A Look at Sounders’ Fouls & Cards

I’m not sure there is enough information to draw any conclusions.  I would be interested in seeing how what our (collective) opponents’ Y/FS% and R/FS% is.  Maybe Seattle just plays a physical game and inspires aggressive play on both sides.

Watching the play on the MLS All-Star, Freddie has good reason to be pissed, being kicked around in a friendly… Rodwell was Yellow carded for a tackle on FL10(8).

As for sites, MLSNet is failing in so many ways – last update on the discipline page was 7/20!

Freddie’s in the HOSPITAL!!

Ljunberg is only in the hospital for migraine, I doubt it will affect his next game’s status since he’s missing San Jose already. I would side towards the uneven officiating aspect of this issue. Did anyone notice the sign at the All-Star Game last night that read: “MLS Worst Refs In World”

[...] also speaking of Freddie and red cards, Mike over at GoSounders has a very interesting statistical analysis of how much we’re carded vs. how much we foul/are fouled. I know it’s just stats, but [...]

You are probably looking at statistical noise more than anything else given the sample size (ie. total number of yellow cards). If anyone is suffering at the hands of the refs it is probably Chivas (although they are pretty dirty…)

My theory:

32,000 screaming (and booing) fans are putting most of these refs in unfamiliar situations.  I think many of these refs end up in a tit-for-tat mindset where they attempt to enforce fairness by saying “if I call a foul on one team, then I must keep it even and call a foul on the other team” or “if I eject a player from one team, then I’m not going to hesitate if the opportunity comes up to even the sides again.” Personally, I thought the latter was painfully obvious in the Chicago game. You almost knew that was going to happen the second Freddie showed any signs of disagreeing with the yellow.

Another factor that I think contributes to the psychology of these numbers is that much of the league is, quite honestly, jealous of what’s happening in Seattle. We’ve got record season ticket sales, record attendance numbers overall, we were awarded MLS Cup hosting honors, and on top of all that, the team doesn’t suck like expansion teams are supposed to in their first season (recent examples: RSL and TFC). The recent comment by DC United’s owner about Seattle having “everything handed to them” when he attempted to defend his club hosting the US Open Cup final again (which it has hosted every time they’ve made the finals) illustrates this sentiment. I doubt his feelings are isolated to just him. Rather, I expect that many of the owners are probably angry, jealous, and likely even embarrassed about what’s happening in Seattle. These are powerful folks in the league and in US Soccer and we shouldn’t think for a second that it doesn’t affect things like how referees call games and how other league and federation decisions are approached.

I think that perhaps this resentment is sometimes spilling over onto the field just a little bit. Teams are getting aggressive with us because they want no part of handing anything to Seattle for free. The refs then have to be careful to keep the game “extra even” and “extra fair” so that the opposing coaches and owners don’t complain that everything is being handed to Seattle.

In the end, I don’t think any of this is actually that bad though. I’m not trying to push any conspiracy theories here either. The real takeaway here for Seattle fans and the team is that, especially this season, we’re going to have to work harder for everything we get. The refs are going to be a little “too fair” when they’re calling Seattle games (especially at Qwest). The US Open cup final isn’t going to be handed to us for free. We’re going to have to reach out and take it if we want it. Yeah, this may make things a little harder for us, but it also makes the successes we earn that much sweater when we achieve them. Go Sounders!