Angry Babies Everywhere (Brazilian teenagers, MLS refs and 'Pool fans toss the toys out of the pram)

A bit of breaking news before I start the real update:

Bob Bradley is out as coach of the Metros. I think was only a matter of time after that performance against DC. Seeing his face during the telecast, you could tell that he knew his time was running short. It's unfortunate, though. No one has managed to succeed with NY/NJ and you have to wonder if there are more serious structural problems with the club.

Mo Johnston will be taking over for the time being.

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Liverpool once again demonstrated that they can only be bothered to show up for European matches as they were thumped 1-4 at Anfield by Chelsea, a poor follow up to their 0-0 CL draw against the Blues at the same venue last Wednesday. On the evidence so far, Benitez has not been able to get anything more out of his team this season, Stevie G or no.

Hopefully Didier Drogba's many critics will think a bit harder before opening their mouths as the big Ivorian was involved in all four goals and has had a very respectable start to this season.
Chelsea's display was so dominating, in fact, that even the Chelski nyet-nicks over at football365 had to find a good word to say about them.

Frank Lampard may have gotten himself booked for "silencing" the Liverpool fans just as Jose Maurinho did during last season's Carling Cup final, however it was the Liverpool fans who disgraced themselves, apparently throwing objects onto the field following Lampard's penalty kick goal. The FA is asking Liverpool to conduct an investigation.

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Mexico deservedly thumped Brazil in the U-17 championship on Sunday night. I have to say that I find a certain perverse pleasure in every horrible beating received by any Brazil team. The pleasure is heightened when the always entitled Brazilians express their frustration with petulence as the youth team did. But this got me thinking that there was a lot of that sort of behavior at these championships (at least in the matches I saw) and also at the U-20 championships. I know that the kids are only imitating the behavior they see from the senior professionals, but it is truly sad that it is perpetuated. The game could certainly do without it.

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The big question that was raised in my mind after this past weekend's MLS action was: just how many own goals has Jeff "which way am I going" Agoos scored in his illustrious, sometimes tragi-comic career? If he were knocking them in at the other end, he would be a world class threat from defense.

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Apparently Roy Keane has told MUTV that he sees Alan Smith as his successor at Man U. Well, the blond one-time-diehard-Leeds-fan already knows how to kick people, so he's on the right path.

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Brazil's Superior Tribunal for Sport (why don't we have one of those? It would get rid of all those pointless Congressional hearings.) has ordered the Brazilian league to replay 11 matches that were officiated by Edilson Pereira de Carvalho after the ref admitted he had favored certain teams. I understand the sporting motivation behind the ruling, but you imagine the chaos that will be caused by trying to reschedule 11 games? It's not as though Brazilian football is renowned for its organization or efficiency, anyway. I will be watching this closely.

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Hey. Everyone should check out the newly released group stage draw for the UEFA Cup! Oh, wait. Never mind. It's just silly and pointless anyway.

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And finally, apparently I wasn't the only the who has been critical of the refereeing on Ching's goal for the Quakes against FCD. Either that or the league pays really close attention to my blog (it could happen. Maybe. In my mind.). Regardless, Alfred Kleinaitis, the "manager of referee development and education", has seen the need to provide a "clarification" on mlsnet.com. I think I will let him tell it in his own words:

(quoting Alfred Kleinaitis for mlsnet.com)

San Jose's Ricardo Clark (No. 13) passed the ball from a point just above the Dallas penalty area. At that moment, the Earthquakes' Wade Barrett (No. 24) was clearly in an offside position on the left side of the penalty area, while San Jose's Brian Mullan (No. 9) was in an onside position on the right side. The ball was played forward and deflected by FC Dallas defender Steve Jolley.

Both Barrett and Mullan began moving to the ball, but it was obvious both from their respective distances to the ball and from the path of the ball itself that despite the effort by Barrett, Mullan would clearly arrive at the ball first from his onside position. There was accordingly no offside offense by Barrett.

The only thing that this clarifies for me is the fact that MLS is not above creating ad hoc justifications for its referees' actions. Beyond the fact that I somehow doubt that this is the reasoning followed by the officiating crew at that moment, I just don't believe that the deflected path of the ball is what's important here. If one reviews the clip provided in the article, one clearly sees that the pass was intended for the offside Wade Barrett and FCD's defense reacted accordingly. Thus San Jose gained advantage from Barrett's offside position, which is exactly what is supposed to be prevented by the offside rule. So there! You messed up. Deal with it.