Wednesday, September 22, 2010

The top six changes soccer should consider

By Perry L. Novak
Dispatch Sports Editor

The Oneida Daily Dispatch Sports Blog has begun. To get thing rolling here are the top six things soccer should consider changing:

1. Eliminate penalty shots and award a free kick - direct or indirect - at the spot of the foul.

Why should a foul in the farthest corner of the penalty box - about 22 yards from the goal - be punished as severely as one, say, in the middle of the box five yards from the goal? The latter scenario actually punishes the attacking team by making the shot come seven yards farther from the goal than the foul.

2. Eliminate the offside rule.


It would also stretch the field and make for more action.

3. Have soccer be like ice hockey in regard to players going to a penalty box for 90 seconds or two minutes for fouls like tripping and pushing.

It would eliminate a lot of fouls and get more scoring chances in a sport that could use it.

4. Stop letting players take throw-ins five and six yards from where the ball went out.

If they do, immediately give the other team a throw-in from the proper spot.

5. Make the scoreboard clock official.


Why have a clock at all if it isn’t official the whole game. Having the referee hide the real time invites the wrong type of speculation. It takes away hurry-up strategy away from the players at the end of a half. Can you imagine doing that in basketball? Calling a play for a winning or tying score and not knowing how long you have? It’d be ridiculous.


6. Make teams wear uniforms where the numbers are clear enough for fans to see from a distance.

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