The Professor of Pop, and long-time ‘proper’ Chelsea fan, comments that the offside rule is broke…It most certainly is and once again some very important decisions have been incorrectly made as a result. It’s crazy. The Van Nistelroy goal against Italy was alloowed because the nItalian defender Pannucci was playing him on-side – from off the pitch lying down injured…Toni’s goal against the Romanians was clearly onside but the ref, who was right there called it back…I could go on…Some years ago, actually I believe it was following the 2006 World Cup, I wrote the following and it is as true today as it was then…
“The offside rule which was in effect for decades worked fine. It was simple. If you were in the opponents half and closer to the goal than one of or both the goalkeeper and one other defender (or two defenders), or level with either one, at the time the pass to you was made, then you were offside. (There was the vague caveat of “interfering with play” but it was very, very rarely used – if you were offside you were offside). The refs had a ‘black and white’ rule and they enforced it…It was relatively easy to spot, easy to enforce, and easy to justify, with no debate about being “active”, or “in the play or not” or “interfering” As one wise man once said, “if you’re on the field then you had better be interfering”… Then FIFA, in the name of “entertainment”, stepped in and we have had controversy ever since…F*ck “entertainment”. This is sport, a mighty sport at that, and the rules should be kept as easy to enforce and, more importantly, to get correct, as possible…
“Passive offside”? – shove it up yer arse. A defender does not think it “passive” when he has to keep an eye on the attacker’s whereabouts in the corner of his eye. A player who is “passive” very often, and very soon, becomes “active”…
The old rule may well have lent itself to negative defensive tactics (Arsenal , Uruguay, Italy come to mind) but we had far less debate and no frustration/despair at games lost on an incorrect offsides call. (Unless you were a Leeds fan in the ‘70-’71 season when W.B.A.’s Astle scored the most obvious offside goal ever and the league title was subsequently lost – remember that one? An absolute classic “Match of the Day”…But I joyfully digress)…
Yesterday Turkey’s third and decisive goal should have been ruled out for offside. It was close but when the ball was played through the Turkish player was off. This kind of officiating error is part of the game and could have happened even when the rules were different, although having said that the rule in its original form (see above) would be easier to implement than the current one. However, the “passive offside” part of the rule is ridiculous and the sooner the likes of ESPN’s Julie Foolish (the one who has broken into ‘Sound of Music’ songs are numerous occasions – it wasn’t funny the first time), etc, realize this the better. The real fans of the game do not watch the game just to see goals, particularly if they are offside!
Something must be done because the rule as currently written is hard to get right every time, particularly when called by a linesman (sorry, referee’s assistant) is doing so from a distant touchline and cannot see whether or not a player is interfering…Until changes are made to the current law more and more major matches will be affected by its inadequacies…
Claret & Light Blue and waiting for the blatantly offside player to blatantly dive over the keeper’s outstretched leg and then convert the subsequent penalty to win the World Cup/Euro Final 1-0 in the 96th minute…Now if this was England beating Brazil in the WC Final of 2010 then perhaps…oh, a conversation for other time…
