From: MLINDROOS@FINABO.ABO.FI (Marcus Lindroos INF)
Subject: Re: "Fact & Fiction about US soccer"-suggestions?
Organization: Abo Akademi University, Finland
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 12:37:23 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.24

In <1992Nov22.203749.2516@sequent.com> jwk@sequent.com writes:

> In article <1992Nov22.173948.27583@abo.fi> MLINDROOS@FINABO.ABO.FI (Marcus Lindroos INF) writes:
> >
> >Well, the current Italian average of 3.4 goals isn't too bad, is it? There is
> >nothing wrong with goalless draws as long as both teams try to do their best
> >down on the pitch. Anyone can mention a huge number of exciting low-scoring
> >games that kept the audience on the edge of their seats (um, perhaps because
> >most soccer games tend to be low-scoring these days:-). But NO ONE should be
> >forced to put up with time wasting and negative, defensive tactics! FIFA's
> >decision to effectively ban the back-pass was a commendable step in the right
> >direction. The only thing missing is a second timer that would start counting 
> >down from 60 minutes as soon as the game begins and is suspended every time 
> >the ball is not in play (injuries, goalies wasting time by "bouncing" the 
> >ball, moving the "wall" during free kicks etc.), then adding all the extra 
> >time lost [if any] to the game after the regular 90 minutes are up. The end
> >result would of course be 60 minutes of effective playing time, disguised as 90
> >minutes plus "fairly allocated" extra time determined by a watch rather than
> >the referee. No longer would players be able to bend the rules by faking
> 
> Sorry but this sounds more like American Football with each iteration. I don't
> like referees that much but they have to be given ultimate discretion for
> events on the field. Professional referees usually spot the actors foul and
> even if they don't immediately, they have the option to card them afterwards
> (which is a crowd pleaser). If teams want to play negative, cynical football
> they will do so what ever you do. It takes just as much skill to accurately
> pass a ball forward as it does to pass back. I remember a game in the '82
> world cup (I think Brazil was involved). I counted at least 10 passes by the
> defence and at no time did the ball go to keeper or into opponents half. Is
> this negative football or slow build? Should the referee give a free kick?
> As for the current spree of goals in Italy (incidently, the average this
> season so far is much higher than last season in Italy, source The Observer
> from about 2 weeks ago, even though the rule was in effect last season) is

Really? I seem to remember FIFA introduced it only after the European
championships?!?! I did compare the Serie, Premier League and Bundesliga 
scoring averages to those of last season. All three were higher after the
backpass rule was introduced. Bad news for conservative "change-attitudes-
not-rules" people...  

> this due to defensive give-aways or better attacking goals?

Pure BS! Sure, you can't stop *all* forms of negative soccer just by changing
the laws but we can do a lot better than the current rules. As someone pointed
out (Terry?), few soccer fans are disturbed by the  fact that comparatively 
few goals are being scored. Merely "playing for the draw" is much more
annoying.
---
Can you give any rational reason why having a subjective, error-prone(sp) 
referee determining how much time to add is "better" than using an 100% 
objective timekeeper that always gets it right?! If it does not cause any
inconvenience, there is absolutely no reason why top-class soccer should not
introduce it. And introducing a designated timekeeper for the important pro
matches *would* cut down the
timewasting a great deal. Already, a defensive-minded team cannot pass the ball
back to the goalie, now faking injuries or initially refusing to move the wall
backwards during free-kicks when requested by the referee (both common forms of
time wasting) would be worthless as well.
---
Granted, finding a way to persuade 22 cowards to play an entertaining game of
soccer is very difficult. But the problem is more that the current rules are
not protecting the teams and players who do want to give their best. We need
stricter enforcement of the existing rules that are supposed to prevent
timewasting (e.g. free kicks and cautions) as well as new concepts such as the
modified backpass rule and effective playing time.

MARCU$