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VAR has the potential to make the game much better. The refs’ interpretations of the subjective rules are the issue. The whole rulebook needs to be rewritten with the aim to eliminate grey areas.
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Offside lines should be drawn from the back foot of the attacker. It was designed to stop goalhanging, not to penalise attackers who gain no advantage from being a centimetre offside.
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This one I’m not even sure I agree with but here goes… Headers should be banned because repeated knocks to the head are not good. In exchange, anything above the sleeves of the shirt should not be classed as handball.
Totally agree about the offside rule. It’s so boring when attacking play is ruined on a technicality based on a three pixel attacking advantage. Totally misses the point.
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Agree on 1. Another big issue is the VAR refs being from the same organization as the on-field refs. That leads to buddies not wanting to hurt each others’ feelings.
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I like this but would extend it to being the rear-most foot of the attacker that is on the ground and the front-most foot of the defender that is on the ground. Making it about feet only and not all attacking-eligible body parts, while also making it about what is actually touching the ground, makes it sooooooo much more easily measured by VAR. No more drawing vertical lines from shoulders to connect to a horizontal line from the ground, just two lines that are easily seen by cameras and the existing lines on the field.
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As it is right now, anything above the sleeves is already not classed as handball. Maybe headers are only allowed inside the box?
- I’m afraid of this creating complicated offsides calls brought about by a defender standing still with legs spread and then simply lifting the rear foot to trap attackers. It’s a funny image but probably valid for set pieces.
Hmmm, solid point.
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Yeah good shout, I just know certain fans/pundits don’t like complicated rules so tried to keep it simple but your method is better.
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Sorry, I think I was unclear… Above the end of the sleeve meaning on the sleeve is fine. I don’t think that’s the current rule as I’ve seen many recent decisions when they’ve given handball for the ball hitting the sleeve. If that’s not the case, I refer back to #1.
- You’re right. Commentators have been saying for years it was the bottom of the sleeve, but the actual rule says bottom of the armpit. That’s close to the bottom of the sleeve, depending on the length of the sleeve, but not technically the rule.
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- Refs should have the power to consider the context of the game when enforcing or not enforcing the rules. I agree that there are areas of the rulebook that ought to be more objective, and I agree that the refs are too often failing to be fair in their decision making, but a completely objective rulebook with no grey areas would mean players’ professionalism would have to be so much higher than is reasonable to expect, especially of younger players. In other words the ref should be able to verbally warn a player who is being a dumbass, and then card them for a similar offense if they don’t stop.
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MLS and American playoff systems in general are not bad. From an interest standpoint, they simply move some end-of-season drama from the bottom of the table to the middle. I am glad they’re not the only model, though. Variety is the spice of life.
Closed-shop American leagues also make a debatable but not insane tradeoff of fewer fans getting top-flight sport in their towns, but more fans getting a legitimate bite at the apple for a championship.
The American system may not be terrible from a sporting perspective, but the politics is awful. Top-flight teams can be run poorly for years with basically no consequences, and if your team is uncompetitive then the fans just have to deal with that until your team fixes itself. In a pyramid system, your team at least drops to a tier where it will be competitive again.
Well, I did it again. I clicked the “show in context” icon on Alexendrite instead of the identical one to add a link and nuked my comment. :-)
Summing it up:
- Those poorly managed franchises occupy a cultural space in North America not unlike “sleeping giant” clubs in Europe, and the financial and other parity measures are designed to encourage fans to hope every year. Sometimes it even works.
- The systems are different, largely arising out of differences between America in 1885 and England in 1885, but both have more than a century of passionate fan support and I find both compelling.
- MLS is a weird hybrid, being both the perfection of the closed shop model, yet also participating in the global market for both aging stars and younger players of decent but fungible quality.
Watching youth play aggressively on such a small pitch in close quarters is more interesting than watching premier league adults play a passing match on those enormous empty pitches.
