Soccer- MLS finals ratings at all-time low

[ChewaBrave]

I agree with this and I'd like to see this in other sports!

T - I also believe they need to do something about the off sides and award teams that attack. The off-sides allows the D to sit back and wait. If you moved the off-side line to the top of the box then you could have a much more wide open field. A big field in these conditions would be very beneficial.

I just don't think this is true. If you want to see an extremely boring game, change offsides to this. The only reason this opens up the game, is if you assume teams play the same way they do now, with this rule change - they wont. You'll see teams sit back and play even deeper, even more reluctant to move forward. The bottom line, defenses are going to align themselves, so that its still not possible to have a striker play behind them. And you'd basically see the end of midfield players, as there wouldn;t be any use for them - you'd have strikers and defenders and maybe a center midfielder, as the whole idea would be long ball to Usain Bolt from your defenders. You're probably significantly more likely to find teams playing with a sweeper or a fifth defender. Like it or not, the offsides rule as it exists, is what allows teams to move up the field, because they don't have to worry about Walcott just out sprinting them every time they lose the ball - thusly, ball movement becomes important, and skill when counter attacking is important. Soccer like most games is supposed to be a combination of speed, strength, organization and skill - dramatically shifting the offsides rules turns it in to an extremely boring track meet.

 

[SFP]

I never did say to remove the off side rule, just move the line down a bit more like hockey. Once the ball is down to a certain area then it could be a free for all. Take a look how lacrosse is played.

 

[ChewaBrave]

I never did say to remove the off side rule, just move the line down a bit more like hockey. Once the ball is down to a certain area then it could be a free for all. Take a look how lacrosse is played.

If you were to set a line, and move it to say the box or something, the defenders would all just stand at the line, they just aren't going to let strikers run around behind them. I would say lacrosse is a perfect example of how it would play out. In lacrosse only 6 players are allowed to attack, so the remaining players just stand there doing nothing for the most part in the defensive end - which coincidently is exactly what soccer players would do, only with a longer field, you have to correct for sprinting longer distances meaning, you are likely to have a substantial portion of your team playing defense.

As much as it may pain some people, the current use of offsides, is what allows soccer teams to move forward as they do now - it makes the game a real game honestly.