MLS Week 3 - 2018

[LionNYC]

SATURDAY
DC vs. Houston 1:30 PM
Philadelphia vs. Columbus 2 PM
Minnesota vs. Chicago 2 PM
Montreal vs. Toronto 3 PM
New York City vs. Orlando 3:30 PM (Univision, Twitter)
Atlanta vs. Vancouver 7:30 PM
Kansas City vs. San Jose 8:30 PM
Salt Lake vs. Red Bulls 9 PM

SUNDAY
Dallas vs. Seattle 5 PM

 

[Gotham Gator]

Atlanta - Vancouver should be interesting. Whitecaps off to a good start.

No national broadcast on Fox or ESPN this week.

 

[Seven]

How does Atlanta get so many games where the opponent gets a red card early and they play a large portion of the match up a man?

 

[Ulrich]

How does Atlanta get so many games where the opponent gets a red card early and they play a large portion of the match up a man?

I’d be curious to see a list of which refs have awarded the reds and how many from each. It does feel like ATL gets a disproportionate number of man-advantages.

 

[LionNYC]

How does Atlanta get so many games where the opponent gets a red card early and they play a large portion of the match up a man?

Didn't look like a red and it took a while to review. The referee, Elfath. Same referee that called the elbow to face on us. Bullshit on both cases.

 

[canchon]

Didn't look like a red and it took a while to review. The referee, Elfath. Same referee that called the elbow to face on us. Bullshit on both cases.

I was about to post the same...Elfath can be baited into a red card by watching VAR. Complete bullshit.

 

[canchon]

I’d say a medium schadenfreude week. “Incredible mental focus” Toronto and RBNJ suffer CCL hangovers and lose.

Only Atlanta whooping it up takes away from a nice day. Convenient BS red card (plus penalty to put them up 1-0) to help them out.

 

[Gotham Gator]

I’d say a medium schadenfreude week. “Incredible mental focus” Toronto and RBNJ suffer CCL hangovers and lose.

Only Atlanta whooping it up takes away from a nice day. Convenient BS red card (plus penalty to put them up 1-0) to help them out.

Pretty much spot on.

Note that the Red Bulls also lost on a VAR-called penalty kick. Another one that would never get called live.

It’s a real problem with VAR. Stuff that always used to get waived off now leads to penalties and red cards because when viewed in slow motion and from 6 angles it technically fits within the definition of a violation. To me, this kind of thing is the real danger from VAR - much more than the occasional stopping of play.

 

[DeGrozz]

Toronto's got a really tough stretch coming up -- in just about a two week span, they've got 3 MLS games and 2 CCL semis that they have to prioritize. With the way things have started out of the gates, they could be in a double digit hole to multiple teams by the time they get back to their normal schedule.

 

[Section1Guy]

Pretty much spot on.

Note that the Red Bulls also lost on a VAR-called penalty kick. Another one that would never get called live.

It’s a real problem with VAR. Stuff that always used to get waived off now leads to penalties and red cards because when viewed in slow motion and from 6 angles it technically fits within the definition of a violation. To me, this kind of thing is the real danger from VAR - much more than the occasional stopping of play.

I like the idea of more penalties and reds... It will clean the game up more because it will change how it gets played. That increases real scoring not just penalty scoring. However, as expected, its completely arbitrary and actually gives the ref more power in a way than he had previously. Picking and choosing when to look at fouls. There's a foul in the box on every single corner... They have to be called if you plan on using VAR. They used to be let go because is holding a guy's arm worth a PK? Of course not, but if you call them every time, then there's no more holding arms.

I rambled. May not have even made my actual point coherently.

 

[Vallos]

Toronto's got a really tough stretch coming up -- in just about a two week span, they've got 3 MLS games and 2 CCL semis that they have to prioritize. With the way things have started out of the gates, they could be in a double digit hole to multiple teams by the time they get back to their normal schedule.

So they have a choice: Champions League glory or early regular season points. I am sure all of us will take the former any day of the week, especially in a league where all that matters is getting into the playoffs. I am certain they feel the same way too.

 

[JayH]

How the heck are they letting Robles wear that jersey? It’s indistinguishable.

 

[DeGrozz]

So they have a choice: Champions League glory or early regular season points. I am sure all of us will take the former any day of the week, especially in a league where all that matters is getting into the playoffs. I am certain they feel the same way too.

100% agree with you. The supporter's shield is cool, but unless you absolutely run away with it (like TFC did last year), it's a nice to have, but because of the uneven schedule it'll never be the end-all-be-all in this league. Go all out, try to win the CCL, and get your name in the playoffs.

 

[adam]

So they have a choice: Champions League glory or early regular season points. I am sure all of us will take the former any day of the week, especially in a league where all that matters is getting into the playoffs. I am certain they feel the same way too.

I think they’re making the right choice and hope our club makes the same in that position. But also appreciate being spotted all those points playing for a bye in a tough conference.

 

[SoupInNYC]

How the heck are they letting Robles wear that jersey? It’s indistinguishable.

Do you have any pics of this?

 

[mgarbowski]

I think they’re making the right choice and hope our club makes the same in that position. But also appreciate being spotted all those points playing for a bye in a tough conference.

It's pretty low-risk for them. They already have a treble, including SS, in their pocket, plus the highest MLS point total ever. They brought back everyone important. The team taking a bigger risk is the Red Bulls, and good for them.

 

[mgarbowski]

Do you have any pics of this?

 

[SoupInNYC]

View attachment 8418

Yeah, thats awful

 

[SoupInNYC]

Also, in case anyone missed it, Felipe is still a piece of shit. Even though he plays in another country now

 

[SoupInNYC]

Oh, and Julian Gressel is straight fire