Home - September 25 - Atlanta

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LionNYC

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New York City Football Club vs Atlanta United Football Club
Yankee Stadium
Wednesday, September 25th 7:00 PM ET
Fox Sports Go


It's Fan Appreciation Day. It's the last home game of the regular season. This one may decide who tops the East. And it's not on TV in the local NY market.
 
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So it'll be interesting to see what happens with Josef Martinez after today's injury. I can't imagine he plays on Wednesday.
 
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So it'll be interesting to see what happens with Josef Martinez after today's injury. I can't imagine he plays on Wednesday.

He'll play. He supposedly had an adductor injury before the last time we played ATL and he still played. I wouldn't be surprised if the stretcher was a "showmanship" prop.
 
He'll play. He supposedly had an adductor injury before the last time we played ATL and he still played. I wouldn't be surprised if the stretcher was a "showmanship" prop.

Yup I fully expect MLS Digital to have about 10000 articles and talking points about “how bad is Josef’s injury” leading to him playing 90 minutes Wednesday and dunking two goals. That team is blessed for some reason.
 
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Yup I fully expect MLS Digital to have about 10000 articles and talking points about “how bad is Josef’s injury” leading to him playing 90 minutes Wednesday and dunking two goals. That team is blessed for some reason.

ATL gets preferential treatment from MLS cause they are THE team. They are everything MLS wants to showcase to the world - winning/championship team, lots of fan support, exciting style of play, able to sell players for big money, and popular players.

Alymeda came out of that game criticizing the refs. He'll probably get fined for it. But MLS really needs to take notice and do something. Top players and managers are criticizing the refs. If they don't improve, top players and top managers just won't be interested in coming here. It's not like we have that much to offer otherwise. Travel sucks. Pay isn't like China. We have nothing to really offer a top level player if it's not competition. Without good refs, that competition level will never reach its potential in this league.
 
ATL gets preferential treatment from MLS cause they are THE team. They are everything MLS wants to showcase to the world - winning/championship team, lots of fan support, exciting style of play, able to sell players for big money, and popular players.

Alymeda came out of that game criticizing the refs. He'll probably get fined for it. But MLS really needs to take notice and do something. Top players and managers are criticizing the refs. If they don't improve, top players and top managers just won't be interested in coming here. It's not like we have that much to offer otherwise. Travel sucks. Pay isn't like China. We have nothing to really offer a top level player if it's not competition. Without good refs, that competition level will never reach its potential in this league.
You hit the nail on the head for everything except what the league has to offer:

A guaranteed paycheck - no wondering if the owners are gonna stiff you.

Fantastic schools for children

Great lifestyle with housing and neighborhoods.

Safe country (for the most part) compared to many others in Central/South America where kidnappings and ransoms are not unheard of.

Large expat populations to help with homesickness.
 
ATL gets preferential treatment from MLS cause they are THE team. They are everything MLS wants to showcase to the world - winning/championship team, lots of fan support, exciting style of play, able to sell players for big money, and popular players.

Alymeda came out of that game criticizing the refs. He'll probably get fined for it. But MLS really needs to take notice and do something. Top players and managers are criticizing the refs. If they don't improve, top players and top managers just won't be interested in coming here. It's not like we have that much to offer otherwise. Travel sucks. Pay isn't like China. We have nothing to really offer a top level player if it's not competition. Without good refs, that competition level will never reach its potential in this league.
Do what.
Also, what is the evidence that MLS refs are objectively worse than average.
 
Do what.
Also, what is the evidence that MLS refs are objectively worse than average.
I don't expect laypeople like us to propose the solutions but I do expect MLS to demonstrate that they are investing in solving the problem. Although I'll concede that I don't know whether it's actually a problem, or what the value of solving the problem / cost of not solving it would be.

I'm not sure exactly what they are doing or whether it's actually improving or not. But their approach to the whole issue appears apathetic and disconnected from its audience (or at least it's most engaged / would-be advocates). And that in turn makes it hard to believe they are taking the problem seriously.

(Or if you don't believe it's objectively demonstrated to be a problem, you might say that they're not taking the complaints seriously, which is just as problematic really).
 
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Do what.
Also, what is the evidence that MLS refs are objectively worse than average.

well to start, they could have more accountability for the refs and their bad decisions. chapman's mistake was acknowledged by PRO but did he ever get suspended? fined? Such a glaring mistake should not go unpunished. Even Unkel got a game suspension for his bad call in the one columbus game. So there #1 - accountability.

#2 - a PLAN to improve consistency of calls. Obviously, refereeing is difficult and subjective to a point. But there needs to be consistency across the league as a whole. For example, certain actions are red cards automatic red cards, automatic hand balls, etc. How does the league apply the laws of the game? These needs to be settled on and agreed upon by all refs league wide and applied in a consistent manner. For comparison, EPL's take on PK's and how they, as a league, will apply the law requiring keepers to have one foot on or above the line until the time of the kick. They are leaving it up to on field refs and will not use VAR to make those decisions.

#3 - A plan to better train and educate refs. how are they training refs? How can it be improved?

Again - I'm not saying it will be easy. But some acknowledgment of unhappiness of fans, players, and managers would be a first step. To your second point, there's no way to objectively compare refs unless there's some super stat machine out there that can track correct vs incorrect calls and compares leagues around the world. But the fact that refs are the biggest topic of conversation after practically every game is a big problem. When's the last time post game discussions were dominated talk about the ref's decisions or ability to control the game in the EPL? La Liga? It just isn't. Refs are supposed to be there but not there. They make the calls, but they should not be the one standing out on the field and in the game.

....

and the josef injury articles begin...

 
NJ finally clinched a playoff spot last night. NE is going to have to beat us next weekend to secure their spot asap. Getting a point vs. ATL might even be enough. I don't see Philly getting points in SJ. If we can get a win tonight, we may have built an insurmountable lead. Atlanta @ Montreal has MLS written all over it, and NER in ATL could get them into the playoffs. Gonna be a wild few weeks. Sitting at 60 with 3 games left feels like enough to me.
 
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I don't expect laypeople like us to propose the solutions but I do expect MLS to demonstrate that they are investing in solving the problem. Although I'll concede that I don't know whether it's actually a problem, or what the value of solving the problem / cost of not solving it would be.

I'm not sure exactly what they are doing or whether it's actually improving or not. But their approach to the whole issue appears apathetic and disconnected from its audience (or at least it's most engaged / would-be advocates). And that in turn makes it hard to believe they are taking the problem seriously.

(Or if you don't believe it's objectively demonstrated to be a problem, you might say that they're not taking the complaints seriously, which is just as problematic really).
We know they undergo extensive training and review. What else does anyone want? Press conferences denouncing them? The last thing we need is to institutionalize cancel culture. And I still don't buy into the opinion that MLS officials are the worst. The complaint that led to this discussion is emblematic. Espinoza got one yellow for directly interfering with a throw in. He didn't just harass the thrower from 2 feet away; he jumped into him during the throw. It came 2 minutes after Penso gave a yellow to Hyndman for tugging on the jersey of a SJE player on a sort-of breakaway. San Jose games often get snippy because of the man marking, so it makes sense to lay down some markers early. Then Espinoza stomped an a guy's leg 20 minutes later while Hyndman kept his head and scored the game winner at 90'. Espinoza's stomp could have been a straight red. There's no basis for criticizing Penso, yet it's held up as proof MLS referees suck. Penso did not give the game to Atlanta.
 
Also, on the Josef front, the narrative is as expected: first, it was that his injury was going to keep him out for “months” and now Twellman is walking it back saying that it’s not as bad as feared and it’s just weeks. Just as you would script it.
 
Also, on the Josef front, the narrative is as expected: first, it was that his injury was going to keep him out for “months” and now Twellman is walking it back saying that it’s not as bad as feared and it’s just weeks. Just as you would script it.
Do you still think he's going to play?
 
I'll be very surprised if either tinnerholm or parks plays.
 
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