World Soccer XXX: We Have Men Too!

[Jimjamesak]

MLS announces sporting initiatives for 2024 Season.

Off-Field Treatment Rule

The Off-Field Treatment Rule allows medical professionals with time to assess and treat players off the field of play in a less pressurized environment.

If a player with a suspected injury remains on the ground for more than 15 seconds, the referee will stop play and wave the medical crew onto the field to evaluate the player. When safe, the player will be removed from the field and remain off the field for a minimum of two minutes for further assessment and treatment.

First implemented in MLS NEXT Pro midway through the 2022 season and continued through the entirety of the 2023 season, the Off-Field Treatment Rule has allowed medical staffs time to treat players, while also allowing match play to resume quickly.

Exceptions to the Off-Field Treatment Rule include instances of potential head injury, goalkeeper injuries, serious medical events, and fouls resulting in yellow or red cards.

Timed Substitution Rule

Maximizing effective match time, the Timed Substitution Rule requires that a substituted player exit the field within 10 seconds. Failure to exit from any point on the field within the 10 seconds will cause the incoming player to wait for a 60-second holding period, before entering the game at the next stoppage. During the holding period and prior to the substitute entering, the team will play down a player. Exceptions to the rule include injury and goalkeeper substitutions.

Enacted in MLS NEXT Pro during the 2023 season, 99.7% of the more than 3200 substitutions were completed in 10 seconds or less.

In-Stadium VAR Announcements

Pending International Football Association Board (IFAB) approval, VAR decisions will be announced by the referee to fans in stadium and viewers at home.

The off field treatment rule is something that I wish would be implemented by IFAB.

[Jimjamesak]

Saw that. I love the team with the most US titles of all time was a bunch of Jews from LA.

Depends on the definition of “US Titles”.

US Open Cups? Yeah, they’re tied with Bethlehem Steel.

If you include National League Titles then Bethlehem Steel has them dwarfed with 5 Open Cups and 9 American Soccer League titles. Seattle comes close if you include their A-League/USL titles (4) with their Open Cups (4), MLS Cups (2) and Supporters Shield (1). The Galaxy come close too (5 MLS Cups, 4 Supporters Shields and 2 Open Cups).

[Jimjamesak]

Good god, what's the field? 64?

27. 16 of the spots go to either Liga MX or MLS teams, 6 each for Liga MX and MLS (well, one of the US spots is the Open Cup Winner so that one could theoretically go to a non-MLS team), 3 from Leagues Cup (which MLS got all three this year), plus the Canadian Cup winner (which, again, could theoretically be a non-MLS team). The Caribbean gets 3, Central America gets 6, and, because the President of CONCACAF is Canadian, the Canadian Premier League gets 2.

[Kepler]

Also, we got the final entrants for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

MLS with a whopping ten teams

Good god, what's the field? 64?

[Kepler]

Saw that. I love the team with the most US titles of all time was a bunch of Jews from LA.

[Jimjamesak]

Also, we got the final entrants for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

MLS with a whopping ten teams: Columbus (MLS Cup Winners) and Inter Miami (Leagues Cup Winners) get first round byes with Pachuca (Liga MX winner), Alajuelense (Costa Rica/Central American Cup Winner) and Robinhood (Surinam/Caribbean Cup Winner). Vancouver (Canadian Cup Winner), Nashville, Philly (both Leagues Cup), Houston (US Open Cup Winner), Cincinnati (Supporters Shield), St. Louis (Western Conference), Orlando and New England will enter in round one.

[Jimjamesak]

Seattle with 3?

Edit: 2

Yeah 2. New England 0 for 5 though.

[Kepler]

Columbus won their third MLS Cup title on Saturday with a win over LAFC. They move into third on the all time list behind DC United (4) and the LA Galaxy (5)

Seattle with 3?

Edit: 2

[Jimjamesak]

Columbus won their third MLS Cup title on Saturday with a win over LAFC. They move into third on the all time list behind DC United (4) and the LA Galaxy (5)

[RaceBoarder]

So Mexico won the COPA AMERICA draw...

That's some bullschit if I ever saw some....

[Jimjamesak]

Also, professionalism is a thing. There’s a difference between a kid with no choice being shoved out there by their parents and someone who willingly signs up and is being paid (granted, never enough) to be there.

[Jimjamesak]

I can understand the “let us make mistakes corresponding to our level” argument but it’s an attitude that I have a hard time agreeing with because I feel that we should be trying to improve ourselves. Yes, we make mistakes but we should always be striving to not make them (even though we’ll never be perfect).

And honestly, there are some mistakes that can be made that unacceptable no matter what level.

Where I disagree with the people like Barlow is that I have no problem with people pointing out clear, fundamentally game changing mistakes (like incorrect restarts, failing to send off a player with a second caution etc.) in a constructive manner. That’s where I have the problem with Barlow, his attitude essentially wants officials to have the attitude of “I’m right no matter what!” and that’s a terrible attitude to instill.

[RaceBoarder]

In a perfect world every parent and fan would be required to take a rules test or at least read the rule book before coming to a game. If I had to put an estimate on it I’d say 80% of the anger at games comes from people not knowing the rules. Curing ignorance would cure the rage.

But this I agree with jim on the stance that the official is always right. There are definitely officials who just show up for the money, don’t know the rules, have poor mechanics, and do a disservice to the game.

The fundamental problem is that all officials are expected to perform at a high level. But not all players play at a high level.

That is where the problems come from.

In a 10u rec-league baseball game where the kids don't understand the concept of a force out or know how to properly stand on the mound to pitch, why is the official expected to have the rulebook memorized and able to interpret case plays to an exhausting standard?

That's the root of the problem. Bad players are allowed to exist. Bad officials are not.

I'm far from someone who has a god-complex with officials. We are fallible. We screw up all the time, even guys at the "pro" level. Let us make the same errors that the players at our corresponding level make. That's what I want to see things evolve to.

[Spartanforlife4]

I won't defend some of Barlow's stances he's taken in the last year. He's done a lot of good as far as getting the information out (in general), but some of this (like posting a name that is publicly available/published is "doxxing") has had me scratching my head recently.

But it is the counter-swing to what has been boiling over for years with officials.

There is a line somewhere in the middle on all this, but I admit that I do tend to take a more militant stance on this stuff.

In a perfect world every parent and fan would be required to take a rules test or at least read the rule book before coming to a game. If I had to put an estimate on it I’d say 80% of the anger at games comes from people not knowing the rules. Curing ignorance would cure the rage.

But this I agree with jim on the stance that the official is always right. There are definitely officials who just show up for the money, don’t know the rules, have poor mechanics, and do a disservice to the game.

[RaceBoarder]

Speaking of Cheeseburger, the guy from Offside is straying further and further from awareness of abuse of officials and spreading positivity and is becoming just as negative as the people and behavior he is trying to drive out of sports.

A few weeks ago he accused someone on Twitter of doxxing because they posted the officials from an Oklahoma football game. The fan clearly did it from a source of anger, but that’s not doxxing because it was literally just copying from the easily available box score published online. Literally the SAME DAY he posts about hearing of an official being pushed at a soccer game in LA and offered $250 for video and the name of who did it.

Then a week or two ago he posts a Twitter screenshot of an uncle saying there were some bad breaks with calls and his nephew’s football career is over, along with a picture of his nephew and I think the nephew’s girlfriend. Rather than just saying the officials didn’t decide the game he decides to go out of his way and attack the kid in the picture calling him clumsy.

Someone last week must have threatened legal action because he made a post about how if you’re okay with posting about officials then you better be okay with others posting pictures with your kids in them, and that he has lawyers too.

I won't defend some of Barlow's stances he's taken in the last year. He's done a lot of good as far as getting the information out (in general), but some of this (like posting a name that is publicly available/published is "doxxing") has had me scratching my head recently.

But it is the counter-swing to what has been boiling over for years with officials.

There is a line somewhere in the middle on all this, but I admit that I do tend to take a more militant stance on this stuff.