Official Soccer Thread

[Wolf359]

Exactly. I've coached, played & officiated for like forever. You're talking about a field much larger than an American football field, and there is really only 1 center official to cover all of that and 22 players. (I discount the two sideline officials because they don't really don't do much). This is mostly by design. Soccer is a fluid game and needs to be nearly non stop to be good. By just having one official, for all intents and purposes, the game does not get "over officiated", and the players are allowed to play. (As a player the thing I hate most is a nit picking official who calls too many minor infractions and screws up the flow & chemistry of the game). Subsequently a lot of calls will get missed (sometimes you might end up 50 yards from the play), but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't usually matter. The only thing they really probably need to do, when available, is video review on a goal or possible goal. That's the only real crucial thing, and goals don't happen often. Otherwise, the game works fine as it is with one center official. Any more would ruin the game.

I could disagree more lol
It matters to the team affected by it.
Ask an England fan about the "hand of God" or a German about the World Cup final, or even a Welshman about Joe Jordan's infamous raised arm penalty in a final World Cup qualifier

I totally agree that the game needs to flow, but there is no excuse for some of the refereeing errors you see. There are certain officials who you know are NEVER going to give a penalty against certain teams.

There is so much at stake in some games, not least the monetary side, that allowing simple human error (or maybe not a genuine error) to govern the outcome of something, to paraphrase Shankly is "more important than life or death"

 

[Mad Dog]

I could disagree more lol
It matters to the team affected by it.
Ask an England fan about the "hand of God" or a German about the World Cup final, or even a Welshman about Joe Jordan's infamous raised arm penalty in a final World Cup qualifier

I totally agree that the game needs to flow, but there is no excuse for some of the refereeing errors you see. There are certain officials who you know are NEVER going to give a penalty against certain teams.

There is so much at stake in some games, not least the monetary side, that allowing simple human error (or maybe not a genuine error) to govern the outcome of something, to paraphrase Shankly is "more important than life or death"

The key word is "error" . It happens in all sports that are officiated by humans. Now, corrupt or paid off officials, in any sport, are an entirely different matter. But that's kind of a rarity.

 

[Wolf359]

You'd be amazed how many accusations are made against referees (not that any get investigated lol they simply fine the accuser)

Btw an American football pitch is bigger than most soccer pitches. By about 15m if wiki is to be believed lol the standard (if there is indeed a standard as no official one exists in soccer) is 105m long compared with 120m for an American football pitch.

The point is when one man who may be 30 yds behind the play decides the outcome of a borderline incident then mistakes would be more common than if there were say 6 officials deciding the same incident.
The problem is that FIFA insist that grassroots football should be governed in exactly the same way as a World Cup final for instance. So no technology (except for the goal line stuff they recently trialled) no extra referees (apart from the behind the goal referees they put in major finals) no TMOs
they put these rules in place then break them when it suits them

FIFA has enough problems with corruption as it is without allowing poor, in some cases crazy, refereeing to taint the game

 

[Mad Dog]

You'd be amazed how many accusations are made against referees (not that any get investigated lol they simply fine the accuser)

Btw an American football pitch is bigger than most soccer pitches. By about 15m if wiki is to be believed lol the standard (if there is indeed a standard as no official one exists in soccer) is 105m long compared with 120m for an American football pitch.

The point is when one man who may be 30 yds behind the play decides the outcome of a borderline incident then mistakes would be more common than if there were say 6 officials deciding the same incident.
The problem is that FIFA insist that grassroots football should be governed in exactly the same way as a World Cup final for instance. So no technology (except for the goal line stuff they recently trialled) no extra referees (apart from the behind the goal referees they put in major finals) no TMOs
they put these rules in place then break them when it suits them

FIFA has enough problems with corruption as it is without allowing poor, in some cases crazy, refereeing to taint the game

As a player and player/coach in thousands of matches over the years, you would not believe how many times I railed or screamed at an official for a poor call. And, of course, some officials are better (or worse) than others. But you live with it and go on with the game. Only if you've actually officiated, would you know how difficult it is. But, bottom line, anything more than one official on the field would hurt the game. I've also officiated in high school matches where they use a two man or three man system on the field (no sideline refs). It does not work as well. It results in more inconsistent calls and the flow of the game gets interrupted because more minor fouls get called.

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

Orlando City Stadium under construction here in Orlando.

 

[Wolf359]

I have officiated, and played, a long time ago now lol. & I still remember quite a few decisions where everybody in the ground (on both sides) saw something but the ref missed it

Multiple referees work in a lot of sports, why not football?
TMOs work in a lot of sports, why not football?
Technology works in a lot of sports, why not football?
but we'll have to agree to disagree, & hey it's only a matter of time now that Blatter is history, and will hopefully be in prison soon, before the game changes completely

 

[Wolf359]

Lol talk about timing Lothar Mattaus was just griping about a French referee giving a penalty against him in his world cup debut many years ago. These days he'd have been sent off for a professional foul (it was definitely a foul lol) but as it happened 2 yds outside the box it was no penalty. Everybody knew that except the referee

Players, and fans, never forget those type of decisions. They'll say the mistakes even themselves out over a career but they never forget the individual errors, and what it cost them personally, Matthaus was dropped for the rest of the tournament lol

 

[Mad Dog]

I have officiated, and played, a long time ago now lol. & I still remember quite a few decisions where everybody in the ground (on both sides) saw something but the ref missed it

Multiple referees work in a lot of sports, why not football?
TMOs work in a lot of sports, why not football?
Technology works in a lot of sports, why not football?
but we'll have to agree to disagree, & hey it's only a matter of time now that Blatter is history, and will hopefully be in prison soon, before the game changes completely

Definitely, we can agree to disagree, my friend. :thumbsup: This will be my last word so it doesn't end up a post of beating a dead horse. But, even in American professional football, basketball & hockey, even with many officials on the playing field, complaints & disputes over calls are just as common, if not more common, than they are with soccer & it's one center official system. American football, seven officials on the field, replay officials, and leagues stop action hdq. video review, still can't decide with certainty what a "legal catch" is. As long as human's officiate there will be controversy. Judgement is like that.

 

[Wolf359]

Definitely, we can agree to disagree, my friend. :thumbsup: This will be my last word so it doesn't end up a post of beating a dead horse. But, even in American professional football, basketball & hockey, even with many officials on the playing field, complaints & disputes over calls are just as common, if not more common, than they are with soccer & it's one center official system. American football, seven officials on the field, replay officials, and leagues stop action hdq. video review, still can't decide with certainty what a "legal catch" is. As long as human's officiate there will be controversy. Judgement is like that.

:thumbsup:

That last result shocked Austria to the core.
I'd have put good money on it being 2:0 the other way around

 

[Wolf359]

Oh my god!!!
What a goal

 

[anihilnation]

Things are not going England's way. Quite impressed by Wales.

 

[Mad Dog]

Looking like England underestimated Wales. They need to step their game up....Note: I have a national team England shirt from the 90's. Kind of similar to these but more gray than white. Kind of colors reversed from this pattern.....Nice goal by England. Tied up now.

 

[anihilnation]

Looking like England underestimated Wales. They need to step their game up....Note: I have a national team England shirt from the 90's. Kind of similar to these but more gray than white. Kind of colors reversed from this pattern.....Nice goal by England. Tied up now.

England is awake now.

 

[Mad Dog]

England is awake now.

Yep, they're pushing hard. Wales needs to get out of that defensive shell, like real quick.

 

[Wolf359]

what a rollercoaster ride
Pity we couldn't hang on just a minute longer

 

[Mad Dog]

what a rollercoaster ride
Pity we couldn't hang on just a minute longer

Didn't know you were Welsh. It's always tough to lose in the last minute or two.

 

[Wolf359]

Yes born, bred and lived there all my life

You can only defend for so long, there'll be a lot of drunken Welsh songs sung in France tonight lol

 

[gbird]

Wow that was tense, I'm sat in an office watching on BBC web page and must have been a delay for some as people as could hear different person cheering every few seconds!

 

[Mad Dog]

Yes born, bred and lived there all my life

You can only defend for so long, there'll be a lot of drunken Welsh songs sung in France tonight lol

Yeah, I always dislike when a team goes into a pure defending mode. Bad things happen.

 

[anihilnation]

I guess the Welsh really were not prepared for a different England in the second half,often happens, you have played half a game with a strategy and were successful, then suddenly in the second half the opposing team plays different and you can't cope.