MLS Week 12 - 2019

[Ulrich]

Yes, Villalba's chest bump was overtly aggressive. Johnson was kind of passive-aggressive, going for the plausible deniability approach.

Not comparing to Villaba, but Johnson’s was after the play was over and to the opponent’s back. That’s not passive aggressive, that’s looking for a reaction.

 

[mgarbowski]

Not comparing to Villaba, but Johnson’s was after the play was over and to the opponent’s back. That’s not passive aggressive, that’s looking for a reaction.

In my experience passive-aggressive is almost always trying to provoke a reaction.

 

[413Blue]

In my experience passive-aggressive is almost always trying to provoke a reaction.

And Zlatan, as a seasoned superstar, should be very familiar with these antics by now. It's basically standard operating procedures for defenders/keepers all over the world and he faces these things pretty much every game.
It's good business to try and get under the skin of the opposing superstar striker who had no shots in over 80 minutes, is playing his third game in a week and losing at home.

 

[Ulrich]

In my experience passive-aggressive is almost always trying to provoke a reaction.

Yes, trying to invoke a reaction, but done so without a direct confrontation and definitely not via contact. Chest bump to the back is very much overt.

Now if Johnson constantly made comments like “this is just too damn easy!” Or “even Kitman got one past me the other day,” and did that after every failed LA attack, that’d be passive aggressive as he’d be winding up the LA players without speaking directly to any of them and not confronting them.