...Am I the only person in the world who's against it?
With all the talk about this resurfacing, I thought some of you might be interested in something I wrote about a year ago. I've attached it below.
Anyway, I'm not in favour of it. My reasons are multi-fold...
1)
First and foremost...how will it work? Let's say a ball hits the
cross bar, bounces down and looks like it's gone in. Referee and
Linesman aren't sure, so by law they can't give the goal. A defender
then hacks it away.
Meanwhile, the attacking side are appealing
to the Referee to review the replay, but he can't because the ball is
still in active play. The ref can't just stop the game - as far as he's
concerned, the ball needs to go out of play first. This isn't Cricket
or Tennis that both have natural breaks in play.
Defending team suddenly turn into attacking side...they run up the other end and score a perfectly legitimate goal.
You're the referee...tell me, how will you sort that mess out?
2)
"Wrong" decisions often make the game more interesting. We LOVE to
say, "Oh, if only that was given..." or, "You'd have seen a different
game if that counted." Don't take the debate out of the game, please!
Some
people, for example, seem to be convinced that England would have gone
on to win the World Cup (in 2010) if the Lampard "goal" Vs Germany was given. No.
We were poor. Deal with it.
3) What happens when it gets a decision wrong? I mean, it will. Eventually.
The
way I see it, people are arguing that "GoalTech" (Copyright, SteviesDivingHeaders
2010) will take some of the controversy out of the game. I just think
it's opening up a whole new avenue for controversy to occur...
4) It won't be practical in all levels of the game.
You can't change the fundamental rules of Football without changing ALL of football.
5) How often does the problem it's supposed to solve happen anyway? This is a real hammer to smash a walnut solution.
6) Where does it stop? Free kick appeals? Throw-in Technology? CornerCam? (Also Copyright SteviesDivingHeaders 2010).
I
remember Charlton played Fulham a few seasons ago, and Fulham scored
directly from play that resulted from a Throw-in that was quite clearly
supposed to be given Charlton's way. Replays confirmed it was supposed
to be a Charlton throw. We were furious, but you take it on the chin...
I
also seem to remember ages ago...Ashley Ward scoring against us despite
being so offside, he was virtually in the stands. I want this decision
reviewed please, Mr Referee.
This shows that even something as
innocuous as a Throw in decision can make a difference. By GoalTech
advocate's logic, we should have the same measures in place for throw
ins.
There are going to be decisions that people get wrong,
which are going to have an effect on the game. Isn't this part of the
fun?
7) Just because we CAN, doesn't mean we SHOULD. Football's been fine for hundreds of years without GoalTech.
We
COULD have all football played and refereed by Robots. Defence Droid
#183 clears the ball after a mazy run by AttackDrone 64.
In fact,
why don't we take the human element out of football altogether and
replace Football with computer simulations? All games will be decided
by SoccerBot 9000. All scores will be 0-0, 1-0, 0-1 or 1-1.
That
about covers my opinion. Over to you. Argue against me. And
please...don't anyone mention anything like a, "Captains get three
appeals" system. Do you even LIKE football?
0
Comments
May I point you in the direction of the Goal Line Technology next season at last? thread. In favour of it myself. There was a good piece on it by Patrick Barclay ( Costly answer to question that seldom arises ) in The Times yesterday.
Your first point - there have been several systems trialled, as far as I know there isn't yet an approved choice, but the one that most people seem to think is the best works by having 24 cameras in and around the goal. If a ball bounces on the line nothing happens, but if it crosses the line and therefore is a legit goal it sends a beep to the referee and his assistant within a fraction of a second. So there's no need to stop play and wait for a television referee to make a decision. In your scenario, where the defending team turn defence into attack and score, the first goal would stand.
Provided a decision can be made and relayed speedily to the referee then I'm in favour. Then we have to find some way of making it cheaper so that clubs down the leagues can use it without being bankrupted. As in cricket, tennis and ice hockey etc the technology won't ever be perfect, but if it cuts down most of the bad mistakes then it'll be worth it.