According to Paul Carr of ESPN, back in 2015, there were 90 red cards issued in total during the regular MLS season. But at the rate we are going in the current season, there will be 133 issued by the end of 2016. What gives? We know that the refs are trying to really crack down on abuse in the game and make a cleaner playing field, but are too many red cards being issued?

Many fans are saying that there are too many largely due to the fact that many of the calls seem as if they are blown out of proportion. When Oniel Fisher was issued one and taken out of the opening match for the Seattle Sounders this year, for example, most thought that it was uncalled for. While Sounders Head Coach Sigi Schmid agreed that it was a legitimate call, he was very reluctant about it. In regards to the number of red cards being issued, he said, “It’s a point of emphasis of obviously trying to allow the skillful players to be skillful and to take way the edgy tackles. But when you get into a new area like that, then that final judgment and decision-making, everyone, the players, the referees are trying to come to grips with it.”

He also pointed out that without the protections in place, all teams suffer—including the Rave Green. Looking back over seasons where severe tackles severely injured players like Steve Zakuani, it’s easy to see that the calls must be made in order to make a safer sport; after all, it’s not the NFL. That said, if a player is left unscathed, should the offender be punished as severely as a player who actually hurt another MLS member during a tackle, no matter how it appeared?

Schmid says the officials are probably not finding a decent balance in making proper calls right now, but it’s part of the learning curve. “t takes a while to find that balance. But eventually things change, and things become different. It’s a much tougher game to referee now because the game’s much faster now. In the old days the game was much slower, and also more physical. Tackles like that were sometimes considered good things,” he says. Is he saying that the sport has been given bumper pads in modern times, perhaps?

How do you feel? Is MLS being babied down with all of these harder enforcements? Are too many red cards being issued this season?

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