Once upon a time, players stood in the 18 yard box and waited for the ball to be crossed before moving. Somewhere along the line, it was decided that an advantage could be achieved by jostling, pushing, pulling and obstructing opponents. The calm has been replaced by the chaotic.
Is there an easy fix? Some suggest harsh penalties for offenders but I don't think that is the answer. Determining when a defender has gone too far in trying to put an attacking player off is difficult, because it can be slyly done. What about an attacker standing right in front of the goalie? At what point has he got too close. Again, open to interpretation.
One possibility is having all players outside the 18 yard box until the kick is taken. Once the ball is kicked, say four from each team are allowed to run into the box and contest for the ball. Only when the ball is cleared out of the box is the minimum player restriction lifted.
It sounds simple and would make it easier for officials to police a smaller number of players. There could still be rules around players pushing or obstructing unfairly, but that probably wouldn't be a major issue.
No comments:
Post a Comment