SubJeff on 12/6/2010 at 21:43
The offside rule makes for perfectly exciting games you Ritalin crazed monkey. Seriously now, there is no way you can think that it makes for less exciting games unless you have some serious attention span impairing disability.
Quote:
I just hate how (on the top levels) everytime a team breaches the other team's defense there's an offside call.
Wtf ARE you on about? "Breaches" the defense? If one team outplays another's defense they score. Being offside is not "breaching" the defense, it's being offside.
I have to side with SD on this one because the only people I see moan about the offside rule are Americans, or people who don't understand it (or both).
quinch on 12/6/2010 at 21:45
The offside rule actually encourages attacking, flowing play. With all respect, I used to hate the rule myself before I understood the game properly. Changing it would be like allowing forward passing in Rugby or maybe scrapping the three second rule in Basketball.
Jason Moyer on 12/6/2010 at 21:55
Could you elaborate on that? How does the current offsides keep teams from dilly-dallying with the ball?
Jason Moyer on 12/6/2010 at 21:59
Quote Posted by Subjective Effect
Wtf ARE you on about? "Breaches" the defense? If one team outplays another's defense they score. Being offside is not "breaching" the defense, it's being offside.
What I'm talking about are the situations where there are 2 forwards attacking 1 defender or 3 forwards attacking 2 defenders and 98% of the time there's an offsides called, because all of the forwards except for the one with the ball have to stay on their side of the defense. I vastly prefer the system hockey has where the team in the offensive zone can move freely to setup their offense or where a team that catches the defense unawares has an advantage. It's exciting, and I think something similar would be entertaining as hell in soccer.
quinch on 12/6/2010 at 22:10
Oh god it's difficult to explain. I mean you could theoretically scrap it but football would change considerably. Having it in place means that teams can attack and defend as a unit and maintain a shape. I know what you mean with zones but I wouldn't want the game to become more complicated.
It is frustrating to see dipshit players wandering offside when they have the whole width of the pitch within their field of view.
The FIFA president Blatter (
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/mar/03/sepp-blatter-bin-offside-rule) even thought about scrapping the rule.
Jason Moyer on 12/6/2010 at 22:15
I'm just curious, because I'm sure there is a reason the rule has been in place for so long, I just don't have any good football strategy resources.
SubJeff on 12/6/2010 at 22:32
Quote Posted by Jason Moyer
all of the forwards except for the one with the ball have to stay on their side of the defense.
No they don't.
See, as I suspected, you don't get it. You cannot be passed the ball if at the time of passing there is no one between you and the goal keeper (technically it's 2 opposing players, but its usually the goalie + one other). That doesn't mean you can't be in what would be an offside position if no one is passing you the ball. This was well demonstrated yesterday (I forget which match) where someone who wasn't offside was passed the ball but it wasn't until his offside team mate decided to intercept the pass that offside was called. Iyswim.
And the rule is there to stop goal hangers.
Just imagine it without offside. You'd get one or two guys hanging around near the goal with defenders just hanging with them. There would be no chance for any pace on the ball as you'd never get any dynamic attacking runs - there would be no breakaways because two boring and uninventive assholes would be hanging around all game with two bored defenders. Can you imagine the Italians or the Argentinians! Good God, it doesn't bear thinking about!
Its not frakking hockey! Stop trying to make sports that aren't your sports like your sports ffs!
D'Arcy on 12/6/2010 at 22:33
It's probably in place because it keeps football an interesting game, with several tactical aspects to explore, instead of just blindly kicking the ball forward. Breaking the offside trap, or using the offside trap to defend efficiently is an art. The ultimate objective in football is to score goals, but all the tactical aspects surrounding it in order to get those goals are what makes it beatiful and interesting for me. It's difficult to score a goal in football, and it's also because a goal just keeps on being so damn special that I love the game. Matches ending 12-10 all the time would be boring.
P.S.- And complementing what SE just wrote: a forward can very well go into the 'other side' of the defense. There are two aspects to the offside rule: one, a player receiving the ball must have at least two opponents between him and the goal line when the pass is made, and the second one is that this only applies if the player is ahead of the ball. Meaning that a player can very well have no one between him and the goal line if he is behind the ball (the imaginary line, parallel to the goal line, that intersects the ball)
quinch on 12/6/2010 at 22:36
I love the offside rule! The best way to fully appreciate it would be to go to a live game and sit in the stand a good few feet above the action. It can be difficult to get a handle on what's going on even on a wide screen TV.
SubJeff on 12/6/2010 at 22:38
Also what he said.
