6 reason soccer sucks.

[Gooberlx2]

Also, way more yellow and red cards for obvious floppery. That shit needs to stop.

Totally agreed

Line judges should be able to call this to the field ref's attention on such plays.

They can. Line judges can signal fouls by waving the flag and request to confer with the center. However at the pro level, they essentially never do. I dunno if it's for the sake of ego or flow of the game, but line judges don't exercise the power they often should.

Regarding the goal robbed from England, the line judge was just as culpable as the center since they, specifically, have the line of sight to determine if the ball completely crossed the line.

 

[Soccerman06]

I have about 10 other problems with the fundamentals of the game plus the fact USA sends halfletes but I let tried to let the hate go like OB1 says last couple weeks with an opened mind thinking I was wrong about how gay it is, nope, just added 6 more, here are my additional observations.

1. Goal free games. What a waste of 90 minutes to see guys kicking ball around. Rectangle jerk a circle jerks cousin.

2. Shameless diving for calls and refs that are sucked in. What a bunch of pussies I've been hit walking through crowds harder than that and these guys act like they have been shot only to run around for dozens of minutes afterwords.

3. Lame yellow and red cards which totally alter games for #2.

4. Amateurish officiating. Even when someone actutally scores a very rare goal it's taken away by refs who don't see it. See UK and USA. What a bunch of fools.

5. Droning of plastic horns drowning out every other sound in the stadium removing all fan excitement.

6. Stalling. Okay game is already boring as fuck w/o any scoring but once someone scores and is assured placement in the "round of 16" and opponent is assured the same all they do for the next 45 minutes is pass the ball to each other trying nothing see Chile & Spain.

I would post on a bunch this but it doesnt matter, no matter what I say would change your mind (plus I'm posting on my evo).

1 ya is sucks but it happens in like every sport, and its hard kicking a ball 90mph with 100% accuracy with people chasing and kicking at you.

2 some refs suck some dont, what if football had 3 refs? However I do think instant replay should be instituted on goal scoring plays that the refs call foul on. Taking dives is a strategy to get a set play to have a better chance of scoring.

3 cards keep players in check, why not just kick the dude in the face before he scores right?

4 see above

5 ya those horns suck, but blame the south Africans and their bs. Watch a euro game and the noise is the same a football game. Go YouTube the south African vs whoever and when the get scored on, the crowd shuts the fuck up.

6 no other sport ever stalls at all... cough kneeing/running cough...

If you want a real physical game go watch rugby.

 

[BudAshes]

Try not watching. Works pretty well for me. Soccer is an awesome spectator sport for the inter-country rivalries, not the sport itself.

 

[dmcowen674]

6 reason soccer sucks.

I take credit for this thread, I was hating Wusbol before hating it was cool

 

[Demon-Xanth]

One thing that I find kind of funny is that all this talk of officiating in sports makes you realize that NASCAR, as much as it may be mocked for it's "lack of technology" is at the head of the class when it comes to officiating and score keeping tech. They can spot when you're below the yellow line at a restrictor plate track and assess a penalty the same lap. Speeding on pit road? You know before you get back to the line. Loose equipment? They know who. Think you were ahead of someone before the yellow waved? They'll let you know for certain before the green drops. Anti-drug policy? One strike you're out until you can convince them to let you back in. (the shortest I've heard on this one is three years)

You can argue about a lot of things, but nobody ever argues who won a race anywhere on the track.

 

[eits]

2 refs (in addition to the linesmen). One ref and one linesman for each half of the pitch. I don't think you could ever institute a review system a la the NFL because play can't stop.

that was exactly what i was thinking when i posted about it in the world cup thread... i'm really unsure how it would work.

 

[zinfamous]

as i said in some other thread soccer doesnt need instant replay they simply need a 5th official watching the TV broadcast/replays that can radio down to the field when shit happens.

This would have solved the Mexico Argentina off sides issue. and would have taken 10 seconds. TBH i didn't notice tevez (sp) being offsides when i was watching it in real time, i thought messi was shooting it. it wasn't clear what happened until the replay.

The England German blown call is easily solved with what they call "goal line technology" basically its just a computer chip inside the ball and a wire under the ground between the goal posts. if the ball fully crosses a light comes on or something, play would never be interrupted. the reason it was missed IMO had a lot to do with the German keeper getting right up and grabbing the ball and playing on until he heard a whistle. as bad as it is i find it hilarious as a very similar thing happened in '66 where the ball DID NOT cross the line but the refs gave England a goal and they went on to beat Germany for a WC victory




IDK why fifa is against it, ive thought they should at least have the goal shit going for years

and no Zin calls are not always over turned in other sports with replay. football refs fuck shit up and they have replay and then theirs baseball where a blown call can cost a pitcher a perfect game. no system is perfect and unless every single play ever is reviewed there will always be fuckups

as for the diving and carding issues, if Fifa simply adopted a policy of post game reviews where players can be fined money and or carded after the fact for blatant diving or whatnot it would definitely help the issue

I think fining players for flopping after the game is a good idea, might just work. The issue with getting replays wrong in Football is that in such cases, there simply is no angle that can determine if the call was right or wrong. You often have a space of three inches or so--determining where a player's foot or ass is in relation to a yard marker or boundary. Soccer is far more open than this. The damn goal is what, 20 feet wide? And it's not like rugby where you have all the players on the field in one massive pile trying to grab that little leather ball thingy, where no camera can penetrate.

Even so, I still don't think replay is actually needed in soccer. Like you say, the goal line technology should work, but it's still quite clear that in all of the controversial calls so far (way, waaaaay too many for one tournament), a replay review wouldn't take more than 10 seconds. Oftentimes, this is what the official review in Football does--the guy up in the booth demands the official review after watching the replay.

again, soccer already has this "4th official" supposedly watching the game on a monitor...yet he has no power? why the hell is that? I still agree that an extra on-field official is probably necessary, but what's the point of adding one when you currently only have 1/4 officials give any power to make calls? ...and why am I the only one that seems to think this is ridiculous? :\

 

[Anubis]

i don't you are the only person who feels its a bit silly that the 4th dude has no power, hell i think its stupid as well. i just don't seem to care as much as you do about it

 

[zinfamous]

I would post on a bunch this but it doesnt matter, no matter what I say would change your mind (plus I'm posting on my evo).


2 some refs suck some dont, what if football had 3 refs? However I do think instant replay should be instituted on goal scoring plays that the refs call foul on. Taking dives is a strategy to get a set play to have a better chance of scoring.


6 no other sport ever stalls at all... cough kneeing/running cough...

If you want a real physical game go watch rugby.

--football (US) does have 3 refs. There is one head official, essentially responsible for reporting the calls on the field and reviewing challenges. ALl 3 have equal power to make any call, however, and can instantly overrule another official on a play if they have a better angle. They don't even debate being overruled, as they each of the same power, trusting that the ref overruling the other is right. And they are, maybe 98% of the time. It's crazy how accurate they are on making calls.

--stalling in football (US) is about specific clock management. Yes, stalling exists everywhere, I don't think anyone debates this, but the tactic is essentially established within the rules that are in place (having a set clock, with timeouts, and real strategic clock management).

I wouldn't argue for imposing a clock-management style system for soccer of course, but in games like basketball and US football, taking a knee or dribbling out is a strategy only available after successfully managing the clock throughout the 2nd half. sitting on the ground to wind the clock down, after not being hit, doesn't strike as "a part of the game."

 

[skace]

Haters gonna ha- bbbzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

hahaha well done.

 

[skace]

I agree with this, hockey style offsides and/or adding an "icing" alternative would make the games more fun to watch.

Would also make it easier to officiate, anyone ever tried to be a sideline ref in soccer? Christ is offsides a pain in the ass to call. You have to know where every offensive and defensive player was at the exact time to the ball was kicked... and guess what, since most players know about offsides, the answer is often going to be "close to each other".

I hated reffing.

You know what else I hate? Professional players ghosting the ball out of bounds or running between a player and the ball. That's not how the game is supposed to be played. I saw an Argentina player walking the ball out of bounds and Mexico knocked him on his ass - I cheered. That's what I'd do if that shit happened when I played soccer. It was called obstruction back in the day, I have no fucking clue what ever happened to it.

The soccer I've watched in this last WC is largely broken because players are going for players instead of going for the ball. When players go for the ball, it becomes a lot more interesting to watch. For instance, it's a lot easier to trip someone than it is to say, catch up to them and steal the ball away. Yet I saw a break away in Argentina/Mexico that ended just like that. Guy on break away, last defender runs up and trips him.

Refs need replays, then they need to start yellow carding players who cause blatant fouls and the fakers equally. When that occurs all this shit will vanish and the skill of the game will be brought back into view.

 

[Anubis]

obstruction is only called when you are out of playing reach of the ball, when players "walk" the ball out to ensure a goal kick or whatever they are always within playing distance of the ball (basically at legs reach) which is why its never called

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

I have about 10 other problems with the fundamentals of the game plus the fact USA sends halfletes but I let tried to let the hate go like OB1 says last couple weeks with an opened mind thinking I was wrong about how gay it is, nope, just added 6 more, here are my additional observations.

1. Goal free games. What a waste of 90 minutes to see guys kicking ball around. Rectangle jerk a circle jerks cousin.

2. Shameless diving for calls and refs that are sucked in. What a bunch of pussies I've been hit walking through crowds harder than that and these guys act like they have been shot only to run around for dozens of minutes afterwords.

3. Lame yellow and red cards which totally alter games for #2.

4. Amateurish officiating. Even when someone actutally scores a very rare goal it's taken away by refs who don't see it. See UK and USA. What a bunch of fools.

5. Droning of plastic horns drowning out every other sound in the stadium removing all fan excitement.

6. Stalling. Okay game is already boring as fuck w/o any scoring but once someone scores and is assured placement in the "round of 16" and opponent is assured the same all they do for the next 45 minutes is pass the ball to each other trying nothing see Chile & Spain.

1) Soccer needs to learn from hockey. The NHL aims for an average of 7 goals each game. This game will only work in the US if the field is smaller and there are fewer players on the field. Arena soccer (played on ice rink sized area) is to small though. Cut hte player count to 7 and use half the field. And do what it takes to make more scoring oportunities. And for heavens sake, ISNTANT REPLAY!

2) As a hockey fan, ya these guys are a bunch of whimps. Hockey players know how to protect themselves but these soccer idiots don't know how to. You know you are going to get slide tackle,d protect yourself you idiots.

3) Ya, I don't get the red card/yellow card thing. Make it more like hockey. Yellow = 2 minute penalty.

4) That can be fixed.

5) Horns, OK, you don't know much about the tradition behind them. If you did, you would know that this is nto a soccer thing but an Africa thing.

6) IMHO, I think it is stupid for a sport that has 1-0 games to have single game eliminations. 70% skill, 30% luck as far as I am concerned.


This game could work for US fans, not just in the traditional form. It would need to be modified to pick up pace and scoring opportunities.

 

[dr150]

Like any sport, I enjoy watching ELITE athletes play.

What I don't like is FIFA not including instant replay to avoid the senseless/fraudulent calls some referees make.....It's UNFAIR to the players (who work their ass off). It's UNFAIR to the fans (who spend $$$ to travel)! :thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown:

After all......this is a tournament to find out who's "best". How can you reach that conclusion when calls are so blatantly BAD?!

Until instant replay is instituted in the World Cup, I won't view this as a "tournament" but more of an "EXPO" of the sport....

 

[skace]

obstruction is only called when you are out of playing reach of the ball, when players "walk" the ball out to ensure a goal kick or whatever they are always within playing distance of the ball (basically at legs reach) which is why its never called

Weird, that isn't how I remember it growing up. Maybe they need to fix the obstruction rules because as they stand they are pretty retarded.

Another scenario, offensive player had the ball, defense ran up and instead of kicking the ball, stepped over the ball and then stopped between the player and the ball basically putting his ass into the offensive player. It was a retarded move and slightly gay to boot, incredibly boring to watch. What ever happened to slide tackling the ball away or actually you know, taking possession of it?

 

[Gooberlx2]

Weird, that isn't how I remember it growing up. Maybe they need to fix the obstruction rules because as they stand they are pretty retarded.

Another scenario, offensive player had the ball, defense ran up and instead of kicking the ball, stepped over the ball and then stopped between the player and the ball basically putting his ass into the offensive player. It was a retarded move and slightly gay to boot, incredibly boring to watch. What ever happened to slide tackling the ball away or actually you know, taking possession of it?

No, that's how I remember it too, both as a player and a ref. Now if they were 15 yards away and the defender is "picking" the other guy to avoid being beaten in a race to the ball, that's obstruction.

In your second scenario, are you talking about "shielding"? Keeping your body between the ball and the other player? That's a totally valid skill and tactic. The whole point is possession and control. A slide tackle doesn't really win me anything if I end up knocking the ball out and giving them a throw or corner kick, or knocking it to an opposing player.

Maybe I'm picturing it different though, because shielding a ball is usually an active fight to keep control until you can pass it off, otherwise the other guy is just going to steal it.

 

[wheresmybacon]

Why do people get so worked up when someone next to them orders a strawberry sundae instead of chocolate...

For every valid reason one has to dislike soccer the other camp has a valid reason to dislike NFL/CFL type football... Hell, I bet half of the reasons are the same..

Get over it... the superiority complex is sad and disturbing.

American Soccer Hate is a unique brand of idiocy that doesn’t exist in relative terms anywhere else in the world. That is to say, you won’t find a bunch of guys sitting in a pub over in Manchester talking about how much American Football sucks.

I don't know why it exists and I can't explain it.

 

[zinfamous]

American Soccer Hate is a unique brand of idiocy that doesn’t exist in relative terms anywhere else in the world. That is to say, you won’t find a bunch of guys sitting in a pub over in Manchester talking about how much American Football sucks.

I don't know why it exists and I can't explain it.

that's because they choose to come over here and other countless forums to post such hate.

Oh, and also amongst all of my euro co-workers and their rather vocal distaste for US sports.

Look, I also think that type of talk is stupid...but to argue that it is somehow unique to one country is just as foolish.

...except golf: there is no end to the amount of negative criticism that game deserves. :sneaky:

 

[CycloWizard]

There is a fundamental lack of understanding of how soccer is officiated. I'll give a brief overview of how it's done.

The center ref is absolutely in charge of everything that happens. None of the other refs make any calls, which is why the linesmen are properly called "assistant referees" and the guy in charge of substitutions is is simply the "fourth official." The linesmen are responsible for signalling offsides and whether the ball has crossed out of the field of play (throw-ins, goals, goal kicks, and corner kicks). He may also signal a foul if he doesn't think the center ref sees it. The fourth official does the book-keeping - he tracks substitutions and time which needs to be added due to stoppages of play.

The center ref can overrule any of the indications of the assistant referees depending on his interpretation of the "Laws of the Game," because the most important words in the Laws are, "In the opinion of the referee..." All refs in the World Cup have been referees for many years and have passed rigorous auditing to achieve the status required to referee at the international level. Many of them have played at a high level prior to becoming nearly full-time professional referees. Thus, they have participated in hundreds or even thousands of games either as a player or ref before they ref a single international game. They ref many international games and receive good marks before they are even considered for the World Cup. Thus, their opinion is based on their interpretation of the Laws, their vast experience as player and ref, and the context of the game. Having played soccer at a high level and reffing at a much lower level, I can definitely say that context makes a big difference in whether or not a foul (or a dive) warrants a card, whether a foul is worthy of a penalty kick, and so on.

Putting another official in charge of reviewing replay footage would fundamentally change the Laws of the game from the ground up by giving the final to someone other than the center ref. FIFA was willing to implement an objective system to determine whether a shot was a goal, but the system did not meet the required level of accuracy in the practice tournament and they made the judgment call that it was too risky to use in the World Cup based on that outcome.

I have watched every game in the World Cup so far, and I absolutely agree that there have been plenty of blown calls. I don't think any of these calls have adversely affected the outcome of the tournament. The only call which probably changed the result of the game was the reversed goal in the US v Slovenia game, but in the end it made no difference in the tournament whatsoever. The two goals in question in yesterday's games were no doubt incorrect calls, but I do not think they had any impact on the ultimate result (other than helping me meet my fantasy cup score prediction ).

Offsides is by far the most difficult call in soccer. Not only does the linesman have to keep up with some of the fastest runners in the world, but he has to watch the ball, offensive, and defensive players all at the same time. It is also very frustrating as a player when the call is blown, whether you're on offense or defense. However, the offside rule will never fundamentally change because it gives the game extra dimensions of creativity for both the offense and defense. It would be great to get it right every time, but logistically, allowing replay review would always work in favor of the defense because if a false offside is called, the offense has already lost its advantage when the play is whistled dead; if a true offside is not called, then the defense will get the proper advantage in the form of a free kick.

 

[skace]

No, that's how I remember it too, both as a player and a ref. Now if they were 15 yards away and the defender is "picking" the other guy to avoid being beaten in a race to the ball, that's obstruction.

In your second scenario, are you talking about "shielding"? Keeping your body between the ball and the other player? That's a totally valid skill and tactic. The whole point is possession and control. A slide tackle doesn't really win me anything if I end up knocking the ball out and giving them a throw or corner kick, or knocking it to an opposing player.

Maybe I'm picturing it different though, because shielding a ball is usually an active fight to keep control until you can pass it off, otherwise the other guy is just going to steal it.

Shielding the ball assumes you have possession of it. In the scenario I described, the defender basically ran his ass into the offensive player while the ball rolled away to the keeper - he never had possession, there was nothing to shield. It was basically as relevant to soccer as straight up tackling the player with his hands.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Shielding the ball assumes you have possession of it. In the scenario I described, the defender basically ran his ass into the offensive player while the ball rolled away to the keeper - he never had possession, there was nothing to shield. It was basically as relevant to soccer as straight up tackling the player with his hands.

Oh...yeah, that's sounds like obstruction to me. I'd probably need to see a video.

 

[ShockwaveVT]

The fourth official does the book-keeping - he tracks substitutions and time which needs to be added due to stoppages of play.

I thought there were no breaks in the action in soccer? Wasn't that your first argument against replay?

And stop Capitalizing Laws of the Game, it doesn't make the rules any more important that the rules for rugby, football, baseball, basketball, hockey, polo, cricket, chess, or checkers.

The fact is that the current rules of soccer are structured to cater to the easiest and cheapest way to run a match rather than the most fair way possible with adjustments to the officiating and/or utilizing modern technology.

I'll give you simple example. If the 4th official is keeping time, or even the referee is keeping time, why the fuck can't the scoreboard clock be linked to their watch? eh? Then when there's a card, or a (fake) injury, or other stoppage, the ref can just go beep. stop the clock while he deals with the situation. then beep. start the clock on his whistle to resume play. meanwhile the players, the spectators, the announcers, the TV viewers are all informed that yes, because of that yellow card, only 32 minutes 22 seconds has elapsed instead of 33 minutes 41 seconds.

Its fucking ridiculous that the scoreboard doesn't show the actual game time in a multi-billion dollar tournament like the World Cup. (It's also retarded for the game clock to show how much time has elapsed instead of how much time remains, but that is another issue I'll discuss another day).

But beyond not knowing how much time exactly is left, clock management is worthless in soccer because the refs tend to let a trailing team fuck around a bit to get their last chance shot in, even if the game should have really ended 30 seconds ago.

Can you imagine the refs letting an NBA game carry on another 15 seconds so the Lakers can set Kobe up for a better game tying/winning shot? rofl.

soccer is really cool and really fun to watch in a lot of ways but its also got some completely retarded elements that are just so blatant they really diminish what the game could be.

 

[BoberFett]

I love playing soccer, it's as demanding as just about any other team sport. I can understand not enjoying watching it though. It's not everyone's cup of tea.

Baseball on the other hand, how the hell did that miserable excuse for a sport become our "national pastime?" A three hour game where most of it is spend either sitting on a bench or standing in the field and watching other people play? Baseball has to be one of the worst sports in the world.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

It's interesting how the rest of the world loves it so much, but Americans can't seem to do anything except find problems with it.

 

[Synomenon]

I love playing soccer, it's as demanding as just about any other team sport. I can understand not enjoying watching it though. It's not everyone's cup of tea.

Baseball on the other hand, how the hell did that miserable excuse for a sport become our "national pastime?" A three hour game where most of it is spend either sitting on a bench or standing in the field and watching other people play? Baseball has to be one of the worst sports in the world.

Same here. I think there was a study done regarding sports overall and it showed that soccer isn't much of a spectator sport here in the US, but it's the sport that most adults play when when they do play a sport.