Beckham, Galaxy have an old fashioned Texas conniption
by Steve Davis on May 2, 2011 6:35 PM EDT
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In the Five Things you need to from MLS Week 7 at SI.com – appropriately named “Five Things You Need to Know about Week 7” – you’ll see where the Galaxy were hard done. Again. According to the Galaxy, at least.
The boys from L.A. were hopping mad, burning up like BBQ at a drunken tailgate. They thought there was a foul on Todd Dunivant on Dallas’ first goal. That seems to happen a lot doesn’t it, Galaxy players pitching a fit after getting scored on? We may explore that another day.
You couldn’t see it unless you were at the stadium (nice work by the camera crew and producers on site), but David Beckham and Landon Donovan were still a’huffin’ and a’hollerin’ at referee Alex Prus on a Dallas corner kick some 60 seconds later. Why Prus didn’t tell both of them to shut it and move on, only he could say. Anyway, there’s more about it all on the SI.com piece, including Bruce Arena’s non-response response to it all.
I didn’t have room for it, but here’s something interesting Beckham had to say about the scene afterward. “The referee has done it to us before, I’m sure he’ll do it to us again.”
What? Conspiracy? What say you, exactly, Mr. Beckham? Read on …
I had to verbally elbow my way into the questioning, posting up against the pretty people there from local TV stations bent on asking Beckham about the royal wedding, about Victoria and such, to seek a necessary clarification. Are you saying, David, that referees have something against the Galaxy? (In honesty, I thought he said “referees” had done it to them before, etc., and that would have been a mightier accusation. Either way, the responsible thing was to seek clarification … assuming we were done talking about Princes and the fabulous crowds in London and such.)
His thoughts: “No, this referee has done it to us before,” Beckham replied. “I’m not suggesting he’s got something against us or the Galaxy. I just think he made another mistake in one of our games. Nothing against us. Nothing against any individual. But I just think he made a bad decision again, and again it’s cost us points.”
I said in the SI.com piece that L.A. did get a bit unlucky. They were the better team. But hard done? It wasn’t the most flagrant foul missed on the night. There was contact, and perhaps there could have been a whistle, but it wasn’t egregious. Bottom line in a weird game like this, stuff happens. It’s a cruel game. But blaming the referee for this one. Hmmm. Doesn’t pass the smell test for me.
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Rewatched it a few times
My take is that Dunivant took a bad angle on the throw in, felt a tiny bit of contact, knew he couldn’t make a play on the ball, and took a dive to try to draw a foul. Looked more like he lost his balance than got bowled over. The FCD player was going pretty vertical… he did not go horizontal into Dunivant.
Win or lose, we'll always be there for you.
Beckham complaining
Given Beckham’s tendency toward dirty (or at least dirty-ish) play, I have a hard time taking him seriously when he complains about bad calls.
As if Galaxy has never gotten away with fouls
Kovelanko was a one man, dirty wrecking crew for them. Not that that makes things right, just sayin’ though. Alex Prus is one of the better refs, I think Cakes and Becks need to get over themselves.
by chrisperry1983 on May 3, 2011 11:05 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Beckham lives in another world
Time for an admittedly partisan rant!
Beckham is unhappy with every ref in every MLS game for every call that goes against LA or isn’t given to LA. Judging by the scowl he wears in every match he plays here, and his penchant for over-the-top dissent, he won’t be happy until LA wins a game because the ref has sent off 5 opposition players and the game is abandoned early. If the fouls in a game read 50 for LA’s opponent and 1 for the Galaxy, Beckham would be salty about the 1 foul called against them.
That’s hyperbole, but it seems plain as day that Beckham does overreact to contact that most other MLS players wouldn’t bat an eye over. For Beckham, it’s almost like Jesse Marsch is coming in hip-high with the majority of tackles that come his way. He complains so often that, at this point, a Beckham complaint against a referee makes me think that the ref must have gotten it right. Granted, Beckham has always been petulant towards referees, but I can’t help but think it’s become worse in MLS than it ever was in England or Spain.
On the play that caused this complaint (a drop in the ocean of Beckham moaning), Dunivant went down as if hit by a car after extremely minor and normal contact from Jacobson. If Dunivant can’t stay on his feet from that bump – I hesitate to even call it that, it was so soft – then he is the physically weakest man I’ve ever seen play a professional sport. If I were an LA player, I’d be on Dunivant for going down too easily…not to mention his shoddy defensive work on the play in the first place.
Speaking of Dunivant: I’ve got to say that in my book, he’s a dirty player. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen him go down with comical ease (going back to his days in San Jose), and he has two or three really nasty tackles per season. Thus far, he’s got at least one, flying into Chris Korb at RFK a couple weeks back and somehow only getting a yellow card. I’m sure Beckham felt Korb should have been sent off, banned for 20 games, and sentenced to 90 days in jail for using his knee to block Dunivant’s studs, but Beckham probably will want me suspended from MLS play for this harmless internet comment.
I also believe Donovan’s complaint about being sent back out to finish the game is…searching for the right word…precious. No, wait, this can’t be treated with patronizing sarcasm. Donovan’s complaint is outright ridiculous. I guarantee that, had LA held onto the draw or gone on to win the game, Donovan would not have made a peep. That’s the thing about beliefs: They can’t be flexible. If Donovan truly believes it was dangerous to go back out and play those last few minutes, he’d have to believe it regardless of the result. I highly doubt Donovan would have said word one on the subject if Shea’s cross drifted a couple of feet longer and went high and wide.
Writer - Black and Red United
by ChestRockwell on May 3, 2011 1:19 PM EDT reply actions 3 recs
I will admit
Dunivant was a bit of a rough player back in his SJ days, but then again, so were a lot of our players:
Troy Dayak Gets a Red Card and Celebrates
Win or lose, we'll always be there for you.
by johnjahafanclub on May 4, 2011 1:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Didn't look like too much to me
from the stands. The referee would have been right either way, giving a foul or letting it go. He let it go, and it resulted in a goal. So Beckham decides it’s his role to inform the referee about the Laws of the Game. Having watched Alex Prus do many games, he is not one to rush to his pocket to book players, as evidenced by a few tackles by both teams that went without a caution. Neither team had a complaint about that, as it was the same for both.
The game had to be finished if it was possible to do so because teams had to have an opportunity to finish games and score goals. The 2 points lost if the game wasn’t finished may be the difference between FCD making the playoffs and not making it.
Chad the Ref
One of the hazards of DVR...
I recorded the game to watch later, so I didn’t get to see the end. Was the weather still very bad when the teams returned to the field? I realize the rain continued throughout the night, but was there lightning? If not, and if the condition of the field is tolerable, then there is no reason why the game shouldn’t be completed.
And yes, I would say this even if FCD had lost.
by DissidentAggressor on May 3, 2011 9:30 PM EDT reply actions
As would I
It is only right to finish the game if at all possible. If LA had scored or gotten an equalizer(and they nearly did), I would have no complaints.
Lightning was around, but not close when game restarted. Strangely, the field was in pretty good shape. The only spot that had standing water was in the center circle, which seemed odd to me. Ricketts certainly cannot blame the field for getting chipped!
Chad the Ref
