Watched the Gator game live, but had Orlando going on my phone the whole time too.
Poetic justice that the entire officiating crew from that game has been suspended and will not ref a game for the remainder of the playoffs. Sorry, if you're going to card that as "encroachment" then every GK ever is going to be sent off by the 3rd round. No reviews for any of the NYCFC GK...even though he was doing the exact same thing on multiple occasions.
As for the Gator game...I appreciate the write-up, and yes, perspective is needed; but I think it worth mentioning that even Mullen sounds like he's getting irritated with whatever TF Grantham is doing by his very public comments that the younger players need to be rotated in more. They've definitely played better than the upperclassmen on a few different occasions--and while they aren't doing everything right, they're at least not making the same bone headed mistakes (repeatedly) that the allegedly more experienced players are doing.
The biggest positive I can see is that 1) Mullen is listening to the growing noise within the fanbase that Grantham just isn't cutting it: he was never a popular hire and his very real flaws and deficiencies are being exposed on a weekly basis; 2) Mullen also sees/hears the fan discontent with the underwhelming performance of the starters who are playing like freshman and is responding accordingly
@gatorev12 is a man of culture. Yea, the selective enforcement of the rule is ridiculous. I've seen comments on the Twitter machine from non-City fans, both domestic and international that wonder what the f*** PRO was doing in that game. Seriously though, it was great when I listened to the highlights with the TV commentary and even they were saying it was one of the best/craziest endings of all time.
In general, soccer is a lot like Florida offenses. You have the Champ/Mac offenses, it is definitely boring af. BUT if you have attacking offenses like Spurrier/Meyer/Mullen, it can be a great show to watch. City has definitely gone from more of the former to the latter this season.
To the Gators, Mullen commenting publicly is a massive step. I don't care if it is just lip service to please fans (I mean I do, but here's my point), its more than Mac ever did regarding Nuss. I can only imagine if the defense costs us a shot at the Playoffs what many high dollar donors will start saying. We can make jokes all we want, but these are the guys calling the shots on a lot of this stuff. Especially, with all the money lost in a Covid year. Will you risk having people walk by keeping Grantham?