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Mid-Day Ticker: Vela turns down Olympic call; veteran pair leave AC Milan & more

Vela (Getty Images)

Mexico's Olympic team is not coming together as El Tri might have hoped.

Along with Javier Hernandez being denied a chance to compete this summer by Manchester United, star striker Carlos Vela has turned down a call-up to the Olympic team, leaving El Tri shorthanded on star power that was expected to make the team a serious contender during the Olympic tournament.

Vela, 22, is age-eligible and would not have required Mexico to use an overage spot on him, but with the Olympics meaning that there would be little to no time between club seasons and this summer being a crucial one in his club career, Vela has opted to put international soccer on the back burner for the time being. 

On loan to Real Socieded from Arsenal, Vela had his best season as a professional, scoring 12 goals. Vela, who has been gone on loan from Arsenal repeatedly, has had his most success Spain, where he has also played for Salamanca and Osasuna. He played on loan for West Brom last season.

Here are a few more stories to keep your Friday rolling:

GATTUSO, INZAGHI CONTINUE MILAN EXODUS

The changing of the guard at AC Milan continues.

After Alessandro Nesta announced his departure from the storied Italian club upon season's end on Thursday, veterans Gennaro Gattuso and Filippo Inzaghi did the same on Friday.

Gattuso, 34, has been with Milan since 1999. The 38-year-old Inzaghi, who wrote a letter to the club and its fans on AC Milan's website, has been with the Rossoneri since 2001, scoring 125 goals in that time. Neither player is expected to retire, and Gattuso is reportedly holding a press conference on Saturday to discuss his future plans. 

Both players were on Italy's 2006 World Cup championship squad, and are out of contract at the end of the season.

SOUNDERS' SCOTT SUSPENDED

The MLS Disciplinary Committee has claimed another victim, as Seattle Sounders defender Zach Scott has been suspended a game and fined an undisclosed amount for his tackle on FC Dallas' Fabian Castillo Wednesday night. Scott received a yellow card during the game for his scissor challenge from behind, but he will be forced to miss Seattle's match against Real Salt Lake Saturday night.

Here is video of Scott's tackle:

PARDEW, KOMPANY WIN HONORS

Newcastle's Alan Pardew and Manchester City's Vincent Kompany have been named Premier League Manager and Player of the Year, respectively.

Pardew has guided Newcastle to the brink of an improbable berth in the UEFA Champions League, while Kompany anchored Manchester City's defense all season and is a big reason why the club is on the verge of its first English title since 1968.

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What do you think of Vela's decision? How do you see this affecting Mexico's chances at winning a medal this summer? How do you think all of the veteran departures will change Milan? Want to see any the Milan veterans in MLS? Think Scott deserved his suspension? Who would be your choice for Premier League Manager and Player of the Year? 

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Mexico’s senior team played nineteen games in 2011.

    This year they have played two and have three more already scheduled.

    I doubt they will have any more difficulty getting through the early stages of qualifying than the US will.

    Reply
  2. Gatusso is one of the most aggressive players I have seen on the field.What a tackler.This could well be the end of the road for him.Hats off to a wonderful career he had with AC Milan.

    Reply
  3. Gotcha and I see your point on the trailing leg. That front leg is so wild and absolutely unnecessary and it did look pretty bad at full speed.

    Cheers and try not to jinx anyone this weekend in the match day posts 🙂

    Reply
  4. I rather him go back to Ajax so he can continue being Mr.Champions League. Also it would be cool if Seedorf went back to Ajax at the same time Van Bommel heads back to PSV.

    Reply
  5. Vela is smart to turn down the Olympic callup. He’s just getting his club career back on track – the Olympics will interfere with preseason.

    Get the career back on track and then he can begin getting called back up to the full national team. Especially now cause the forward role is up in the air again with Chicharito’s drop in form.

    Reply
  6. how about Gooch returning and taking their places… maybe not.. seriously tho he would have been in his 3rd year there and maybe about to finally get some PT

    Reply
  7. While I absolutely agree that violent tackles should be aggressively punished, I just don’t see this one in that category because of the mild nature of Castillo’s fall. Whether Scott pulled out or let his leg go slack before the ‘scissors’ contact, I don’t know. But we clearly see the contact differently.

    As to Castillo’s reaction, I wasn’t clear. I was talking about the physical side of *how* he fell and to me that indicated that the trailing leg didn’t really get him.

    All good, we just see it differently. Ironically, I could have understood a red card on it because it looked so much worse at full speed than in review.

    Cheers,

    Reply
  8. Why wasn’t Marcelin suspended for his dirty cleats up tackle on Caskey in the 12th minute? He could have broken Caskey’s league.

    Reply
  9. Hard to argue with the selection of Pardew. But Kompany as player of the year? Really? I don’t see that at all.

    Reply
  10. In my book, scissor tackles by nature are violent. There’s no place for them in the game and the DC should do everything to remove them.

    Castillo’s reaction shouldn’t be a factor in this at all. The DC shouldn’t be punishing bad tackles for their results. It’s the nature of this challenge that warrants a suspension (and should have been an immediate red, as well). Scott is beaten and he chooses a scissors tackle from behind to take him down. If he simply clips his heel, it’s a yellow.

    Reply
  11. And there you have it…the first entry in the annual Seedorf to MLS speculation.

    I used to get really excited about the prospect. He could add enormous quality to the league, and would raise the level of whatever team he joined. I also no longer believe this will happen.

    Reply
  12. fair enough, see my response to JG13 above. I really like Castillo and am not a Seattle fan or anything so my bias is limited. 🙂

    Reply
  13. It’s definitely suspension worthy. The question is was it red card worthy? It’s a different calculus as to whether the ref should force a team to play short-handed. Much easier to say the individual should be punished. These post-game reviews are especially useful for that. Exactly how the system should work.

    Scott should be suspended. Should he have gotten a red card? That’s a closer call.

    Reply
  14. We disagree on the violence on the tackle apparently. However, your take on it does make it clear that it is not unreasonable to see the tackle that way. So, point taken to be sure.

    I see it as appearing flagrant but that the contact itself was very mild, especially considering the reaction by Castillo which was quite understated.

    Reply
  15. So a scissor move from behind often called as a straight red isn’t suspension worthy? I think that was more worthy of a suspension than what S. Joseph got when he sent Villar to the bench.

    Full disclosure- Hoops fan and F. Castillo owner.

    Reply
  16. Well done Alan Pardew. Great manager, love his passion on the field (even if he can go a bit far on occasion), great interviews after every game, not afraid to admit when he’s got something wrong.

    He wasn’t the only choice this year, but I think he was a good one and the right one.

    Reply
  17. This is a seriously good point. It becomes important to educate the refs on this decision and why it was made. I too wonder how much they consult with the refs before changing the ruling.

    Cheers,

    Reply
  18. I think decisions like this are about sending a message to the players more so than the refs.

    Scott may have only gotten a yellow in the game because Casillo wasn’t hurt, but that was a leg-breaker type tackle the way Scott’s trailing leg came around and scissored him. I fully support MLS trying clean up the game.

    Reply
  19. There is ZERO attempt to play the ball and he commits a scissors tackle from behind. I don’t really understand the argument against a suspension.

    I’d like to see the Disciplinary Committee crack down on scissor tackles. Beckham’s tackle on Dane Richards could easily have broken a leg but he only saw yellow (and the DC was, apparently, okay with that).

    Reply
  20. Im all for, and a lot of people are for the MLS Disciplinary Committee, however, my problem is, how does this help the referees? How will it improve their judgement, if they go “yellow card for a tackle they SAW”, and then MLS DC comes in and says “red card, and fined an undisclosed amount”.

    So my question would be “Do they consult with the referees if they saw/didn’t see a tackle” and then go from there?

    Reason: MLS Refs were under sheer scrutiny last year for their often horrid officiating, so does this help, or more hurt them. I think the later!

    Reply
  21. I think Gattusso is done. I’m pretty sure that he is has double vision in one of his eyes that forces him to wear an eye patch.

    Reply
  22. Vela keeps on turning down Mexico Lately. With barely any of Mexico’s players seeing first team time on their respective squads in Europe; they may not have a very in form team for WC qualifying.
    Vela is one of Mexico’s bright players this season, but he seems to be holding a grudge against Mexico and the FMF right now.

    Reply
  23. Wow, weak foul for a suspension. Yellow card to be sure, mostly due to the obstruction element to the tackle and the advantage Castillo had. But a game?

    Edit: Disclosure: Scott is on my fantasy team. 😉

    Reply

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