Lentwood
Full Member
I know we have a “get rid of VAR” thread and a thread for VAR decisions but I thought it would be interesting to have a thread purely to discuss ideas for how we can fix VAR offsides, since it’s been such a hot topic recently
In my opinion, the offside calls have been by far the most controversial and have had the biggest impact. The trouble is, we’re being asked to trust that the technology is capable of measuring fractions of inches in real-time and we’re seeing seemingly “good” goals ruled out on a regular basis.
Take the Pukki goal for Norwich against Spurs yesterday - it’s seems wholly unsatisfactory to see a “goal” like that ruled out. Both of Pukki’s feet were shown to be about a foot onside, but his momentum meant his armpit/head was ruled offside by a fraction.
One of the big issues football has had for a while, in my opinion, is that it’s too hard to score a goal anyway. Players have got fitter, tactics and coaching have evolved, goalkeepers are much bigger - and now on top of all of this we have introduced technology which rules goals out but doesn’t actually contribute any “new goals”.
So, I’ve actually been thinking about this for a while and I’ve come up with two options I think would allow for consistent decision making and generally increase the amount of goals scored, plus ensuring good centre forward/attacking play is justly rewarded.
Opt.1 - Bring back the “daylight” rule
Some of the older posters will remember this. The rule was basically that there had to be “daylight” between the attacker and the defender for the goal to be ruled out. This was eventually changed, with officials citing the fact it was impossible to judge “daylight” in real-time. With VAR, they wouldn’t have to, since the technology could do this for them.
Pro’s - we would definitely see more goals. Dan Burn and Teemu Pukki’s foals from yesterday would both have counted, for example.
Con’s - we would still have to trust the technology can measure in millimetres
Opt. 2 - make the “defenders line” 2/3 times thicker than the forwards line
I actually prefer this option. When the blue and red lines are drawn, just apply the rule across the board that the defenders line is always 2 or 3 times thicker than the attackers and call this the “margin of error”.
I have taken inspiration from cricket for this idea, where they use the “umpires call” as its accepted the technology can’t be 100% accurate, albeit my suggestion is different as I’m not suggesting we have an on-field/off-field call.
This idea would mean that the technology was used in exactly the same way it was designed but there would be a built in margin of error and a built in (small) advantage for the attacker. This method would again mean that goals like Pukki’s vs Spurs would be ruled onside, would be consistent across the board and with the current rules of football and I think it general it would be far more satisfactory for fans as we wouldn’t see “good” goals ruled a millimetre offside.
Pro’s - consistent with the existing rules, allows a defined/consistent margin of error, more goals scored, gives a marginal advantage to the attacker.
Con’s - can’t actually think of one! Wouldn’t solve some of the wider issues with VAR (communication to fans in the stadium) but seems to solve the debate about the marginal offsides.
What do with think Caf? Good ideas/bad ideas? Any other suggestions?
NOTE: Please don’t just put “scrap VAR” or debate specific decisions as we have threads for those and it’s not the point of this thread. Likewise, this thread is to discuss methods for improving offside decisions only, so please don’t discuss penalties/cards etc....
In my opinion, the offside calls have been by far the most controversial and have had the biggest impact. The trouble is, we’re being asked to trust that the technology is capable of measuring fractions of inches in real-time and we’re seeing seemingly “good” goals ruled out on a regular basis.
Take the Pukki goal for Norwich against Spurs yesterday - it’s seems wholly unsatisfactory to see a “goal” like that ruled out. Both of Pukki’s feet were shown to be about a foot onside, but his momentum meant his armpit/head was ruled offside by a fraction.
One of the big issues football has had for a while, in my opinion, is that it’s too hard to score a goal anyway. Players have got fitter, tactics and coaching have evolved, goalkeepers are much bigger - and now on top of all of this we have introduced technology which rules goals out but doesn’t actually contribute any “new goals”.
So, I’ve actually been thinking about this for a while and I’ve come up with two options I think would allow for consistent decision making and generally increase the amount of goals scored, plus ensuring good centre forward/attacking play is justly rewarded.
Opt.1 - Bring back the “daylight” rule
Some of the older posters will remember this. The rule was basically that there had to be “daylight” between the attacker and the defender for the goal to be ruled out. This was eventually changed, with officials citing the fact it was impossible to judge “daylight” in real-time. With VAR, they wouldn’t have to, since the technology could do this for them.
Pro’s - we would definitely see more goals. Dan Burn and Teemu Pukki’s foals from yesterday would both have counted, for example.
Con’s - we would still have to trust the technology can measure in millimetres
Opt. 2 - make the “defenders line” 2/3 times thicker than the forwards line
I actually prefer this option. When the blue and red lines are drawn, just apply the rule across the board that the defenders line is always 2 or 3 times thicker than the attackers and call this the “margin of error”.
I have taken inspiration from cricket for this idea, where they use the “umpires call” as its accepted the technology can’t be 100% accurate, albeit my suggestion is different as I’m not suggesting we have an on-field/off-field call.
This idea would mean that the technology was used in exactly the same way it was designed but there would be a built in margin of error and a built in (small) advantage for the attacker. This method would again mean that goals like Pukki’s vs Spurs would be ruled onside, would be consistent across the board and with the current rules of football and I think it general it would be far more satisfactory for fans as we wouldn’t see “good” goals ruled a millimetre offside.
Pro’s - consistent with the existing rules, allows a defined/consistent margin of error, more goals scored, gives a marginal advantage to the attacker.
Con’s - can’t actually think of one! Wouldn’t solve some of the wider issues with VAR (communication to fans in the stadium) but seems to solve the debate about the marginal offsides.
What do with think Caf? Good ideas/bad ideas? Any other suggestions?
NOTE: Please don’t just put “scrap VAR” or debate specific decisions as we have threads for those and it’s not the point of this thread. Likewise, this thread is to discuss methods for improving offside decisions only, so please don’t discuss penalties/cards etc....