Since we're now four days after the fact and readers are still interested in the Donovan-Ianni incident, I'll post the audio from Patrick Ianni. I used a lot of what he said in my post-match sidebar for MLSnet.com.
I didn't get to ask Ianni any questions, though. Scott French took care of asking the questions and he pretty much asked everything I had planned on asking him. I actually thought Ianni was having a decent game until the Galaxy's first goal. Anyway, here's the audio.
And I'm not sure if Scott felt this way but yes there were some in the press box who thought that Donovan's taunts should have drawn a yellow card.
8 comments:
And if Donovan's taunts draw a yellow card, then AT LEAST a called foul should have been made on Ianni for the initial hit that started it all.
What with the exchanging of jerseys, it seems the players have gotten well beyond it and left it on the field where it belongs. "Fans" are the ones drawing it out and making a big deal out of it.
Yeah, and Scott trying to rationalize the hit on Donovan by saying "yeah, it was shoulder to shoulder," well, as LD points out, there are legit shoulder-to- shoulders and nonlegit shoulder-to-shoulders, such as when it's not near the ball and when you're clearly not going for the ball but the player, and they are and should be called.
I think everyone is making too big a deal out of this. It seems like both LD and Ianni are over it.
Niether of them is a bad guy, they are just both doing everything it takes to win.
I think if anyone is at fault here, it's the refs. The intensity rachets up because there is so much contact off the ball that is not being called. In response to frustration with that' LD yells at Ianni.
Looking at the replays of both goals, if LD hadn't scored on either one of those there would have been a strong argument for a PK. That's the kind of game it was.
Well said, Dan. Best synopsis of the whole thing.
You know, after hearing the other day that they had exchanged jerseys, I thought there wasn't bad blood afterwards.
But after hearing Ianni talk, I have a different theory: Landon got Ianni's jersey much like a hunter mounts a buck's head on the wall - he got a trophy.
As for the notion that Scott was 'rationalizing' the hit, I suspect that like a good reporter, he's just trying to get the player to open up about the situation. He's not going to say "that was a cheap shot" and get anything out of the player.
Ianni was all over Donovan for the first goal, so credit to Landon for pulling that off.
I don't think there was much in the knock-down. I doubt Ianni intended to put him on the ground, but the size difference and the fact that it caught Donovan off-guard is what sent him flying. Nothing really in it for me.
As a Houston fan, I don't hold anything against Donovan for his reaction after the first goal. I probably would have done the same thing. I personally wish they would have kept at it for the rest of the night. You can keep up a competitive rivalry without hating somebody.
I hope Ianni plays him just as tough next time, and I hope Donovan raises his game just like this time. It only helps the game.
You school people sometimes, and other times, you get schooled. It's part of the game.
One thing that's going to be tough for MLS in America, regarding how many kids play (and players as role models), is that professional soccer matches aren't really family-friendly experiences, between the hard-core fans and the interaction of the players (see Houston-Chivas in the playoffs two years ago). At least, not family-friendly the way the caucasian culture (my culture) is used to.
Family friendly? Raiders Chargers?
Better when it's not. Can't wait to go to the Mex-Arg game, drink a half-gallon growler of Alpine Brewing's Duet IPA in the parking lot, and then proceed to talk shit to both argentines and mexicans alike, in english y espanol tambien. All in good humor of course, but still probably not pg-13.
Are games at Old Trafford or the Bernabeu family friendly?
No big deal, except that LD finally got a bit fired up. All his critics who accuse him of being soft should be pleased by that lil outburst.
It wasn't the height of sportsmanship but he was bring targeted by Ianni and LD responded like a good attacking player - by getting hungry and scoring a quality brace in Ianni's face. (rhyme intended!)
Overall an effective rebuttal to those who said he was coasting in MLS again....(last season he was definitely out to lunch). Also to those who say MLS regular season lacks meaning & passion, I'd say.
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