Photo by Nick Turchiaro/ISIphotos.com
David Beckham's latest comments about Major League Soccer referees will probably attract some attention from the league office. He knows that, and he doesn't seem to mind.
In the aftermath of the Los Angeles Galaxy's 0-0 draw with Toronto Wednesday night, a match in which Beckham received his fifth yellow card in six games and Juninho was sent off at the end of second-half stoppage time for a second yellow card, Beckham shared his feelings about the league's refereeing with reporters at BMO Field.
"To be honest over the last few games I think I’ve spoke too much about referees," Beckham said. "They’re becoming the stars of the MLS, and that’s obviously not what teams want and clubs want. You want the players to be playing out there. You want it to be fair. I just don’t think the consistency’s there. I think there’s bad calls, and we’ve had our majority of bad calls over the last few games, but it’s ruining games. It’s ruining our preparation for games. I’ll probably get in trouble, but it’s gone on too long. We want that consistency to be there, and we want to keep our players on the field."
What do you think of Beckham's comments? Do you think he should be disciplined? Do you agree with him?
Share your thoughts below.
Such a funny picture. Terry Vaughan with a boner and Beckham looks quite disgusted about it
Jair Marufo is one of the fittest of all the referees. He’s also a FIFA which means he must adhere to rigorous training and testing schedule. You’re out to lunch if you’re complaining about his fitness, he’s very fit.
lol
One of the problems that I don’t see mentioned here is the physical conditioning of the officials. It’s disgraceful how paunchy many of the refs are (not as bad as baseball umpires but bad enough). When I see a European game, especially UEFA, all the officials seem slim and trim and almost as fit as the players themselves (same thing with basketball refs). This is a factor in being able to follow the play and position yourselves correctly. Far too often the refs and RAs are caught out of position or are too far away to see clearly enough to make a good call. To see Toledo, Marufo, or Okulaja huffing and puffing their way to get to card a player they had a bad angle on from 40 yards away is getting tiresome.
You have proved my point perfectly!!! Italian refs are not the best because they cannot real in the cheaters and divers that embarrass our sport.
Thank you!!!
The rest of your rant is putting words in my mouth. No thanks!!!
I like Beckham’s attitude this year, and admire him for stating the obvious. Every MLS fan, from casual to hardcore, know the officiating is horrible. It is, to me, the number one thing holding MLS back from taking the next big step in its evolution.
1. Some consistency please. People and players may argue over what should be a foul, or what deserves yellow and red. But if a ref calls these fouls THE SAME WAY all game long for both teams, then players can adapt and the game can flow and be pleasing to watch and potentially attract new followers.
2. Reward the skilled players. It is so frustrating to watch a player beat a defender 1v1, only to be flattened or illegally be knocked off the ball. If a foul is called consistently, thats one thing. But we all have watched defenders get away with this for entire games and not even get whistled. This stifles the creative interesting players and makes for boring scoreless draws. It’s not ‘physical play’ if its illegal. It’s similar to the ‘hand-check’ foul now called in the NBA. What a positive difference that change made.
3. Show restraint on the red cards. I would prefer to see more fouls called with less cards. Who wants to drive hours to see the galaxy without Beckham, Donovan, or Juninho.
4. The players need to adapt. Players are not blameless. A studs-up tackle from behind is a red card in any league. However, if officiating was consistent, I believe the players would adapt and fall in line.
Vaughn looks to be sporting wood….maybe he is paying too much attention to Becks.
Ditto, and I’m a fan! He got better at nicking the ball back in Milan but the slide, he can rarely keep the studs down.
That said, MLS officiating is really poor and I appreciate anyone saying so.
so it is a solid majority then…..
MLS ref suck because:
They give too many cards in a game they call too loose.
Wait a minute….
I agree with Kyle above, this is an international problem.
My solution ?
Maybe 1 ref worked in 1880 when the game was slower and less physical.
Somewhere between 1880 and 2011 ? They need more eyes on the field.
The last two Earthquakes games have had atrocious referee decisions (or lack of decision)
Um… What did I miss here… How are crappy MLS officials any worse than crappy EPL officials… Literally ever game this season has had an officiating storyline to it, but I don’t think this is a national problem, it’s an international problem, so I don’t see how bringing in Euro refs would help…
Becks is fundamentally the worst tackler I have ever seen. He always goes in studs up and at terrible angles when he tackles someone. Other times he goes into tackles and doesn’t commit fully and makes himself susceptible to injury. I always cringe when he goes in for a tackle because I know either he will injure the other player or himself when he does.
The fact that the bad calls even out doesn’t excuse them. Even if they don’t affect the league standings at the end of the season, they make the games much uglier.
He’s right… they suck. That being said, get out the checkbook cause you’re getting fined
So by that logic, Scotland and the US/Canada already have the best referees in the World. Since diving and gamesmanship are very rare in MLS in comparison to to Italy, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, etc it would follow that our refs much better than theirs. No reason for this thread at all. Got it. Less cheating here, so our refs have to be better. Silly me, I thought players dived because cheating has been part of the game since it’s inception and these countries, having played it at a high level for a long time have developed cheating to a high art therefore needing top class referees to reign it in. I’m wrong of course.
Someone’s gotta be a star since beckham isn’t
No that’s what becks and rest of us mean.
Refs making higher standard calls upgrade quality of play
I think we just need 2 more linesmen. One on each sideline, so there would be 2 on each half.
For offsides, they both have to agree and raise their flags.
For a goal, only one needs to think it crossed the line.
Give more credence to linesmen’s ability to raise a flag for a foul. I just don’t see them doing this all that often, even when a bad foul is committed right in front of them.
Simple addition to game, with no change in rules. Game on.
The refs are terrible in MLS. If I turn on a game and see Abby Okalaja, I immediately change the station. This isn’t a new problem though. The refs have sucked ever since I really started watching the league back in 2002. It just seems odd that the league can address DPs to bring more prestige to the league. They can address youth academies to develop more players for the league and they can add the reserve league to give each team more depth, but they can’t address the refs.
if it takes this rash of cards to slow the stream of horrible tackles in this league, then let the cards fly….i have never seen a league where this many poorly executed tackles go unpunished….i don’t want this to turn into an nba all-star game, but there needs to be some discretion and restraint when it comes to tackling….and yes, becks did deserve that card last night
Although, to be fair, Beckham shouldn’t have still been on the field. His tackle of Wolff from Behind has been widely accepted as a clear Red Card.
agree with you on splitting the field with 2 reffs. They are having trouble keeping up in MLS which is so much slower than the EPL…But FIFA will never make such a change. Blatter has no balls.
I agree with Beckham overall, but I disagree with the idea that he didn’t receive a yellow this game or last. His tackles have been filthy and deserving yellow. Having said that, MLS refs are awful an love to be overly involved in the game.
Becks is spot on.
Totally agree with Becks. Don’t think he’s the one to be making the complaint though 🙂
The league has gone through a spate of (successful) expansion the past few years. Time to consolidate gains and focus on some inner workings- the quality of officiating being top of the list.
agreed, agreed. i think a combination of another ref and replay technology should be implemented.
Itallian soccer is a product of poor referees!!! The reason Italian players fall, roll, and act as if they have been shot from close range is because the referees don’t stop it. Watching the Italian league has become soooooo boring except for the top teams since the early 90’s. That is the reason the Italians are such a disgrace at each World Cup. Trying to promote our game to the casual fan is impossible when the Itallians are rolling around crying.
So please don’t tell me the Italian refs are the best when they cause the crap we have to explain.
Two things need to happen.
1.)
The players here need to learn how the game is really played. This isn’t a rugby/soccer hybrid. This league makes EPL physicality look like ice skating.
2.)
The officials are horrible. And it’s not EPL, Serie A, La Liga horrible, like they miss one call a game. They miss dozens of calls. They ruin the flow of the game.
I watched the games last night, and there were at least 3 different occasions in the first game where the official called back a breakaway for a foul. It’s like they have no concept of advantage, or of any of the subtleties of the game or rules. That leads me to believe that they are whistle happy and do not even think through what they’re doing.
Not all. Just the ones who think the game is played for them!!!
ALTHOUGH Beckham has deserved all five of his bookings and more (the one vs. DC was an “orange card” tackle that many refs would have given a straight red), he’s right about consistency and quality of refereeing overall. In LA’s games, while I doubt there’s actual bias, the only consistent thing about the referees is that they’ve completely lost control of the games. At times they turn a blind eye to rugby tackles, and at times they hand out yellow cards for breathing on an opponent – often just minutes apart. It sometimes seems like cards are being shown at random.
The best referees are one’s you never even notice on the field. As a player, a referee who wants to be the center of attention disrupts such a beautiful game. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO frustrating.
While not a huge fan of Serie A, I agree with some assessments that Italian refs are the best in the world. I’ve watched them referee many international and champions league matches and have generally been very impressed. There are television shows in Italy solely dedicated to dissecting each call a ref makes in matches. With that level of scrutiny and the tendency of players in the league to work the rules to any advantage, the refs have to be first rate or havoc would ensue. It’s not that they don’t make mistakes, they just make seem to make less of them. Why not take some of the retired guys from places like Italy and other countries recognized for strong refereeing and have them provide their input as to how refereeing could improve in the US? They could also provide input on how to best train new referees and their basic approach to the game.
Becks is spot on. After a decade and a half of growing and expanding, it is reasonable to think that some of the MSL today might be competitive with some of the EPL teams. Can the same be said for Holy Toledo and some of the others masquarading as refs for this league?
MLS needs to upgrage its marketing and the ranks of the refs. Which is the more critical need? Tough call.
like the first 2 goals in the NE/DC game!
I love this league but Becks is right on the button. This league has grown in every aspect but reffing. They have affected too many games. Just counting this season I can remember many games where the refs were way too noticeable and like Becks said, they’ve become the “stars”.
Looks like the ref has a hard on for Becks again. Isnt the first time either!
The PK that was awarded to Davies last week vs. LA was an awful call. It took 2 points away from L.A. Changed the outcome of the game. I am an MLS fan and not a fan of any particular team. And I totally agree that it has to be frustrating dealing with the crap refs. He will be fined, good thing he can afford it…