Handball rule needs an overhaul.
Offside rule needs an even bigger overhaul.
It’s ridiculous that things have got to where they are today. This stuff should be fairly simple and straightforward, whereby everyone who loves the game should be able to easily understand the rules and see the sense in them.
Tape the whistle to the refs mouth and then rope his arms hugging himself or tied behind his back and then have him run up and down the pitch a few times trying to referee. That is absurd, of course, but no less absurd than the assertion that arms away from the body constitutes and unnatural position. Like alot of things these days there is far too much ‘knowledge’ with a whole lot less common sense.
The rule started out as ‘Handball’… The clue being in the title…!
Maybe it would be easier all-round if we went back to that interpretation and leave arms out of it.?
What’s the problem with the offside rule? I have seen the Bamford one and I’m still struggling to see the problem with the call? Shoulder is a part of the body you can legally play the ball with and this is what ruled him offside. Firmino a number of weeks ago was painful but in line is offside so fair enough.
Not sure there’s a problem with offside. It’s requiring less interpretation from the ref and is far more consistent than handball.
They’ve made it so complicated in an effort to make it simple to use with VAR.
It’s at the point where its absurd, they’re trying to look at specific parts of the body down to millimeter accuracy which doesn’t account for the natural inaccuracies that are evident within the system. I think they need to go the other way and dumb the rule down which will make te VAR decision simpler and quicker to decipher.
But they also need to let people hear the discussion, and give the final say to the referee, not some numpty 200 miles away.
Not when they have a numpty on hand
Exactly. My point is that on field referee’s are passing the buck to the VAR officials who are not involved in the game and dont take responsibility either. And then to top it wall you have 3 more pairs of eye’s in the linesman and 4th official who have no input whatsoever.
Contrast that with your average VAR type decision in rugby. Lines people in consultation with the referee and the the VAR official. The VAR official only gives a recommendation. Final ruling is still with the on field referee and and people watching (on TV at least) can hear the conversation and the ruling.
The questions asked of VAR in rugby are also far easier. "Did he get the ball down, was there a foot in touch, was he in front of the kicker, did the ball go forward etc. There’s also protocols when VAR cant make a clear recommendation. Such as whether the ball was grounded under a mass of bodies.
It’s simple, clear and the decisions / responsibility remain with one person, but that person has the tools and additional pairs of eyes to help make that informed decision.
I disagree. There should be ‘daylight’ between the two players. Bamford was pointing to where he wants the ball. It’s not like he (Bamford) has an advantage over the defender for pointing.
Offside position
It is not an offence to be in an offside position.
A player is in an offside position if:
A player is not in an offside position if level with the:
Bamford is clearly in line with both defenders.
I was surprised when I later saw the Gomez handball on MOTD. The in match comments from most posters seemed to accept it was a pen in real time. When I saw it I thought it was a little harsh. Arm wasn’t in an unnatural position, he didn’t move it towards the ball (on the contrary it looked like he was trying to get his arm out of the way). His silhouette was normal. He wasn’t trying to make himself bigger. There was no intention. The ball came at him quickly. All of those would have given various grounds for it not to be given at various points in the last ten years.
The only thing that was true is that the ball hit his arm. I don’t believe that’s all you need for a penalty these days, is it?
Not true. In line is onside but nowadays it’s never determined as being in line, stupidly it seems to have to be one or the other.
Well I find it hard to get upset over that offside because it was so damned close. If there is no evidence that he was actually onside, then I think its fair enough if they call it one way or the other. I get the accusations that the technology may not be mature enough in terms of camera placement to get the perfect line of what should be or shouldn’t be offside, and maybe the grid they use to get the position of each player’s body in 3d may not be great, but I’m a firm believer of making the technology the best it can be, but in the meantime take the current technology as gospel. You have to have a baseline.
As for the handball rule, they dropped the ‘intent’ part of the rule, now its ‘unnatural position’. They are painting themselves into a corner as both those rules require interpretation by the on-field ref. The only way to get a black and white call, which would be a disaster for defenders and a wet dream for the Suarez’s of the game, is to make any contact with the hand/lower arm a handball. Does anyone truly want that though?
EDIT: Oh and technically in the real world its not possible to be “in-line”. It really is one or the other. You can only be either side of the line. You can never actually be on it.
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I was surprised when I later saw the Gomez handball on MOTD. The in match comments from most posters seemed to accept it was a pen in real time. When I saw it I thought it was a little harsh. Arm wasn’t in an unnatural position, he didn’t move it towards the ball (on the contrary it looked like he was trying to get his arm out of the way). His silhouette was normal. He wasn’t trying to make himself bigger. There was no intention. The ball came at him quickly. All of those would have given various grounds for it not to be given at various points in the last ten years.
The only thing that was true is that the ball hit his arm. I don’t believe that’s all you need for a penalty these days, is it?
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I honestly don’t know anymore. Apparently not because a ball hit a City players arm in the same game as well.
They’ve made a rule that worked into one that’s just utterly bizarre and still as inconsistent as it always was. For me there has to be some kind of intention. Be that a deliberate move to handle the ball, make themselves bigger, get in the way etc.
Now it feels like you need a degree in astrophysics and another one in phycology.
Yes, and that’s why it’s currently stupid for VAR to pretend it can determine it to that degree. It’s nowhere near accurate enough to claim that level of precision.
I just don’t understand why offside is difficult.
If you can’t tell a player is clearly offside within say, three seconds of looking, he’s on and you give the goal!
Because they’ve decided to make the offside rule (and handball) like Golf.
Golf is an incredibly simple game (hit the ball into the little hole) made complicated by idiots.
I’ve said the same thing about American Football. Last weekend the game between Clemson and Notre Dame was completely ruined by the referees repeatedly taking an excruciatingly long time to make decisions on video.
There has to be a time limit on video refereeing. If the VAR ref can’t see a fault within 15 seconds, then just move on.
Takes them about 5 minutes with their faffy lines.
I would say if the head or foot or more is offside give it… sod the rest of it off, I think I prefer how it was last season.
I disagree. I’d say that the rules need simplifying to the point where the questions being asked of VAR are simple to answer.
For example, rather than looking at shirt threads for offside cut it back to a line with the rear foot of the defender. If both the attackers feet are on the right side of that line he’s on side.
Well certainly I think going by feet instead of trying to compare shirt sleeves to knees is a no brainer also. I don’t care about players leaning forwards, that’s fine in my opinion. Feet are all that should matter.
What if the head is what is putting the ball into the net.
