Was it ever discussed- the play at the end where Maxi was knocked over an the RB player literally ran over him to play the ball and no foul was called?
At that point it seemed like the ref just was sick of NYCFC complaining about the Throw-in/CK debate, and decided to ignore fouls. That came after the RB player danced along the endline with it going out and no call.
Watching it live, I didn't think the ball went out. The entire ball has to cross the entire white line and from what I could see, it never really did that. Of course, it comes down to a judgment call by the AR at that point as well. But the bigger question is how he was able to get past all of our defenders while teetering on the end line. Our guys should not be worrying about whether it is out and just defend. The foul on maxi as a non-call is inexcusable though. Kelly had lost it at that point, I think.
He was interviewed going into half time and he said they’re going to push up the defenders and make the field more compact to close down the space.
I'm sure Dome realized this in the 2nd half as well, but for some reason did not adjust for this change. Instead, we walked right into the Red Bulls tactics and started playing out of the back instead of going long like we had been. I'd much rather fight for a 50/50 ball in their half than try to pass out of the back with their high press and Ibeagha on the ball. We aren't barca, unfortunately.
We need better tactics for high pressing teams when they adjust to our tactics. Red bulls also took away our wing backs a lot more in the 2nd half, which basically eliminated our diagonal switches. They also pinched their far side defender into the middle to equalize midfield numbers and make it harder for us to play through the middle where we outnumbered them in the first half. These are all things Armas talked about in his half time and post match interviews. Dome is no fool. I'm sure he saw it, but I don't think we had the personnel to attack a compact defense, which is best with 1v1 dribbling players who cause havoc and make the defensive team lose their shape, creating space for others. GMS may be that guy for us while Mitri and ITS are still injured. Can't wait to see him more. Seems like he's already pretty in tune with Heber to be able to find him on that last shot (WHICH HE SHOULD HAVE BURIED).
Next game without Chanot and Ring are gonna be rough. Hopefully, Sands will be back but we'll probably see Rocha in the back line. He's been playing well his last few outings but the Rapids are a counter attack team with a lot of pace - which is Rocha's weak point.
THOUGHTS ON REF BOTCHED CALL
those saying we fell asleep, quick corner would have been the same thing, etc - no. maxi and parks were ready to defend a quick corner even if our other guys weren't technically ready in the box. their mind set at the time was CONFUSION cause the AR was calling CK and Kelly was basically thinking throw-in and allowing play to go on. They were probably thinking play would be called back because the red bulls obviously did the wrong thing and weren't defending as aggressively as they probably should have. If it was a quick corner - we would have been more prepared for it mentally.
Kelly is a joke and he's MLS's "best ref". Just shows how poor refs in this league are. Dome hit it right on the head when he said if the league wants to improve, refs need to improve as well. I fully support that TIFO being created. Unfortunately, refs aren't announced that early so it'd be difficult to plan.
