The Coon Dog
03-11-2007, 06:41 AM
One of the beauties about soccer is that there are not numerous rule changes every season as we currently see in the AFL.
The law makers of soccer much prefer to stick with things, adopting the axiom, if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.
2 of the more recent changes have both been good for the game.
Firstly, the rule stopping goal keepers using their hands to collect the ball if it’s passed back to them by a team mate has stopped many boring passages of play. Previously a side in the slightest degree of difficulty just used to bang it straight back to the goalie who would pick it up under little or no pressure, now they cannot do that & many have to resort to playing as an extra outfielder, something Mark Bosnich struggled with & amongst other things, hastened his demise.
Secondly, to be offside now, you have to be infront of the second last defender when the ball is played. Previously, you only had to be level when the ball was played to be flagged offside.
There have been some minor changes, such as the 4th official holding a board aloft to advise all & sundry how many minutes of additional time are to be played in each half.
Are there any other changes you would like to see adopted in soccer?
There are two that I can think of:
1) I think it would be worth having the ability to make a 4th substitution (currently only 3 are permitted) if a match is required to go into extra time. So, I’m really only talking about Cup Competitions.
2) When a penalty is awarded, I’d love to see the infringed player be the one to take the spot kick. Perhaps allow the infringed team to decide in the event of a handball. It annoys me when someone wins the golden boot, but half have been penalties.
The law makers of soccer much prefer to stick with things, adopting the axiom, if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.
2 of the more recent changes have both been good for the game.
Firstly, the rule stopping goal keepers using their hands to collect the ball if it’s passed back to them by a team mate has stopped many boring passages of play. Previously a side in the slightest degree of difficulty just used to bang it straight back to the goalie who would pick it up under little or no pressure, now they cannot do that & many have to resort to playing as an extra outfielder, something Mark Bosnich struggled with & amongst other things, hastened his demise.
Secondly, to be offside now, you have to be infront of the second last defender when the ball is played. Previously, you only had to be level when the ball was played to be flagged offside.
There have been some minor changes, such as the 4th official holding a board aloft to advise all & sundry how many minutes of additional time are to be played in each half.
Are there any other changes you would like to see adopted in soccer?
There are two that I can think of:
1) I think it would be worth having the ability to make a 4th substitution (currently only 3 are permitted) if a match is required to go into extra time. So, I’m really only talking about Cup Competitions.
2) When a penalty is awarded, I’d love to see the infringed player be the one to take the spot kick. Perhaps allow the infringed team to decide in the event of a handball. It annoys me when someone wins the golden boot, but half have been penalties.