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Is it time for Instant Replay?
The goal of soccer training is improved performance, injury prevention, soccer skills and tactics. Improved performance should never come at the cost of an injured player. Goal #1 is injury prevention in a soccer conditioning program. Goal #2 is to improve performance.
Everyone else is writing an instant replay article why not me. We’ve seen too many mistakes. How many games have been decided because of a silly handball, a poor call on a free kick or some professional player flopping in the 18 yard box. How many red cards have been dealt that was not deserved?
Soccer is very much different than other mainstream US sports like football and basketball. The margin of error is so small in soccer that even the slightest mistake can cost a game for a team. And unfortunately the referee in soccer has a major major influence on who wins the game. That is if he is not a good referee.
Look at it this way. It takes one poorly called red card to turn a great game into 10 v 11. It takes one referee calling a phantom foul in the box, disallowing a goal to cost a team 2 points. Team USA would be sitting on 4 points instead of two in a great position to move to the knock out phases of the world cup if replay was allowed. I know what you are saying. The whistle blew before they put the goal in. I concede. No I really don’t. The best way to handle it is to do like American football does. On certain plays like free kicks don’t blow the whistle until the play is dead or the goalie catches the ball, etc. Then if the team wants to review it they can throw out their one red flag they get per game.
Do you think Ireland and their fans would have liked to use a red flag? Yes. France is the debacle of the tournament. Their national team is a joke. Whether it is the manager’s fault or player egos it doesn’t matter for the sake of this argument. THEY SHOULD NOT BE IN SOUTH AFRICA. Remember back when Thierry Henry handed the ball against Ireland? If FIFA allowed instant replay the Republic of Ireland would be playing in the world cup. It doesn’t get much bigger than that.
The 2002 world cup was extra memorable because team USA rocked. They progressed all the way to the quarterfinals and possibly should have made it to the semi finals if it wasn’t for one unfortunate event. It was a hand ball on the goal line. Not only should the US have got a goal but Germany could have gone a man down.
I understand soccer purest not wanting to change the game. But with almost every professional game on TV it would not be too hard to do a quick review of the play. We spend 30 minutes a game anyways watching players roll around on the ground like they just got hit by a diesel truck. What is another 3 minutes? Wouldn’t it have been nice to get the major call right? You bet it would. So here is what I propose.
Replay
- Each manager gets one red flag per game to be used at a time and moment the manager sees fit.
- The red flag can used to review player ejections, free kicks, and penalty kicks.
- The fourth official is in charge of reviewing replay to decide if a play stands or not.
- In order for a play to be overturned there must be enough evidence to overturn. A referee must not go off a hunch in the replay.
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