Re: The unpopular opinion thread

[zizzle]

Technology would help reduce diving, no questions there, although massive fines and suspensions when incidents are review after the game would also achieve the same goal.

The problem is with soft contact that wouldn't warrant a penalty in regular situations. Like fatman said soft contact might be count as a foul in the field but not in the box, but with replays the ref has no choice but to call everything. Just imagine what a mess that would be during a corner kick for example.

[Le Samourai]

It has to be extremely limited. I say check the essential stuff - penalties and reds (during the course of the game you can have people communicating with the ref to clarify situations, but this should be ongoing and not interrupt the game).

Leave the rest of stuff alone. Don't get into a situation where you can issue fouls, cards or penalties off replays.

[Tomwin Lannister]

Something has to be done to

A) reduce huge, wrong decisions that impact games

B) Actually punish those who 'look' to get people sent off via simulation.

[Motogp69]

The governing bodies just need to get more creative in terms of punishment. What if for suspension worthy offenses (diving/dangerous conduct) the offending team would be punished by losing the offender and 1 player of the opposing teams choosing for the the length of the suspension.

Oh you banned Pepe for 3 games, well now your not only going to lose Pepe but your going to lose Ronaldo as well

[chinomaster182]

Imagine this scenario. The ref whistles an offside in a dangerous position, the defenders and the GK stop immediately but the striker, eager to take his chance, takes a shot and scores. Replays show that the offside call was wrong. Would that goal be counted after the ref stopped the play ?

Same scenario but the striker doesn't shoot. What would be the situation then ? a free kick ? that obviously doesnt make up for a goal scoring apportunity.

I can think of more odd situations where replays would create problems but you get the picture. That's why im only for a limited implementation of technology and i would restrict it to penalty calls and red cards.

edit: now i think of it, players in the box would use the slightest contact as an excuse to go down and try to win a penalty. This would mean that every "soft" foul, every grab, and even every touch could result in a penalty. It's impossible to define which is a foul and what is not in a contract sport like football and and replays will most likely be abused.

This offside conundrum is extremely easy to solve, just a very slight modification on the rules is needed (something that has already half happened anyways).

When an offside occurs and the ref isn't really sure (or its a tight call) he can let the play go on, when the play ends he can check in 10 seconds with a video ref and make the appropriate call.

Say if a goal is scored and it was offside and the ref and linesmen had a hard time to make the call they can just check extremely quick on a replay and make much better calls.

This would change less than nothing about the game, since radio communication was given to all refs the linesmen can now tell the main ref what the call was on their opinion when it was a hard call, it has slowed the game down by 5-15 seconds in some instances but has made the game much better.

And big LOL on the remark that players will now go down in the box much more, are you guys seriously suggesting that strikers currently don't drop in the box with any stern look given? Its so ridiculous right now sometimes, video replay many times shows how weak these drops are.

In fact Video replay has shown us many times in detail when the player has dived or not, if their was serious (or any) contact or not, in a replay-less world Ronaldo and Nerman would get scrutinized a great deal less. In a replay reffed game, Maradonas hand of god wouldn't have existed.

So many times i can't believe we're still discussing in 2013 about introducing a technology that has been widely available since the 1960s

[Motogp69]

Or you could just make it a 5 yard offside rule  

[fatman123]

This offside conundrum is extremely easy to solve, just a very slight modification on the rules is needed (something that has already half happened anyways).

When an offside occurs and the ref isn't really sure (or its a tight call) he can let the play go on, when the play ends he can check in 10 seconds with a video ref and make the appropriate call.

Senario:

*Team A's striker is involved in a tight offside call, ref decides to let play continue and wait for a stoppage to check it as you suggested above-play goes on
*Striker takes a poor touch and the ball rolls though to Team Bs GK
*Team Bs GK hoofs the ball upfield to the CF who flicks it onto someone else who scores a goal for Team B
*Replays show Team As forward was offside

Does the goal stand or do you go back to the first incident-the offside player

[Peccadillo]

This offside conundrum is extremely easy to solve, just a very slight modification on the rules is needed (something that has already half happened anyways).

When an offside occurs and the ref isn't really sure (or its a tight call) he can let the play go on, when the play ends he can check in 10 seconds with a video ref and make the appropriate call.

Senario:

*Team A's striker is involved in a tight offside call, ref decides to let play continue and wait for a stoppage to check it as you suggested above-play goes on
*Striker takes a poor touch and the ball rolls though to Team Bs GK
*Team Bs GK hoofs the ball upfield to the CF who flicks it onto someone else who scores a goal for Team B
*Replays show Team As forward was offside

Does the goal stand or do you go back to the first incident-the offside player

Well surely in that scenario play would revert back to when team A striker was initially called offside and Team B would take a free kick from that position and everybody celebrates this wonderful success story of the video referee..

[LeBéninois]

i've noticed that some ppl are using exceptionnal case to show that video won't resolve all the probs. of course it won't.

video assistance would be allowed sooner or later .. just a matter of time . there are ways too much bads calls with huge impact. Football is also a business after all.

[Peccadillo]

i've noticed that some ppl are using exceptionnal case to show that video won't resolve all the probs. of course it won't.

video assistance would be allowed sooner or later .. just a matter of time . there are ways too much bads calls with huge impact. Football is also a business after all.

+1.. For all these scenarios you can produce, the counter argument only requires one general scenario;

An incident occurs in a fast paced match and it is almost impossible or at least very difficult for the referee or linesman to determine an immediate and correct decision with anything close to 100% accuracy. What do you do?

I do like the idea of hefty fines for diving, but not every bad/wrong decision stems from players dishonesty.

People are aware that incorporating new technology into football cannot and should not be to the detriment of the flow of the game.

[chinomaster182]

This offside conundrum is extremely easy to solve, just a very slight modification on the rules is needed (something that has already half happened anyways).

When an offside occurs and the ref isn't really sure (or its a tight call) he can let the play go on, when the play ends he can check in 10 seconds with a video ref and make the appropriate call.

Senario:

*Team A's striker is involved in a tight offside call, ref decides to let play continue and wait for a stoppage to check it as you suggested above-play goes on
*Striker takes a poor touch and the ball rolls though to Team Bs GK
*Team Bs GK hoofs the ball upfield to the CF who flicks it onto someone else who scores a goal for Team B
*Replays show Team As forward was offside

Does the goal stand or do you go back to the first incident-the offside player

I'm all for ideas and theory crafting, but c'mon, how many times have you ever seen this happen?

Stoke under Pulis designed the whole team on just this very tactic, and it almost never panned out.

But i'll bite, say we rewind time to a cold windy day, away at the Britannia stadium. Manchester Uniteds Javier Hernandez goes offside and he flubs his shot, Stokes Begovics grabs the ball and punts it to Crouchy, Peter stops it and gives a poor pass to Kenwyne Jones who nonetheless is at the recieving end, Jones shoots at De Gea a slippery ball and it goes in! Yay! United still goes on to win the game 2-1.

In this case i think its best to let the goal stand, just like when the ref gives advantage to the offensive team, its not always perfect or crystal clear.

It would play almost identical on how it would be today, if that happened right now it would be a 50/50 call, if the ref lets it slide the play goes on as you described and the goal goes in. If the ref blows the whistle the GK or defender would have a free kick, its a little bit slower but teams that want to play it quick can still play it very quick and punt the ball before the other team can reorganize.

Admittedly, video replay won't bring perfect order to the game, but it will improve it.

Edit.
I just watched this amazing little shop of horror that is the full goal compilation of Stoke from 2009-2010

^Enter at your own discretion

I saw maybe one goal out of the whole season that qualified for your scenario.

[zizzle]

A tennis like challenge system could solve the problem. That way replays will only be used in the case of blatant game changing mistakes. However i dont see any practical way to use technology to call offsides.

[juventus101]

Chiellini is better than Thiago Silva, and is the best CB in the world. (despite what happenned against Madrid).

Marchisio is world class, and still better than Pogba.

Podolski is a top player that could play for most teams in the world. Also think he would work better on the right, and definitely better as the 10 in a 4231.

Ribery is better than Ronaldo, who I believe is extremely overrated.

Schweinsteiger is the best DLP in the world.

Busquets is extremely overrated. A top 5 DM yes but hes not the best like some say. Vidal and De Rossi for example are far better.

[Mamad]

Goalscoring is overrated.

[vivabarca38]

Ok.

Arbeloa is a top top RB,even on current form.Best defender in Madrid.Whenever he faces Any top quality left winger he's done quite a fine job.Madrid fans are expecting Alves when they've got A Guardian in the right hand side.No wonder. Ost of your players are unmotivated,they're criticized all the time.

[BarrileteCosmico]

aha, i was sure we had this thread before

[RealGunner]

BC the moderator we deserve

Great work by the admins

[BarrileteCosmico]

On topic: Xavi is actually humble and respectful

[Ganso]

Ok.

Arbeloa is a top top RB,even on current form.Best defender in Madrid.Whenever he faces Any top quality left winger he's done quite a fine job.Madrid fans are expecting Alves when they've got A Guardian in the right hand side.No wonder. Ost of your players are unmotivated,they're criticized all the time.

Nerman made him be subbed out at halftime ffs

[chinomaster182]

Busquets is extremely overrated. A top 5 DM yes but hes not the best like some say. Vidal and De Rossi for example are far better.

These players are all very different, in fact i wouldnt classify Busquets as a defensive midfielder, id call him a center midfielder.

Just something to keep in mind.

[chinomaster182]

Oh and i don't think last seasons Bayern was better than prime Barcelona.

[Swanhends]

Id take Busquets over those two every time

That would be like buying a dollar for $.75, free money

[LeBéninois]

Ok.

Arbeloa is a top top RB,even on current form.Best defender in Madrid.Whenever he faces Any top quality left winger he's done quite a fine job.Madrid fans are expecting Alves when they've got A Guardian in the right hand side.No wonder. Ost of your players are unmotivated,they're criticized all the time.

Nerman made him be subbed out at halftime ffs

He got yellow-carded and Neymar was a beast that day. Neymar isn't some scrub player.

[Ganso]

Ok.

Arbeloa is a top top RB,even on current form.Best defender in Madrid.Whenever he faces Any top quality left winger he's done quite a fine job.Madrid fans are expecting Alves when they've got A Guardian in the right hand side.No wonder. Ost of your players are unmotivated,they're criticized all the time.

Nerman made him be subbed out at halftime ffs

He got yellow-carded and Neymar was a beast that day. Neymar isn't some scrub player.

"top quality left winger"

and he got that yellow card because he cant defend.he also cant attack, just a decent fulback who should be a sub at a club like madrid.dude would be completely ostracized by now if he wasnt spanish

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

Oh and i don't think last seasons Bayern was better than prime Barcelona.

They are not but its a hard thing to judge....

That Barcelona had a tactical and technical advantage over everyone and even physically they were no slouches.

Thing is tactics have evolved even since then and people have adapted to the way Barca played.... so if that Barca came against the teams of today they probably wouldn't be as dominant.

One of the reasons why when people compare Pep's Barca to Sacchi's Milan is extremely futile.... teams adapt and change over time thus making it harder for the older team to be better when the newer team is able to use techniques which the older team hadn't learned yet.

Its boring but at the end of the day they are two brilliant teams and that's about it really.

[Dante]

Busquets is extremely overrated. A top 5 DM yes but hes not the best like some say. Vidal and De Rossi for example are far better.

These players are all very different, in fact i wouldnt classify Busquets as a defensive midfielder, id call him a center midfielder.

Just something to keep in mind.

Obviously , that's right. Busquets doesn't play there because of his defensive presence or to do the 'dirty work' like real defensive midfielders do . He's playing there because he is exceptional with the ball and all that goes with it , he excells at . That's a place where you really cannot afford to make mistakes , any mistake really and you also have to be supportive , tactically immense and also play naturaly as a central midfielder when the need arises. Play in a few words , not destroy the play. Busquets does all that in games like he is in training ffs. And as far his position goes , he has made significant progress imo. When Guardiola bought Mascherano , he didn't intend him to play CB , but to have an alternative seeing the special role Busquets has could leave them vulnerable on the counter or against opponents who aren't pushovers. Busquets became so good -even though iirc they had issues with the CBs then but still- that he couldn't drop him for anything.

If it wasn't for Guardiola who wanted a replica of himself there , i doubt he would be playing as the last midfielder. Guardiola hit a gem with Busquets really , not to mention he even ousted Yaya for him as well . He didn't lose the best defensive midfielder at the time for any other reason other than the fact Busquets wasn't a successor to Yaya , rather an improvement in substance , style and adding more "points" in controlling the game even more.

Even though much is said about his diving , obviously , his overall quality is ridiculous tbh . There's nobody better at what he does , atm at least. And since Barcelona always attack , it matters so much that he isn't the definition of the last midfielder.  And needless to say , i rate Busquets very much and i though people do as well by now.

He does play the defensive midfielder part also , but that is something that's not a priority for him. The fact that he sits deeper for others to play and helps things out along the way , is as good enough as defending when done properly and he seems to do it for fun all the time. Anyway , the fact he sees the last midfielder like this is something i always liked about Guardiola , both from the few i remember of him as a player but more as a coach . A defensive midfielder who plays as the last midfielder but can't play good football , is a burden.

Gattuso was one of (if not) the best i've ever seen and Ancelotti never dared to play him as the last man and play Pirlo in his place , not because Pirlo couldn't handle the role equally well , but for the sole reason Gattuso was a very limited player with the ball and having players who can play football in that area , wherever their differences and roles might differ , is of paramount importance in modern day football . All great teams must have that player who can play football equally well from the deep and support as a CM when they have to , even genuine DMFs like De Rossi and De Jong have evolved and can play the ball and do stuff up front very well.

But they are different players in substance and a Busquets is different to a De Rossi and Vidal , albeit it's obvious you understand this very well , just saying it for the discussion. Vidal btw , if it wasn't for Pirlo he should be playing in his place . I don't know if that's what will happen when Pirlo leaves (dat evil place that is called Juventus) , because he is really good where he is playing . But seems logical to say the least. I think that was what he did in Leverkusen as well , no ?

All in all , fk this post , i thought people rated Busquets by now . Is it really an unpopular opinion to say that Busquets is one of the best in the world at what he does ? If not the best currently at least.

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