OT: Soccer is still such a stupid game
- Thread starter TheC
- Start date
Offsides are actually reviewed now, at least for the games on TV.
MLS is (finally) getting some traction. I'd doubt they'd ever risk running radically different rules from FIFA to jeopardize it.
I did not know offsides was reviewable. The referee always blows his whistle when the side judge raises the flag; How do they review it ?
On a related note, can someone explain the offsides call to me. I feel like something has changed in this tournament, but maybe I just never followed closely enough. I used to think if a player was offsides, the linesman would raise his flag almost immediately, but the ref would let the play go on a bit to see if the offending player was actually involved in the consequence. Then, as soon as he was, the whistle would blow and play would be stopped. In this tournament, it seems like the offsides player can get the ball and even take a shot on goal and only once the play has concluded does the linesman raise his flag. Why the delay? Is this a new take on the rule and what does it accomplish? It seems like if a guy is offsides and he touches the ball, the play should be dead on the spot. This new way of doing it leads to some momentary uncertainty and a little bit of drama.
Meaning... they let it play out longer, in case they were wrong?
If that is the way they are officiating offsides now then that will help. Allowing the play to continue and then implement replay should avoid the problem I outlined. The question remains about how long they allow play to continue after the flag is raised
I don't think they'd need to go so far as to actually eliminate the offside rule, but perhaps liberalizing it a bit would help ramp up the excitement (read: scoring chances). For example, now, a player is called offside if so much as his fingernail is ahead of the defender when the ball is played. I'd see it as quite an improvement if the rule was simply tweaked to consider a player onside if he has no more than, say, one full step on a defender (or is, say, within arm's reach of that defender) when the ball is played. American sporting tastes are not attuned to games where the most common scores for a team are 0 or 1. Ninety minutes of offensive futility, where your team may only generate two or three legitimate scoring chances in the entire hour and a half, just doesn't resonate well with a typical American sports fan. I enjoy watching soccer, especially the World Cup, but I don't have as much grasp of its nuances, i.e., formations, tactics, positioning, etc, as I'd like. When I watch a game, the main thing that stands out to me is legitimate, dangerous scoring chances . . . and IMO, the game would be considerably more attractive if there were a handful more of these per game. I like the ebb and flow of a game where a team could take, lose, and then retake the lead during the course of a game. That doesn't happen very often when there are only an average of about 2 1/2 total goals scored in the entire game. My guess is that if they were to ever figure out a set of rules that wouldn't mangle or make the game completely unrecognizable, and lead to average scores of about 4-3, the game's popularity in the US would take an appreciable turn for the better.
Ok, I totally admit I don't understand a lot about the game. I haven't seen this whole first half of Spain/Italy, but the little I did see appeared to be pretty uneventful. There is no score and only one shot on goal the whole half. Kinda' seemed boring. Then they go to the studio analysts to talk about the game and the guy is like - that first half was fascinating! He then goes into a bunch of analysis to explain it, but I just had to laugh at the difference between a soccer expert and an idiot like me. 😄
Right now it’s a chess game and what you see is a game of checkers. Spain has out schemed Italy in the first half. If Italy does not adjust, Spain will win the game. I don’t think that will happen.
Or maybe we can give 6 points for every score so 4-3 would be more like 24-18?
Sorry, but once again, this is soooooo stupid that this match ends like this with penalty kicks. Oh well, that's the way this game is. Just embrace it I guess.
Man, Spain outplays Italy pretty much the entire game. But because this game is designed to make it virtually impossible to score, they settle the outcome of a 120 minute marathon with pure luck penalty kicks and Italy advances because their goalie guesses right one more time than the other. I think I will stick to football.
Man, Spain outplays Italy pretty much the entire game. But because this game is designed to make it virtually impossible to score, they settle the outcome of a 120 minute marathon with pure luck penalty kicks and Italy advances because their goalie guesses right one more time than the other. I think I will stick to football.
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The game is similar to many others but it is the most boring version. Hockey is basically the same game and so is Lacrosse, Field Hockey etc Every one of the alternative versions is better than soccer. There are at least a number of shots on goal and some actual chances of scoring. And actually Hockey has lost a bit as they have started to make the goalie look more like the Pillsbury Doughboy or Michelan man with all the padding cutting down on the opportunities to score
And then you potential take a score off the board? Would seem that the reason for offside penalty is because it gives an advantage but that advantage disappears quickly so if it should lead to a breakaway, it would warrant stopping but if it didn't, it would seem that there would be no reason to stop play
How about the official time that isn't what is on the scoreboard. Sorry but the more I see of it the less I want to see of it
And to determine whether these things are actually of value, have to want to understand the game enough to know and to do that you actually have to care about the sport. Think I will pass
A pro baseball game should not take what it does now. Need to have a pitch clock and stop some of the unnecessary time outs etc. Games used to take about 2.5 hours and now they take about 3.5. That said, I will still take Baseball any day over Soccer
You can get a fair appreciation of the difference in action between soccer and rugby over the next couple of weeks. You can watch the rest of the Eurocup and also watch the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa on Peacock. The early games will pit the Lions against several professional sides in S.A but the last 3 matches in a month will have the Lions play South Africa, the reigning world champions. The next match is tomorrow on Peacock-replays should be available. The Lions should be dominant until the test matches begin
Today's Spain v Italy match was a typical game demonstrating outstanding skills but there were only a few scoring chances. Italy played their traditional defensive plan and Spain dominated time of possession and field position. The "delayed offside" was called late in the game disallowing an Italian goal.
The old rules used to make the goalie be stationary with his feet on the goal line during penalty kicks but the Spanish goalie seemed to be in constant motion-have they changed that rule also
Italy's "fast break goal" would be more common if the offside rule was eliminated
You can call today's game a "chess match" and I would agree that watching it generated about as much excitement as a chess match
Today's Spain v Italy match was a typical game demonstrating outstanding skills but there were only a few scoring chances. Italy played their traditional defensive plan and Spain dominated time of possession and field position. The "delayed offside" was called late in the game disallowing an Italian goal.
The old rules used to make the goalie be stationary with his feet on the goal line during penalty kicks but the Spanish goalie seemed to be in constant motion-have they changed that rule also
Italy's "fast break goal" would be more common if the offside rule was eliminated
You can call today's game a "chess match" and I would agree that watching it generated about as much excitement as a chess match
I don’t understand what point you’re trying to make. A pitch is a normal event hat happens throughout a baseball game. A penalty kick is a freak play that has nothing to do with the rest of game.
Statistically, a batter has the same (or worse) chance of getting a hit on any one pitch than a goalie has of saving a penalty. Yet, one is a “normal event” that we can build a totally not stupid and amazing sport around, and the other is the stupidest thing known to man, apparently.
Maybe if soccer just went to a series of like 120 penalty kicks for each team in rotating turns, it wouldn’t be so stupid!
I’d hardly call the Morata narrative perfect. The guy and his family were getting death threats before this game from idiotic fans. Imagine what the poor guy is probably facing now.
Disclaimer I played soccer for 13+ years.
So first getting rid of the offsides rule is terrible. It would completely change the game. Defenders wouldn’t support as much offensively and it would be full of long balls.
Soccer penalties/fouls including offsides are called as it affects the game. So like if you get clipped illegally and your team maintains possession you’ll get an “advantage” and they won’t blow the ball dead.
For offsides that’s called if you’re past the 2nd to past defender (not keeper) and the ball is passed to you. If you don’t affect the play you’re not offsides.
In soccer it’s about building an attack through maintain possession and counter attacks and positioning. Saying you only want scoring opportunities or want more is the same as saying in football I want the field shortened to just the redzone so I see more touchdowns. There’s beauty in the defense and the drive up the field. Although to the casual observer they want big hits and touchdowns.
Just because the most popular sport in the world isn’t for you doesn’t mean it’s “stupid”.
So first getting rid of the offsides rule is terrible. It would completely change the game. Defenders wouldn’t support as much offensively and it would be full of long balls.
Soccer penalties/fouls including offsides are called as it affects the game. So like if you get clipped illegally and your team maintains possession you’ll get an “advantage” and they won’t blow the ball dead.
For offsides that’s called if you’re past the 2nd to past defender (not keeper) and the ball is passed to you. If you don’t affect the play you’re not offsides.
In soccer it’s about building an attack through maintain possession and counter attacks and positioning. Saying you only want scoring opportunities or want more is the same as saying in football I want the field shortened to just the redzone so I see more touchdowns. There’s beauty in the defense and the drive up the field. Although to the casual observer they want big hits and touchdowns.
Just because the most popular sport in the world isn’t for you doesn’t mean it’s “stupid”.
Just to clear a few things up for those getting so upset by this thread:
- I don't really think soccer is stupid. I am playing the role of the dumb American a bit in this thread, partly for the bit and partly out of frustration that my team lost
- As a novice soccer watcher, I totally admit there are a lot of intricacies of the game that I'm likely missing
- Also, as a slightly ignorant observer, I do get annoyed watching these matches where it seems fairly clear that one team is outplaying the other, but because it is so damn hard to actually score a goal, that inferior team can basically hang around and maybe even make it to....
-Penalty kicks!! I don't care how dumb I sound, but this is still a stupid way to settle a two-hour match
- I don't really think soccer is stupid. I am playing the role of the dumb American a bit in this thread, partly for the bit and partly out of frustration that my team lost
- As a novice soccer watcher, I totally admit there are a lot of intricacies of the game that I'm likely missing
- Also, as a slightly ignorant observer, I do get annoyed watching these matches where it seems fairly clear that one team is outplaying the other, but because it is so damn hard to actually score a goal, that inferior team can basically hang around and maybe even make it to....
-Penalty kicks!! I don't care how dumb I sound, but this is still a stupid way to settle a two-hour match
They tried that and it incentivized extremely conservative play for the extra time, making it worthless. No one liked it in the couple of tournaments it was used and it got rightly tossed.
I don't get it, when I say eliminate offside in overtime, I mean one or more of the strikers could just stay past the defender, not have to wait for the ball sent their way. Like a fast break in basketball.
Choose your own rule. PKs are dumb. Play empty net. Play overtime until the team manager has to (gasp!) Use the reserves. IDC. Just get rid of PKs.
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