Soccer-No longer a beautiful game

[wisp]

seeing as the entire planet has gone soccer crazy (except us diehard rugby fans and remember the Bokke are World Champs at the moment-just thought i would add that in ) i thought that this article might inspire some debate

In my lifetime I?ve gone from soccer player/lover to someone who finds it very difficult to watch the modern game.

We?ve heard numerous complaints about the lack of goals, poor refereeing and player showmanship which has put world soccer in the same league as the World Wrestling Federation.

In my opinion, soccer can no longer be called ?The Beautiful Game? because FIFA and many coaches have allowed the following negatives to spoil the game:
- The style of play has become overly defensive and therefore unattractive.
- Players have become a bunch of mollycoddled showmen who are allowed to dive, sham injury and insult the officials.
- Changes to the rules that permit spoiling, e.g. obstruction with arms and elbows and shirt-tugging.

Needless to say the object of the game is to score goals in order to win. To achieve this you have to attack the opponent?s goal. But today?s style of play negates this. Much of the game is taken up in back-passing and wasting time because of players feigning injury.

Last night?s match between Italy and Slovakia is a case in point. When Italy cranked up the pressure in the last 20 minutes by played attacking football they came close to pulling the match out of the fire. As a team who had to win that match why didn?t they come out with all guns blazing from the kick-off? But no, it was pass back, pass back. Well, they only have themselves to blame, Ciao Italy!

So, what can be done to restore the beautiful game to its former glory? I?d suggest that the rules be changed to incorporate the following:

1. Referees need help. Technology as is used in rugby should be introduced on a trial basis to authenticate crucial decisions. This will require a fourth official ? a TV referee.

2. Players must be penalised for showmanship. There should be a new rule permitting referees to send players off for 10 minutes for feigning injury. For example, if a player is ?fouled? and goes down writhing but is able to continue playing within a few minutes without obvious ill-effects, the TV alerts the on-field referee who sends that player off when next there?s a stop in play. That?ll stop all this nonsense.

3. All spoiling tactics must be banned.

4. The awarding of a bonus point for winning a game by two clear goals or more.
The game needs a total face-lift now if it isn?t to become a total farce. I?m hoping that many more fans will voice their disapproval and that by virtue of this the powers that be will sit up and take notice. But I have a feeling that we shouldn?t hold our breath. FIFA?s coining it so why change things? But it?s the fans who should have the last word.

http://www.sport24.co.za/Soccer/Worl...-game-20100625

Thoughts please

[Garson007]

I'll skip right to the negative tactics and say that it will always be a part of football. Just like how pushing is a part of tennis, kicking a part of rugby and blocking a part of cricket. As long as the game is played within the rules, you can use whatever tactic you like to win the game.

[MarcosCOB]

I like the idea of Points Nr. 2 and 4

[MrDeVil_909]

I like points 2 & 4, but I don't think point 2 needs to happen in the flow of the game.

Soccer already gets broken up a lot so gamesmanship and acting should be picked up by a citing commissioner who hands out bans and fines after the game. It takes pressure off the ref in the moment and allows a distanced observer to make choices without time pressure.

And a 'If there's no blood get on your feet or GTFO' rule of thumb for 'injuries.'

[Garson007]

And a 'If there's no blood get on your feet or GTFO' rule of thumb for 'injuries.'

That's ignorant.

[wisp]

Soccer already gets broken up a lot so gamesmanship and acting should be picked up by a citing commissioner who hands out bans and fines after the game.
'

thats what irritates me the most about soccer ...
And the Oscar for best acting in the catagory "writhing in agony on the floor when the opposion player stood on your toe and now your acting like your spine is severed "goes too...put these guys in the front rowagainst John,Bismark and the Beast then they will know the meaning of pain

[hawk]

The only think football needs is a citing commission.

Players should be cited for simulations, dangerous play, shirt tugging, feigning injury etc. All that can be cited after the game, and players can then be banned/fined. Once that starts, the game will clear up pretty quickly.

Oh and TV replays for contenious decisions (handballs, offsides, etc)

[cr@zydude]

Point 1 I agree on, the sooner that FIFA intriduce technology, the better. A rugby style TMO won't work (the flow of the game and such), but an apeal system like test cricket has is good imo. It works in hockey as well.

Point 2 FIFA have been looking at for a while, intriducing some form of 'penalty box' to suspend players to, as the cap between yellow and red cards is too great.

Point 3 I'm not so sure of. It depends on what you call spoiling. I think that a team like North Korea playing for a draw against like Brazil is perfectly acceptable.

Point 4 I think would require a rework of the whole points system. 3 points for a win and then a bonus point seems to great to me.

[BattleMoose]

Whenever a sport gets too competitive, teams will abuse the rules as much as they can in so far as it provides them an advantage, this happens in all sports. The teams have so much to gain if they win, that they don't care if they are being unsportsmanlike and can get away with cheating.

I don't believe sport can be beautiful at this kind of level, when a bunch of kids have a ball and play on a makeshift field somewhere and are just out and about to kick a ball and have some fun, then that could be a beautiful game.

[MrDeVil_909]

That's ignorant.

Why? If you are really injured you can call for a stretcher, that's what I mean by GTFO.

If a player goes down and he's actually injured he puts his hand up and a stretcher comes straight out, seen it happen recently, can't remember the game. No dramatic rolling around and clutching whatever bodypart comes to hand.

*edit*

To be clear, I was being tongue in cheek. But the motivations for play-acting need to be taken out.

[Garson007]

Why? If you are really injured you can call for a stretcher, that's what I mean by GTFO.

Oh rite.

[MarcosCOB]

Why? If you are really injured you can call for a stretcher, that's what I mean by GTFO.

Thing is though, when you for e.g. get kicked on the shins, whether you have shin guards or not, it hurts like hell and can prevent you from walking properly immediately afterwords for a few minutes. Sometimes it really is a matter of a guy being out on the ground for a few minutes, getting up and resuming.

Even with a review system or some sort of discipline panel that would check it out, it would be very difficult (if not impossible) to authentically determine whether the player was genuinely unable to walk or just wasting time.

[Boggle24]

I'm 100% for a citing commission, as well as bringing technology into football.

I've been trying to watch soccer on and off for the past decade or so, but I absolutely cannot watch a bunch of princesses fall around clutching their faces when no contact had been made, and every time that's what puts me off.

Until I try watching it again a year or so later and I see the same crap happening, and I repeat the process all over again.

The only Soccer I actually watch regularly is a world cup event, simply because of the scope of the whole thing.

I think a TMO would be wonderful, to help against those dodgy linesman calls, but they could use a system that has been trialled in Varsity rugby for a while where each captain gets a certain amount of white cards (say 2 or so) to force the ref to use the TMO on a decision he made, kinda like the hawkeye decisions players get in Tennis.

A sin bin could be great but I'd much rather they just straight red card any diving whatsoever, saving sin binning for the unfair tackles or deliberate use of hand balls etc.

If players bend the rules to a point where it's gotten -this- bad, than I'd say it's obviously time for a change of rules.

[Nferno]

I have no problem with the current state of football, as I'm sure there are many others out there which enjoy it the way it is.

The diving and bad calls are a part of the game I enjoy as much as the actual football. These are things which make me stand up out of my seat screaming at the TV, I think it brings quite a lot of entertainment if it can get my blood boiling/adrenaline pumping. I enjoy seeing players dive and being called out on it (see last night's Brazil Vs. Portugal game) as much as I enjoy seeing players dive and getting away with it (It's a tactical decision and I applaud you if you can pull it off).

Having timeouts for players is a bad call off the bat. This slows down the game more than stoppage time for diving/injuries/fouls as this will make the team with less players fall back and play defensive until that player's timeout period has expired.

I'm undecided on assisting refereeing with technology. I can see the advantages but also feel it would steer the game in different direction/mindset. Human error is all part of the fun of the game aswell.

[Boggle24]

It would hardly slow down the game, all they need to do is allow the ref to call time off like they do in Rugby and do away with the silly stoppage time.

I'm surprised you -like- seeing dishonesty in Soccer, I feel it's exactly the opposite of what sport is about, fair play and sportsmanship.

but I guess if there are people in this world who actually like all of the prancing about bull**** it explains the sorry state of the game and why nobody really does anything to change it.

Enjoy your poofball.

[cr@zydude]

It would hardly slow down the game, all they need to do is allow the ref to call time off like they do in Rugby and do away with the silly stoppage time.

I'm surprised you -like- seeing dishonesty in Soccer, I feel it's exactly the opposite of what sport is about, fair play and sportsmanship.

but I guess if there are people in this world who actually like all of the prancing about bull**** it explains the sorry state of the game and why nobody really does anything to change it.

Enjoy your poofball.

Rugby is a stop start game though, football tends to 'flow' much more though. I don't think that referee time outs like rugby will work, rather each captain should get a set of 3 or so appeals against the ref's decisions.

[Nferno]

I think the biggest problem doesn't lie with Football itself but rather with the viewer. This World Cup has brought on a lot more people which would not normally watch the game and their expectations shattered because the game is not what they percieved it to be.

Football has always been like this, it's not going to change any time soon.

[Squid]

Perhaps this man should stop watching Italy. I mean Portugal won a game 7 - 0, and Chelsea scored 103 goals in the last EPL season (The highest total in history).

If that isn't attacking football, I don't know what is.

I do however agree that professional football needs to introduce some technology. TV refereeing would allow officials to punish things such as diving properly. If there was no chance of you getting away with a dive, you wouldn't ever dive. Simple.

[Garson007]

Why am I not surprised in Nferno advocating cheating and gamesmanship, not a week after he said I was stereotyping about Latinos? I'm sorry, but if you have to bend the rules of a game so that it favours you then you're not worthy of being supported.

[Tezzo]

People who don't get into the world cup spirit should go and f%#k themselves!!! There lives must be so F%#king boring!!!