Welcome to this week's edition of Don't Fight The Laws, in which I combine my years of being a referee with my years of being a smartass to provide my answers to your questions about the Laws of the Game, controversial decisions and other odds and ends relating to referees and what they do.
Got a question? Send it over to canadiansoccerguys@gmail.com. But for this week, we have the following...
Squizz, feel like tackling that statistical disparity the number of cards in EPL v MLS? Why? How? Why? -- Gary "GaryJambo" Russell, Toronto
Well, as I told Gary, since this isn't strictly a Laws question, I'll have to deviate from my normal approach and venture into the realm of baseless conjecture to answer this one. Fortunately, Canada's in the middle of a federal election, so the "baseless conjecture" vibes are definitely flowing as it is.
Anyway, Eric Beard of A Football Report tweeted out last week that in 317 Premier League matches (to that point) there'd been 57 red cards, while in MLS there'd been 16 reds in 36 games. That's an average of 0.18 reds per match in England versus 0.44 in northern North America. So, what's the deal?
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Before coming to a conclusion, it's worth considering an article by Chris Anderson at the New York Times Soccer Blog, dated March 17. He notes that this season, not only have MLS refs called fewer fouls, on average, than EPL refs (and significantly fewer than refs in Spain, Italy or Germany), but they've also doled out fewer yellow cards than their their counterparts in the Premiership, La Liga, the Bundesliga or Serie A. Anderson concludes:
So... fewer fouls called and yellows doled out, but significantly more red cards shown? Time for some baseless conjecture! Those numbers would suggest the possibility that, as more and more infringements go uncalled or unpunished during the course of a game, the potential for players exploding in a sudden burst of send-offable rage goes up.Whether this variation reflects differences in playing style, instructions from the league, training of refs, or more skillful diving is unclear, but punishment is clearly not meted out equally.
But it could also be that MLS players don't have the training/ability/know-how to avoid doing things that can get them sent off. For instance, could you envision someone in the EPL doing this?
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Maybe that card was a bit harsh, but I doubt we'd see a top-level European-based player sticking their cleat into the goalkeeper's face, even if there is no malicious intent.
There's a third potential conclusion (there are plenty of others, too, but this is the last one I'll offer for now), which is that the marked difference between the awarding of yellow and red cards (vis-a-vis the other European leagues) speaks to a failing in game management by some MLS officials. That dovetails nicely into the next query...
Not really a question, but I would like to hear your opinion on Toledo and how he calls games and why it's different than most. -- Ben Rycroft, Toronto
Rest assured, Ben's not referring to Toledo, Ohio, since we've already heard plenty this week from Torontonians about cities in Ohio:
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No, he's referring to Baldomero Toledo, a USSF referee that Ben holds in such high regard that he got the ball rolling on a #NewJobsForToledo hashtag on Twitter after Vancouver's game with New England earlier this season. That game's most memorable moment was -- as is the case in many games officiated by Toledo -- the awarding of a red card:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt3mLtylRq8
Sure, that red against Eric Hassli was justified. But generally speaking, a fourth potential answer to Gary's question about the preponderance of red cards in MLS is that Toledo is artificially inflating the average all by himself. As of last year, Toledo averaged about one red card every two games (0.5 per match, above the MLS overall average) over the course of his MLS career. Some of them have, to say the least, been of the rather dubious variety, including the curious case of Dejan Jakovic earlier this season:
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(A shout out here to Jeremy Aubry, who asked me about this call several weeks ago; my opinion, in its simplest form: bullshit call.)
Everyone likes to hear their own opinion validated, so I'm sure Ben will love my answer to his question (as he's made the same point on It's Called Football before). It seems that cards, to Toledo, are like shots of tequila: If he can go with a few of them on the night, spaced out and at appropriate times, then everything's fine. But if he gets one or two of them going early on, then the whole night spins away quickly, leaving everyone in a heap of headaches and remorseful rambling the following morning.
It's a fine balance that referees need to strike. A referee must be in control of the match, or the players will run wild. But there's also the risk of being too authoritarian, which stifles the flow and can negatively affect the outcome. Soccer refereeing is a damned difficult job at the best of times, and it's made even more difficult in a league like MLS, where there are a wide variety of cultural influences and skill levels at play.
Not many fans have love for a guy like Toledo, but the reality is that, until the next generation of USSF referees is ready to go, he'll remain at the forefront of MLS. As this league continues to evolve, grow and figure out just what the hell it is, exactly, my guess is that when the choice is between passive and aggressive refereeing, the league will nearly always side with the latter.
Suppose a player commits a foul (second yellow) and advantage is called by the referee; however, during the course of play, that same player scores a goal. Does the referee then send the player off due to the earlier foul? -- Panos Kelamis, Toronto
Now we're in my wheelhouse! Straight up Laws inquiry; no insight, no conjecture, beauty.
Even if everyone knows a player is going to be cautioned or sent off once play is stopped, the player has not received the sanction until the card is actually shown. Therefore, as long as there is no stoppage in play between that foul and the player scoring the goal, the goal is legit. The ref would then show the second yellow, the subsequent red, and Player A would get to take an early shower as a departing hero (unless his goal was the consolation marker in a 5-1 drubbing or something).
And to those who think it'd be ridiculous to see a player score, then immediately get sent off, I suggest scrolling up to the Hassli video above.
That's it for this week. Send your questions to canadiansoccerguys@gmail.com, and your query may turn up in the next edition of Don't Fight The Laws.