Recent content by RefIADad

I just can’t get behind this, even as a US fan. It smells of something bad, and this is not how I want to see things progress. I didn’t like the send off, but this is not the way to resolve it. If this was Doku or Trossard having this done, I’d be livid as a US supporter.

It certainly is bad optics at the very least. I thought the send off was harsh, but certainly defensible and absolutely nothing warranting an overturn of the standard one-match suspension. I’d be livid if I were the officials. Damaging to their credibility.

2018-Argentina vs Croatia. Probably the most poorly-officiated game in that World Cup, and easily in the top 2 (England-Colombia being the other one). Plus, he was always vastly overrated in my opinion.

You have to wonder how much politics factored into this. Tantashev is an Uzbek, just like Ravshan Irmatov. Irmatov - who clearly had his own issues on the field in World Cups - still does a lot with FIFA. This isn't about "well, he's from a country that doesn't have a top professional league"...

This is just sad. No foul recognition, no confidence, no management ability. The penalty should have been an easy on-field call, as should a bunch of other fouls. This was simply terrible assigning. The only possible thing I can consider is Collina and his assigning team thought France would...

I thought Michael Oliver was excellent today. That was the type of match we see a lot in CONCACAF. He did a great job of dealing with things, and a game which could have been a firestorm was reasonably calm. If he ever wants to cross the pond to do a US-Honduras match in San Pedro Sula, we’ll...

Might have been brought to the monitor to confirm deflection compared to deliberate play. That’s really the only possible subjective part of this play I can think of.

I don’t necessarily have a major issue with the Balogun SFP once the heat of my US fandom wore off. Enough of the considerations were met. I think it’s incredibly unlucky that the Bosnian player placed his leg right underneath Balogun’s as both were making a soccer play, but the check the box...

On the US version of these boards, several non-referees claimed the Portugal touch was a deliberate play. Out of all the possible issues, I think referees can all agree that it’s clear that play is interpreted as a deflection and does not reset offside.

That’s the problem with VAR. They use Hollywood slow motion to judge these, and everything looks worse than it is. The system simply does not work.

Can we please stop saying “the Yanks” did this? It was a FIFA decision, and I can assure you American football/soccer fans hate the breaks as much as everyone else. Sure, if it’s 32-35 C have them. But until this week (and obviously in domes), they aren’t necessary.

I don’t see that as anything less than the dictionary example of a stonewall penalty. Oliver also couldn’t have been in a better position to see it. I’d still really like to see Oliver (and Turpin, for that matter) on one of these non-UEFA games like Turkey-Paraguay or Egypt-Iran. Both are...

The bigger issue I had with the DOGSO is that SO MUCH was being let go in that game, then you get pretty marginal contact whistled for a foul that has to be DOGSO based on circumstances.

For appearing to be a relatively small and unassuming type of guy, his presence is impressive. No drama, no massive “death stare”, no theatrics. Just a calm, quiet confidence. He’s the guy that doesn’t need to say much. He’s like the guy who sits in a meeting for 40 minutes, quietly taking...

Holy guacamole, England has attacking talent. Not quite sure about the defense, but it may not matter. England can just say “best defense is a great attack.” Turpin and crew with exactly the type of performance we would expect from that crew. Granted, both teams were playing and not engaging in...