How to fix Soccer

[rightwinger]

It will still be Soccer but what needs to be changed NOW

1. The clock: Nobody cares how much time you have played. They care how much time is left. It is what makes sports exciting. Drop the additional injury time that nobody except the ref knows. Stop the clock when somebody goes down

2. Extra time: Every other sport understands sudden death. First goal wins...Period. In a 0-0 game at the end of regulation why allow the other team to tie it back up once a go head goal has been scored?

3. Penalty kicks to decide a game. You have just spent two hours where it is next to impossible to score. Why decide the game with a process where it is almost impossible not to score? Should tie basketball games be decided with free throws? Should tie football games be decided by bringing out the kickers to kick field goals?

 

[Merchant_of_Meh]

As much as FIFA and the world soccer community want to tap-in to the ridiculously untapped potential that the US sports market presents, they are not going to compromise how the sport is played in order to do it.

See my responses below.

It will still be Soccer but what needs to be changed NOW

1. The clock: Nobody cares how much time you have played. They care how much time is left. It is what makes sports exciting. Drop the additional injury time that nobody except the ref knows. Stop the clock when somebody goes down

Not sure why this change would be needed. The same amount of drama has occurred at the end of a half with the timer counting up than counting down. Reversing this would have no effect on the "excitement" of the game. Stopping the clock means the elimination of stoppage time, which is where so much of the drama actually occurs. Removing it, removes a good deal of the excitement you're looking for.

2. Extra time: Every other sport understands sudden death. First goal wins...Period. In a 0-0 game at the end of regulation why allow the other team to tie it back up once a go head goal has been scored?

Soccer had sudden death once upon a time. It was called the "Golden Goal" and it was used last at the Euro 2004 competition. It was supposed to have increased a team's urge to play offensively and go for the winning goal. Instead, it had the opposite effect. Teams played much more defensively and were content to just play out the rest of extra time, waiting for penalties. FIFA saw this occurring far too much and scrapped the golden goal for the current format. I personally don't like penalties, but a better way to decide games in ET hasn't been found yet that wouldn't guarantee teams playing ugly.

3. Penalty kicks to decide a game. You have just spent two hours where it is next to impossible to score. Why decide the game with a process where it is almost impossible not to score? Should tie basketball games be decided with free throws? Should tie football games be decided by bringing out the kickers to kick field goals?

I don't disagree since i don't like penalties either, but a better way to decide a game has not been found. Penalties have the advantage of always deciding a winner and a loser. There are no draws, the bane of American sports fans' existence. There's no way to tactically effect the game during the penalty shootout phase. It's about nerves and luck.

MLS tried, in its early years, to "Americanize" soccer just as each of your points would do. It didn't go well and they rightly aligned themselves with the rest of the world in terms of the rules and how games get decided. The league reaped those benefits.

 

[PredFan]

It will still be Soccer but what needs to be changed NOW

1. The clock: Nobody cares how much time you have played. They care how much time is left. It is what makes sports exciting. Drop the additional injury time that nobody except the ref knows. Stop the clock when somebody goes down

2. Extra time: Every other sport understands sudden death. First goal wins...Period. In a 0-0 game at the end of regulation why allow the other team to tie it back up once a go head goal has been scored?

3. Penalty kicks to decide a game. You have just spent two hours where it is next to impossible to score. Why decide the game with a process where it is almost impossible not to score? Should tie basketball games be decided with free throws? Should tie football games be decided by bringing out the kickers to kick field goals?

#1. Nobody who watches soccer cares that the clock is different.
#2. I can agree to sudden death. I would support that.
#3. In basketball, it's extremely rare to have a tie. In the NFL winners ARE decide by kickers.

The ONLY thing that needs to be changed in soccer is the players need to be fined for flopping.

 

[ogibillm]

It will still be Soccer but what needs to be changed NOW

1. The clock: Nobody cares how much time you have played. They care how much time is left. It is what makes sports exciting. Drop the additional injury time that nobody except the ref knows. Stop the clock when somebody goes down

i don't mind the clock counting up, but i would like to see a second clock, visible to the spectators, that counts the stoppage time. Frankly I think the US was screwed against Portugal with too much stoppage time.

2. Extra time: Every other sport understands sudden death. First goal wins...Period. In a 0-0 game at the end of regulation why allow the other team to tie it back up once a go head goal has been scored?

the nfl and nhl have sudden death. there is no sudden death in mlb, nba, ncaa football, basketball, or baseball. frankly i think sudden death in the nfl is a mistake and they should move to the college overtime scenario - but that's mostly because i don't like the game decided on a coin toss. sudden death in soccer would work better than in most other sports - but Merchant of Meh pointed out why it didn't work.

3. Penalty kicks to decide a game. You have just spent two hours where it is next to impossible to score. Why decide the game with a process where it is almost impossible not to score? Should tie basketball games be decided with free throws? Should tie football games be decided by bringing out the kickers to kick field goals?

tie football games are decided by field goals - at least in sudden death nfl games. i agree that penalty kicks aren't perfect, but nobody can claim that they aren't fair or that they aren't exciting.

 

[PredFan]

As much as FIFA and the world soccer community want to tap-in to the ridiculously untapped potential that the US sports market presents, they are not going to compromise how the sport is played in order to do it.

See my responses below.

It will still be Soccer but what needs to be changed NOW

1. The clock: Nobody cares how much time you have played. They care how much time is left. It is what makes sports exciting. Drop the additional injury time that nobody except the ref knows. Stop the clock when somebody goes down

Not sure why this change would be needed. The same amount of drama has occurred at the end of a half with the timer counting up than counting down. Reversing this would have no effect on the "excitement" of the game. Stopping the clock means the elimination of stoppage time, which is where so much of the drama actually occurs. Removing it, removes a good deal of the excitement you're looking for.

2. Extra time: Every other sport understands sudden death. First goal wins...Period. In a 0-0 game at the end of regulation why allow the other team to tie it back up once a go head goal has been scored?

Soccer had sudden death once upon a time. It was called the "Golden Goal" and it was used last at the Euro 2004 competition. It was supposed to have increased a team's urge to play offensively and go for the winning goal. Instead, it had the opposite effect. Teams played much more defensively and were content to just play out the rest of extra time, waiting for penalties. FIFA saw this occurring far too much and scrapped the golden goal for the current format. I personally don't like penalties, but a better way to decide games in ET hasn't been found yet that wouldn't guarantee teams playing ugly.

3. Penalty kicks to decide a game. You have just spent two hours where it is next to impossible to score. Why decide the game with a process where it is almost impossible not to score? Should tie basketball games be decided with free throws? Should tie football games be decided by bringing out the kickers to kick field goals?

I don't disagree since i don't like penalties either, but a better way to decide a game has not been found. Penalties have the advantage of always deciding a winner and a loser. There are no draws, the bane of American sports fans' existence. There's no way to tactically effect the game during the penalty shootout phase. It's about nerves and luck.

MLS tried, in its early years, to "Americanize" soccer just as each of your points would do. It didn't go well and they rightly aligned themselves with the rest of the world in terms of the rules and how games get decided. The league reaped those benefits.

Good point about the sudden death.

 

[martybegan]

Do alternating corner kicks, or at least move the penalty kick back 10 yards or so to give the goalie a chance to react to the ball, and not the perceived direction of the ball based on how the kicker moves.

 

[PredFan]

Do alternating corner kicks, or at least move the penalty kick back 10 yards or so to give the goalie a chance to react to the ball, and not the perceived direction of the ball based on how the kicker moves.

As a soccer coach, I always taught my keepers to react to the ball, don't try to guess where it will go. You'd be surprised how often a kick is hit right to the spot the keeper would have been if he just stood there. Not to mention how often balls are mis-hit, or hit softly. Don't guess, react like you would in the game. You're more likely to be successful imo.

 

[kwc57]

What the hell is soccer? Is that the game I see little kids playing?

 

[FJO]

It will still be Soccer but what needs to be changed NOW

1. The clock: Nobody cares how much time you have played. They care how much time is left. It is what makes sports exciting. Drop the additional injury time that nobody except the ref knows. Stop the clock when somebody goes down

2. Extra time: Every other sport understands sudden death. First goal wins...Period. In a 0-0 game at the end of regulation why allow the other team to tie it back up once a go head goal has been scored?

3. Penalty kicks to decide a game. You have just spent two hours where it is next to impossible to score. Why decide the game with a process where it is almost impossible not to score? Should tie basketball games be decided with free throws? Should tie football games be decided by bringing out the kickers to kick field goals?

Even a blind pig finds an acorn from time to time, even a stupid farmer grows big potatoes from time to time, rightwinger stumbled upon something right this time.

1. There should be an official time keeper at soccer games, t should not be the responsibility of the referee. The more time the referee watches his watch the less he/she can mind the rules of the game.

2. Absolutely correct.

3. Soccer is a TEAM sport. It is absolutely insane that ONE player from each team decide the final outcome by penalty kicks. And the sickest part is that this insanity now has been transferred to hockey as well.

Let me add my own ideas to improve the game:

1. Eliminate the off side rule, or at least make off side as it is in hockey, defined by a line, rather than the cockeyed judgement of a linesman.

2. This would result in more frequent scoring, which seems to be the bugaboo of soccer antagonists, who seem to be perfectly happy with the insane frequency of scoring in the game of stretched genetic freaks, basketball.

 

[rightwinger]

It will still be Soccer but what needs to be changed NOW

1. The clock: Nobody cares how much time you have played. They care how much time is left. It is what makes sports exciting. Drop the additional injury time that nobody except the ref knows. Stop the clock when somebody goes down

2. Extra time: Every other sport understands sudden death. First goal wins...Period. In a 0-0 game at the end of regulation why allow the other team to tie it back up once a go head goal has been scored?

3. Penalty kicks to decide a game. You have just spent two hours where it is next to impossible to score. Why decide the game with a process where it is almost impossible not to score? Should tie basketball games be decided with free throws? Should tie football games be decided by bringing out the kickers to kick field goals?

Even a blind pig finds an acorn from time to time, even a stupid farmer grows big potatoes from time to time, rightwinger stumbled upon something right this time.

1. There should be an official time keeper at soccer games, t should not be the responsibility of the referee. The more time the referee watches his watch the less he/she can mind the rules of the game.

2. Absolutely correct.

3. Soccer is a TEAM sport. It is absolutely insane that ONE player from each team decide the final outcome by penalty kicks. And the sickest part is that this insanity now has been transferred to hockey as well.

Let me add my own ideas to improve the game:

1. Eliminate the off side rule, or at least make off side as it is in hockey, defined by a line, rather than the cockeyed judgement of a linesman.

2. This would result in more frequent scoring, which seems to be the bugaboo of soccer antagonists, who seem to be perfectly happy with the insane frequency of scoring in the game of stretched genetic freaks, basketball.

In watching the game yesterday, I was amazed that nobody knew how much time was left in the game. Players ask the ref to end the game, nobody in the stands knows how much time is left to get a winning shot off

The game was 0-0 at the end of regulation. Once Germany scored in extra time, game should have been over. Jump up and down, celebrate, pop the champagne.....but they had to play an additional four minutes or so....nobody knew for sure

They are lucky Germany scored a goal. Could have easily gone to a shootout

 

[Mr. H.]

My therapist was an absolute nut about soccer.

She was a soccer sucker succor.

b'dum!

 

[Taz]

A shot clock and no passing to the goaltender. Maybe a few less guys as well. And a shorter field. At least 2 forward lines. 5 minute penalty for tripping. 10 for diving. No shootouts.

 

[manifold]

The idea that soccer needs to be 'fixed' is the height of American arrogance.

The rest of the world doesn't give a flying fuck about the sport's popularity in the States, nor should they.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

To make soccer appeal to Americans we need to:

1. Triple the size of the goal net
2. Let the players take performance enhancing steroids, then act real shocked when the information is made public
3. Have a 3 minute commercial break after every minute of action

"Wow, that was some game. They kept it close after first half score of 14-10, but the 32 unanswered goals in the second half sealed the deal. These low scoring games are boring for me, I'm going to watch baseball"

 

[Montrovant]

The way to fix soccer is to watch hockey.

 

[Taz]

To appeal to merrucans, FIFA should let all the beaners in for free, and give them the best seats and free food, and then put them up in free hotels.

 

[rightwinger]

What the hell is soccer? Is that the game I see little kids playing?

It's like human Foosball

 

[Manonthestreet]

Have a shot clock like basketball...once ya cross midfield you have one minute to get shot on goal or ball goes over

 

[HUGGY]

How to fix Soccer

Record the event.

Turn off your TV.

Retun at a later date to watch the 30 seconds that matter.

 

[rightwinger]

How to fix Soccer

Record the event.

Turn off your TV.

Retun at a later date to watch the 30 seconds that matter.

or else watch the 8 seconds of ESPN highlights