I'm American (Texan) and I don't give a damn about soccer. I think it's embarrassing to see how much our country embraces it during the World Cup. There are so many problems I see with the game too. Allow me to summarize them in explicit fashion.
1) The rules:
The one that stands out is the offside rule soccer has. An opposing player is not allowed to be in front of a defender on offense. This eliminates fast breaks and goal scoring opportunities. Half the time you think someone might score the whistle is blown for offside. It’s a stupid rule. It reminds me of Icing in hockey—a rule nobody understands and one of the reasons people also hate the sport.
2) The flopping:
This one is pretty bad. Players take epic dives on challenges and steals from opposing players, gripping their leg while writing in theatrical pain on the ground. But then they get up and they’re just fine. Americans don’t respect floppers. At all. And the fact that is so often leads to a bad call and change of possession just makes us sick.
3) The accuracy of the clock:
Two aspects here. One, the clock, which is always running. This is unacceptable. A couple reasons why: First, we never know how much stoppage time should be awarded at the end of a half, because you’re never shown where it’s added up during the half. This is very frustrating, mostly because it’s hard to believe that just 1 or 2 or even 3 or 4 minutes is all that needs to be added at the end of a half. And this is because there are so many instances in which the clock should stop—most notably the celebrations that take place after goals are scored, all the many penalties, free kicks, corners (which take time to set up) and when the ball goes out of bounds, flopping, and injuries, all which lead to copious amounts of stoppage.
The other aspect is the accuracy of the specific calls. There is no replay used in soccer—so the Referees continuously get calls wrong, specifically, out of bounds calls. In other sports, like the NBA, out of bounds calls are huge, and extremely important to fans that they’re called correctly. In soccer, it’s the opposite. It’s almost always called out of bounds on the player who challenges the offensive player. But around 50% of the time the ball actually hits (or grazes) the offensive player BEFORE it goes out of bounds. But no attention seems to be paid to this aspect at all. Accuracy is very important! Controversy over officiating is always a HUGE headline in the U.S. One bad out of bounds call can be endlessly obsessed over. And soccer has a ton of them called wrong practically every minute of the game. Many of which lead to corner kicks, and goal scoring opportunities.
4) Final scores/Low goal outputs:
There are too many players. And draws are UNACCEPTABLE.
We don’t accept low scoring games. That’s why we hate baseball and hockey. There are simply too many players on the field. And with the offside rule….scoring is very limited. Oh, and a draw is absolutely unacceptable. There are no draws in compe ion. You MUST have a winner. I don’t care if you have to play 2 more hours. You get a winner. Period. What the is wrong with overtime?
How soccer can fix all these things…
1) Get rid of offside. Scoring will increase. And players should be rewarded for being ahead of the defense. This is a completely idiotic rule. And needs to go. Now.
2) If you flop, you’re out. Done. No exceptions. There’s simply no place for it.
3) Stop the DAMN CLOCK when it goes out of bounds, when there’s a penalty, or an injury, or when there’s a celebration after a goal and the ball isn’t in play, and also when free kicks and corner kicks are being set up and taken. (Or just start the extra time that needs to be added once play stops in these instances to the side. But this seems more complicated. Just stop the clock.)
4) Use automatic replay for out of bounds calls, or make a better effort to see who the ball REALLY went off of. Accuracy in officiating is essential. And with out of bounds calls and flopping, soccer doesn’t have much of it.
5) Remove 4 players from each side. 7 on 7 is how soccer should be played. There are too many bodies on the field, which leads to too much clutter and less scoring. And let’s be honest, the 4 players you’re removing are all just playing defense right now anyways. Removing them improves scoring greatly. Do it. We need more goals, and in turn, stars, dynamic offenses, exciting play, and all the things which come with MORE OFFENSE AND MORE HIGHLIGHTS.
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