Good Monday morning Caps fans — hope your weekend was lovely, the start of your holiday season merry and that the return to work hasn’t been too painful.
It was a whirlwind weekend in MLS that will, once again, be dominated by talk of officiating rather than the action on the pitch.
FC Cincinnati went through to the conference finals on a stoppage time winner from Yerson Mosquera. It was a thrilling moment, setting up a conference final derby — except every indication is that it shouldn’t have counted, with Ian Murphy seemingly in an offsides position before pinging in the assist.
The margin was admittedly tight and the angles that are floating around do require some examination but do also seem to clearly show Murphy offsides. VAR opted not to intervene, the goal stood and, well, here we are.
The issue here seems to lie in the fact that MLS (and, frankly, EPL) don’t use the automated offsides technology that was employed in the World Cup and numerous other major leagues around the world. In a Serie A match this weekend, the service detected an offsides of mere millimeters. You can take issue with the rule
There are concerns about cost but come on, we all know how much money MLS is making these days. Much ink has been spilled about how crucial of a juncture this is for the league. If the focus can remain as much as possible on the players and not on the officials (I know, I know) that would benefit everyone. And at least saving debates for more subjective calls (the handball in the Houston/SKC match, for instance) would save us all some headaches.
Shameless Self Promotion
Should Vancouver move on from Yohei Takaoka? Its a question many of us have wrestled with and Caleb weighs in on what route the Caps might want to take.
Best of the Rest
It will be LAFC versus Houston Dynamo in the Western Conference final, after Denis Bouanga took down another opponent nearly singlehandedly
Does Seattle’s defeat on Sunday night mark the end of an era in Cascadia?
LAFC’s victory, meanwhile, was the culmination of a redemption arc for a former Whitecaps player
At a crucial juncture for the Canadian Men’s National Team, what should the plan be?
I’ve always thought the best number 1 priority for AI should be to officiate sporting events. It would be great training for the AI and it would provide a great test of its abilities. As a pleasant side effect it would provide a consistent officiating environment. Something that is sadly lacking with human officiating.
after watching the LAFC vs Seattle game last night, i am 100% convinced that Goalie Max Crepeau is better than Canada Mens National goalie, Milan Borjan- some of Max’s saves were simply world class- he has returned from his broken leg better than ever
Max should be given the starting role starting at the March playoff vs T&T and Costa Rica- its obvious that some National team players – especially in the MF- are not up to the quality needed and are just too slow in their thinking and movement
Absolutely right.
Milan has been an excellent keeper but for sure Max is back and better. Suffice to say that our national team keeper position is in great hands.