RateTheRef

Quote from: QuoCob on Fri 28 Sep 2018 12:09

Quote from: ajb95 on Fri 28 Sep 2018 09:20

Quote from: bmb on Thu 27 Sep 2018 20:37

Quote from: bruntyboy on Thu 27 Sep 2018 19:17

Is it now time we went back to the "daylight" reference for offsides? Plus as has been mentioned we have in this instance 2 Chelsea players definitely in "offside" positions and another VAR will decide they are interfering with the defenders.

I'm pretty sure the Law on offside was always much clearer than it is now, it's about as clear as mud these days! Far too many permutations, imo, for an AR to have to consider, in the split second they have to make a decision, beyond the simple is he is an offside position, yes or no, especially given the speed the game is played at these days!

I didn’t like the old system much. People being in offside positions that were having no impact on the game were being unfairly penalised. I remember the 1999 fa cup semi final when Roy Keane’s goal was ruled out because Dwight Yorke was in an offside position but had had no impact on the game. Could have cost United the treble that year!

Similar to something I said on this board in it's previous guise that is current:
That defenders on the opposite side of the field of play being deemed to have played the attacker onside when they also have had no impact on the game?   
Should that also be allowed/disallowed?

I think you sometimes have to consider the spirit behind the law.

The principle of the offside law seems to be to prevent a player from simply 'goal-hanging' for the entire match - I don't think it's to disallow goals because an attacking player on the opposite side of the pitch was slightly ahead of the second-lest defender.

This doesn't really work the other way round - i.e. no one would object to a goal being allowed because a defender was too deep but not in a position to affect the game. Why not, one Law for the attackers and one for the defenders?

The defensive equivalent in this is probably when a player has to leave the pitch due to injury etc. and in the spirit of the game it feels wrong for him to count as playing anyone onside, which I think comes into play once the ball is cleared towards the halfway line.