Just a day after Seattle Sounders star Steve Zakuani was lost for the season with a broken leg, reigning MLS MVP David Ferreira joined the list of severely injured stars, suffering a broken ankle in FC Dallas' 2-1 win vs. Vancouver on Saturday.
Ferreira suffered the broken ankle on a challenge from Vancouver defender Jonathan Leathers. There is no timetable yet on when he will have surgery, or a timetable on when he might be back from the injury.
FC Dallas midfielder Eric Avila stepped in and scored a goal in place of Ferreira, and will likely be called in to fill the void left by the Colombian playmaker.
Leathers should be supsended for his actions right after he broke DF’s ankle. You could tell from how he was immediatley waving his arms that he was hurt and Leathers was mocking him and carrying on. You can tell he is nothing but a hack, it was bad enough that my wife even commented on what an a#$ he was being.
Actually the Whitecaps fans were booing the entire time David was on the ground and being taken off on the stretcher. So I do not think they seemed to upset, in fact I would be embarrassed if I was the team for their fans actions. It was clear he was not down faking an injury.
MLS has to worry about two of their brightest stars getting injured. They are the reason why I watch this league.I am not here to watch the hackers of this league.
Yeah cuz bad tackles and broken bones don’t have in the EPL or anything….
But, have you seen how “tearful” he is over this whole thing?
http://www.coloradorapids.com/news/2011/04/tearful-mullan-laments-zakuanis-injury
And he also says, if the opportunity arose, he’d do it the same way all over again. It was just a “freak accident.”
Getting the ball first does not mean a tackle is not reckless, that is a wide spread misconception. There is nothing in the rules about getting the ball and reckless is reckless
No I’m responding to Jig who said ” If it were Brian Mullan and Jonathan Leathers who were now out for the 2011 season, no one would care. ”
But in 2022 they will be responsible for global cooling…if the cloud machine works.
Correct, the Canada Soccer Federation assigns the officials north of the border.
LOL!
Mullen’s career stats: http://www.mlssoccer.com/player/brian-mullan
His card record speaks for itself.
I agree. It was a yellow offense. Unless FIFA is going to crack down on tackles from behind again (which they probably should) then there’s no way to call this a ‘dirty’ play. It was a hard foul, and merited a caution. But it was a lot more ‘bad luck’ then the Zakuani injury, which was outright thuggery.
He’s the typical defensive midfielder ‘terrier’ type who makes due with athleticism when he has no skill. Unfortunately, coaches will always be infatuated with those kinds of players, because they’re perfect for when you play not to lose.
The refs are actually under the umbrella of the US Soccer Federation. It’s a FIFA mandate that domestic leagues are stocked with refs under that nation’s soccer governing body.
Mullan lead his team in fouls. Which is pretty consistent with how he dished out fouls when he played for Houston. I wouldn’t call him a dirty player but he does foul a hell of a lot.
LBJ has been dead for years, I don’t think the NBA would miss him.
“the cheap-looking turf at Empire may have played into it.”
This is definitely true, his leg appears to get caught in the turf.
im willing to bet all my money that Mullan will be made as an example. Rico Clark got 9 game suspension for kicking Ruiz in the ARM while Ruiz made the most out of it by grabbing his face.
My guess: Mullan get a 10-12 game suspension
You’re right about the refs, but I see people bringing up Garber more for his ability to set a standard with suspensions re: the Mullan deal than his ability to do anything about refs. Garber can’t do anything about the lack of a yellow on the Ferreira deal, but he can think about setting a standard on harsh tackles and he sure as hell can set a standard using Mullan.
FIFA is also to blame for global warming, Sarah Palin, and crack cocaine
You assume Rapids and Whitecaps supports are not upset?
Totally disagree. MLS is not a league overflowing with skill and technique. First and foremost, it’s a league that is about running, physical play, hard tackling and effort. MLS refs have been lenient in the past about cards. To argue that injuries happen everywhere misses the point: injuries may happen everywhere but when it appears to be out-of-control or premeditated (not so much to injure but “payback” ala Mullen’s tackle) than you have to act.
Second, yes, there have been some mystifying card decisions so far this year. But it’s a league correction–making up for years of allowing physical play and players to abuse refs and complain about everything. Refs still need to get better and get more consistent and get more accurate. But I would prefer that the refs err on the side of allowing technical, skilled players to use those skills then err on the side of physical players to negate skill by illegal play.
Third, big blow for FCD. I know they’ve got a lot of young depth. But this is still a deal that lost a couple of good players in the off-season with no real compensation or replacement. They’ve now lost the league MVP. At a minumum, they have a lot less depth and with injuries or fatigue, less ability to handle that and less tactical flexibility now for Hyndman–even if you believe they still have the horses to be a strong team. Or you can believe that their chemistry (a critical part of last year) has to be affected and they’ve now lost some critical role players that they really can’t replace (without trades or purchases).
Leathers committed a tackle you see a thousand times in leagues all over the world. Its a crap tackle (from behind, of a player that just beat you for pace, lunging for the ball and you take the legs out from underneath). David receives this tackle 2-4 times a match.
It should always be carded, and by LOTG, a red card, but refs are so very scared to start throwing people out for a tackle that rarely ends this way.
If you watch the replay, it is not the contact that breaks it, it is the foot (toe of shoe) getting stuck in the turf as his body turns that does it.
This is nothing like the Mullan play.
Leather’s should have been, at the very least cautioned, but if FIFA wants this type of crap to stop, tackles from behind should ALWAYS be a red
i actually think it didnt merit a yellow. A foul yes, but not cardable. But if he did get a yellow, id understand that view as well. Just a horrible accident occuring when Ferraira landed strangely on his ankle.
It’s a catch 22. The players dive sometimes because they don’t trust the referees to make the call, and the referees don’t always make the call because the players are diving. In the case of this game, a number of Dallas players had already gone down too easily on tackles, to the extent that the referee was starting to wave play on as they rolled around on the ground.
No sympathy for a diving cheat.
So…even though it should have been a yellow, in retrospect you are fine with the play as it happened?
Problem for MLS is the rut the league is in: rough/amateurish play/tackling–> amateur refs–>injuries–>players embellish to get calls since without acting not much less than an assault is called—> bookings for dissimulation—>more rough/amateurish play–>more poor reffing
the cycle continues…
Yeah injuries happen, but so does poor reffing and bad tackles.
Yes sympathy, but I see the guys point.
Anyways, This tackle was not reckless as the defender got the ball first and slid through Ferreira, hit him with his trailing leg that was on the ground. More of a freak accident.
actually im not sure about the FIFA paying their salary part, but MLS is not their boss…more like their client
and i dont know why people are blaming Garber for this. These are refs hired and paid by FIFA not MLS. All Garber can do is talk to them and hope for better officiating. There is no way Garber can hire new ones to replace FIFA’s Toledos and Okinajas (sp?)
I saw the Ferraira tackle live and in no way should anyone here compare it to the Mullan tackle. Its unfortunate that an injury was a result but there was all intent to tackle to ball from Leathers and thats what he did though he did come in contact with Ferraira. From the immediate replays, i thought the Vancouver commentators had a point when talking about the turf playing a role. In slow mo, it looks like Leather’s shin forced his ankle at inverted angle as it landed on the uneven surface causing a severe ankle sprain that broke his ankle.
There was no way you can fault the ref from calling a corner and no foul. Ferraira has a knack for diving and it looked like a clean tackle from afar until we saw replay (and even with replay i wasnt sure if Ferraira was as injured as his hand movements described until Avila replaced him.
Get well Ferraira. His offensive abilities will be missed
For me, these nasty injuries take the fun out of the game. There needs to be a lightning bolt from Mt. Garber.
Likely out the rest of the season as well, depending on the severity of the break. Tougher to deal with a broken ankle because of the greater loss of mobility vs. when the break is higher up on the leg and not on a joint.
Could scarcely be a worse weekend for injuries.
I don’t agree. If Brian Mullan or Jonathan Leathers played on the team I support, I would definitely care about it and would be upset.
No sympathy for a dudes ankle getting broken?
First Zakuani and then the reigning MVP. This is turrrible, like the NBA losing Derrick Rose and LBJ to significant injuries.
Players embellish because they don’t trust referees to make the call on it’s merits. Referees miss calls because the game has gotten faster, they’re out of position or they think the player is diving. I’m not sure cards are the answer however tt is sad that twice now players in the MLS have been shown a second yellow for celebration while other players see no calls on what we see as a clear foul.
It’s nice to see that one of the 12 times Ferreira fell down he was actually injured. If he and the rest of his Dallas teammates hadn’t been diving so much, I suspect the ref might have actually believed him this time and awarded a penalty. No sympathy for either Ferreira or the team.
+1
People get hurt everywhere. If it were Brian Mullan and Jonathan Leathers who were now out for the 2011 season, no one would care.
Listen, injuries suck for everyone involved. Is it only limited to the MLS? C’mon…I don’t think so. Look at all the leagues. This happens everywhere. And I would – without doing vast research – say that these types of injuries are more prevalent in the early stages of the seasons. Let’s not be so reactionary. Correct me if I’m wrong but Mullen does not have a history of braking people’s legs or even a strong yellow card or red card history.
Injuries like the above certainly send shock waves through the league and players will adjust their play for the sake of preserving their own career.
I think once they decided the tackle wassn’t going to get a yellow, they decided to take the easy path and give the corner. I don’t know how much I blame the refs, and I can’t complain about the resulting play as an FCD fan. Frankly, this wasn’t the worst tackle I’ve seen on Ferreira this season. It was rough and clumsy, and I wish they had carded Leathers, but I don’t know that you automatically think a broken leg/ankle is a realistic outcome of that tackle, where any reasonable person would HAVE to considered that a distinct possibility on the Mullan tackle.
I don’t know if it was fair. I thought it should have been a foul, and maybe a yellow, but it was nothing like the Mullan-Zakuani tackle. I think the refs took the easy way out just giving the corner, but I’m not sure how much I blame them, since FCD got a free kick of some sort out of the incident, and it would have been a difficult spot from which to cross the ball in anyway.
Overall, it was more the garden variety MLS hackery we’re all used to and could have happened to any team. I also think the cheap-looking turf at Empire may have played into it.
I watched the game, Ferreira beat his man heading to the endl line, The Vancouver player slid and gotthe ball with his lead foot and promptyly destroyed ferreira with his other leg. Watching it live I thought it was a yellow card, It was a hard tackle from behind after having been beat. The Ref at the time gave nothing but a corner, guy gets his ankle broken and there is no foul? MLS needs to clean up the reffing, I know people don’t like a game with a lot of cards and breaks in play but we have to live with that until certain players learn you can’t thugg it up like they have been doing
ok dont come
I wonder what’s Ives view on this issue. Last night he bitterly complained (via twitter) that the refs were given way too many cards.
Beckham, remember, also said the same thing to the effect that too many cards were given by the refs.
HC
(SBI-Cards for harsh fouls are a no-brainer, but some of the red card decisions early in the year have been real head-scratchers. Give reds and yellows when they’re merited, punish the hacks, but don’t overdo it and send off players for silliness. There is a difference.)
I fully support your statement Tim I did not see the tackle on Ferreira either but I did see the tackle on Zakuani. Shameful.
I urge you to send your comment and feelings about this to MLS. Copy it and post it on their Facebook page 5 or 10 times a day until something is done about it. I urge everyone to do the same thing.
This is awful news. I feel for FCD fans and even more for David; get better soon David!
Like Zakuani, Ferreira is one of my favorite players in the league to watch. I tune in to FCD games just to see what he will do. There’s no question MLS took a huge hit this weekend.
I did not see this tackle, so I cannot comment on it, but the tackle on Zakuani is clearly more than just going for the ball. You see Mullan’s frustration that he did not get the call he wanted and then he goes full steam ahead for Zakuani. Mullan may have been going for the ball but he was clearly going to get the ball and anything else that was in his way.
If these sorts of tackles are not punished more severly, a player on an underperforming team may sacrifice for two games (the rest of that game and the next game), to make the playing field more level in their eyes. I even heard John Harkes clearly state that he thought more FOULS (not tackles) need to occur and there’s a very fine line here. We would all agree that there’s nothing wrong, indeed it is key part of the game, to make attempts to tackle the ball that may result, in a referee’s eyes, getting too much of the player with the ball in that instance. The Mullan tackle clearly goes a step beyond this and other fouls may too. That’s why Mullan should have to sit out, without pay, for as long as it takes for Zakuani to recover and play. Even that may not eliminate such an awful tackle but at least it would set a precedent that other players would have to consider.
It could be that Leathers’ tackle was not of this ilk and was just an unfortunate part of the game. For his sake, I hope this is the case and not akin to Mullan’s challenge. Otherwise, it would further reinforce the sort of foul we witnessed this weekend that takes Zakuani out for probably the rest of the season.
Yeah, the match replay just shows him on a stretcher.
MLS is in danger of becoming a farce. Two of the best, most exciting players in the league taken out in the last two days by dangerous, bush-league tackles. No quality international players are going to want to play in MLS if this continues. Don Garber must dish out heavy suspensions immediately. A clear message must be sent that these kinds of tackles will not be tolerated.
I didn’t see it. Was it a fair challenge?