, Kennedy did give RSL the PK, but even with this call this game had the most lop-sided officiating I have seen since Goldenballs was given two free kicks at the top of the box in Salt Lake last year.
Wait a second… that was the Galaxy too!
In the end, who does the league want to succeed more; the “Jewel” of the MLS, or the team in the smallest market?
both stammler and will johnson should keep their hands down instead of up. it aint basketball. keep your dam hans down when your defending 1 on 1
“but when the dust settles I have a feeling Blues players will realize that they had plenty of chances to finish the series off without the help of the referee.”
Yup. You can get screwed by the referee and yet still win if you take advantage of the chances you have. (And make no mistake, Chelsea had the majority of the goal scoring chances over the two legs.) That doesn’t make it fair to get screwed by the referee.
Interesting that you note the LA PK for the Stammler handball. To me, that was a good equivalent for the Pique handball. Stammler clearly didn’t “play the ball” with his hand (elbow, actually), but was still called for the penalty because his hand (elbow) was up. Pique’s should have been called the same.
AWESOME POST DUDE!
Don’t forget the phantom handball penalty in the LAG-DCU game in week 1. That cost United two points.
Hey Bruce, Rodney Wallace called, he said the thigh bone is actually *not* connected to the arm bone, so you know, shut up while you’re ahead.