New offside proposal

[golden_blunder]

What do you think of Arsene Wengers latest proposal?

https://talksport.com/football/1891647/arsene-wenger-change-offside-rule/amp/

 

[Lyng]

I'd welcome it. The current simply doesn't work. This would remove the need for several minutes per match wasted with people looking for the smallest margins and drawing crooked lines.

 

[Carl]

Change will mean more goals. More goals is good.

It is a bit backwards that we're making rule changes to fit with VAR though..

 

[Oranges038]

In a few years we'll hear how he could have changed the rule, but someone else got there before him.

 

[RoyH1]

Good idea. I'm tired of goals being disallowed because someone's pinkie is ahead of the line.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

This should have been how it works all along.

 

[tomaldinho1]

This makes much more sense and favours attacking teams, which is what we want. Basically VAR quickly look and if there's any overlap of anything but arms/hands, you give it. There will still be some tight class but far fewer than we have today.

 

[Skills]

Kills the offside trap I think. I actually don't know if that would result in more goals.

 

[mctrials23]

No its an awful idea. Football teams aren't stupid and if you can get what is potentially a 1.5m head start on defenders with this offside rule they will just defend deeper. If you can't play a high line without being absolutely ripped to pieces then teams won't play it. It would be so easy to stay onside.

As to it improving the "pinkie offside", of course it wouldn't. You are still drawing lines. You are still saying offside or onside. I don't know why this is so hard to understand. You can make up whatever arbitrary point you want but that is still a hard point that will be adhered to and some decisions will sit 1mm over that line and other will sit 1mm under that line. Christ, make it 2m if you want, there will still be offsides that are 2.01m offside.

 

[limerickcitykid]

It doesn’t change anything other than where the line will be drawn.

 

[Pickle85]

Am I imagining it or didn't we have the 'daylight' rule decades ago.

 

[Waynne]

I welcome this but then do we still keep VAR for other off the ball incidents?

 

[adexkola]

Attackers don't need more of an advantage

 

[top1whoisman]

Can’t help but think this would lead to more teams playing with a low block and therefore resulting in less entertaining and attacking football.

 

[Utd heap]

Moving where the line is drawn from - genius.

 

[giorno]

Dumb. Keep it at the attacker's legs, as that more accurately represents whether advantage was gained unfairly or not.

This proposal is too skewed against the defenders. Imagine having to play against Mbappé or Haaland with this rule...

 

[sugar_kane]

It doesn’t change anything other than where the line will be drawn.

This.

In principle it sounds good and more in spirit of the game but I don't see how it stops VAR pouring over footage and drawing lines etc and slowing down the game.

We need automation for offsides. Something that can send a signal straight to linesman to raise their flag if a player is offside. Whether that is determined by Wenger's proposal or what we have now it doesn't make a massive difference, but on balance I'd probably favour what Wenger is saying since a toenail being offside doesn't really give an attacker any advantage.

 

[Zoid]

Simply determine offside by the position of your feet.

 

[Yakuza_devils]

They used to tell us VAR is good.

Not sure about this. It will be very hard for defenders to play offside trap especially in the games nowadays which are played in higher speed and intensity. As many have said, team will defend deeper as the advantages are clear for attackers to have headstart.

 

[top1whoisman]

In terms of VAR we’d still have the same millimeter stuff to check whether the attacking player’s heel is actually in front of the defender’s shoulder etc.

 

[Skills]

I think it changes the meta of football too drastically. The game pre and post rule change would be too difficult to compare.

 

[Devil77]

In terms of VAR we’d still have the same millimeter stuff to check whether the attacking player’s heel is actually in front of the defender’s shoulder etc.

Was thinking the same but perhaps it’ll be easier for the attacker to stay onside when he doesn’t need to be all behind the defender.

 

[top1whoisman]

Was thinking the same but perhaps it’ll be easier for the attacker to stay onside when he doesn’t need to be all behind the defender.

That might be true. Just don’t see this potential rule change getting us rid of the body hair checking in any way.

 

[quadrant]

Won't change much in terms of the controversy. Simply moving the offside line won't make the measurement process any easier, you're just measuring at a different spot.

However it could radically change football as a whole, since the offside line will effectively be behind the defender now, not in line with them. My guess is that this will discourage high lines in football.

 

[Bright_Eyes]

I'd welcome it. The current simply doesn't work. This would remove the need for several minutes per match wasted with people looking for the smallest margins and drawing crooked lines.

Maybe it's better, maybe not. But I don't understand your and the article's focus on how it would get rid of the marginal millimeter decisions, the lines or the time taken for decisions. How would that change?

 

[Bright_Eyes]

Won't change much in terms of the controversy. Simply moving the offside line won't make the measurement process any easier, you're just measuring at a different spot.

However it could radically change football as a whole, since the offside line will effectively be behind the defender now, not in line with them. My guess is that this will discourage high lines in football.

I read it as the offside line would still be in front of the defender, at the furthest forward point of their body, but instead of comparing that to the front of the attacker, it would now be compared to the back (furthest behind point) of the attacker.

Edit: actually we probably just meant different things by behind/in front. I'm seeing it all in terms of the direction of an attack is front/forward for both attacker and defender.

I don't necessarily think it would result in more exciting football either

 

[Pogue Mahone]

It doesn’t change anything other than where the line will be drawn.

Exactly. Feel like I’m going mad here that not everyone can see this?

 

[Solius]

It would radically change the way the game is played, plus there'd still be lines drawn to determine any gap between attacker & defender.

Not in favour of it at all personally. Attackers already score plenty of goals.

 

[top1whoisman]

It would radically change the way the game is played, plus there'd still be lines drawn to determine any gap between attacker & defender.

Not in favour of it at all personally. Attackers already score plenty of goals.

Agree. I'd understand the need for new rule proposals to favour attacking players if we were going through a historical goal drought or something.

 

[Chipper]

Maybe it's better, maybe not. But I don't understand your and the article's focus on how it would get rid of the marginal millimeter decisions, the lines or the time taken for decisions. How would that change?

It wouldn't. Instead of someone's toe, nose, or shoulder being offside, their heel or arse will be slightly too far advanced instead.

If I was advocating this all the talk should be about the original spirit of the offside law, which was to prevent goal-hanging and being what we'd now regard as miles offside. I don't think it was supposed to be about fine margins when it was first thought up, and I'd be surprised anyone ever thought that we'd see such a thing as an offside trap with teams stepping up to try and catch someone off when it was first implemented.

We're used to all that now though, and I think it works ok generally speaking.

 

[Yakuza_devils]

It will also be more difficult for linesman. Now they have to look at different part of body to make offside call.

 

[Wibble]

What do you think of Arsene Wengers latest proposal?

https://talksport.com/football/1891647/arsene-wenger-change-offside-rule/amp/

A terrible idea. "Daylight" is a terribly imprecise term and however interpreted almost removes the rule in meaningful terms.

Make it easier for VAR to determine by all means but this idea is nonsense. Right up there with making the goals bigger.

 

[Spark]

Would like to see it trialled. However, would make playing an offside trap so difficult - attackers will be onside despite effectively being behind the final ball playing defender, meaning they could easily be outside of the defender's periphery vision, when the defender's back is to goal. Currently, they have to be inline with defenders, where it is much easier to keep track.

Could see it leading counterintuitively to more defensive football, as the offside trap becomes too difficult and risky to implement. Or, teams start to increase defenders/the CDM drops deep in defence to effectively become a 3rd CB.

 

[Wibble]

It wouldn't. Instead of someone's toe, nose, or shoulder being offside, their heel or arse will be slightly too far advanced instead.

If I was advocating this all the talk should be about the original spirit of the offside law, which was to prevent goal-hanging and being what we'd now regard as miles offside. I don't think it was supposed to be about fine margins when it was first thought up, and I'd be surprised anyone ever thought that we'd see such a thing as an offside trap with teams stepping up to try and catch someone off when it was first implemented.

We're used to all that now though, and I think it works ok generally speaking.

I like the way VAR is used in other sports. Decisions stand unless the ref refers them when he thinks a decision may be wrong or each captain gets a number of appeals. In all cases the original.decision stands unless there is definite evidence thecdecision was wrong. Marginal stuff always goes with the officials call. Not perfect but it produces far fewer contentious decisions and takes less time to do so.

 

[top1whoisman]

This would make defending free kicks a nightmare. Five attacking players having a big advantage over their markers.

 

[B20]

Dumb. Keep it at the attacker's legs, as that more accurately represents whether advantage was gained unfairly or not.

I'd say boots. But yes, easier to measure than flailing cock tips and shoulder warts and also gives more of a sense of fairness. No one actually wants to see an offside called because the earlobe was offside while the rest of the body was onside.

 

[Lyng]

Surely it's easier to determine whether nothing is in line or a small part.

 

[Smores]

Sounds like nonsense to me. Just automate offside, do it off feet only and then add a margin so it's not too harsh.

 

[B20]

So what would the retreat of the high line of defence mean in modern football?

Modern football is incredibly compressed compared to former ages and I don't think that has improved it as a spectacle. As I see it, the high line of defence has a lot to do with that. I think football would be better viewing with more space between the lines and a re-focus to individual duels being more decisive across the pitch.

Of course, there will be teams whose solution to such a change would be to still keep the defence and midfield tight and just lob it long to isolated forwards. But I'd be interested to see what kind of solutions top teams that rely on the high line to compress the field would have to come up with instead.

 

[DWelbz19]

Wenger loves a pointless proposed tweak ever since retirement. Get outta here.