If MLS cracks down going forward then I'll have no problem with the 10 games. Given the league's track record so far this season and their inconsistency over the history of the league I have no expectation that they will. Because of all that I think Mullan got about 4 games more than he deserved.This morning MLS announced that they were suspending Chivas' Marcos Mondiani for his tackle on FSL's Javi Morales that resulted in a broken tibia, fibula, a dislocated ankle, and strained ligaments.
The primary difference between Mondiani's tackle and Mullan's tackle was the lack of obvious possible retribution and Mondani's tackle took place just outside the box. That's apparently enough to be 2.5 times less severe than Mullan's.
The 4 games doesn't even meet what the Disciplinary Committee said they were going to do this year. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Tyrone Marshall was given a 3 game suspension for breaking Kenny Cooper's leg in 2007. That's a solid baseline to work from. The Disciplinary Committee warned the players in the preseason that they were cracking down on these type of dangerous tackles this year. Then when they suspended Mullan they said that they would take the severity of the resulting injury into account when determining suspensions.
3 game baseline + crackdown + broken ankle = 4 games???
Even if Mullan only got 6 games a 4 game suspension doesn't meet the standards the Disciplinary Committee set on itself for this season. With the Mullan suspension as a precedent, this tackle should have been a minimum of 6 games.
As I predicted, MLS was inconsistent and comes out looking like a joke. This time its the Rapids who have to suffer the consequences of a player suspended for longer than an player in league history. In the long run though its going to be the next guy who gets his ankle broken or his leg snapped that will suffer because MLS just told its players that its OK to hack a player down, as long as he's near the goal.
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2 comments:
yeah, this was a joke. tackle was from behind...
If you could let some of your Sounder brethren know that those of us making this argument 2 weeks ago aren't Mullan apologists, that would be appreciated. ;)
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