Offside - is it worth the hassle?

There's a variant of the offside rule in most team games so that an attacker doesn't gain an advantage by goal hanging  or being 'ahead of play'

The problem is not the offside law which needs to stay 100% in my opinion. To me the problem we have, is the people that govern the game seem to want to change things for the sake of it, like they need to justify their existence.

This has been going on for too many years and what we have now through constant tinkering are over elaborate and complicated rules that are changing so often the players, staff and officials cannot keep up.

The end result is an unnecessary dilution of the game we all know and love. Makes my pi55 boil! Football is a simple game-leave it be!

Maybe they should limit the number of times a Ref can check VAR per team during a match. If teams were only given 3 chances to question a decision per match then a team might be more inclined not to surround the Ref at every given opportunity and cry baby tears until the Ref checks the VAR. That way, the game should be a lot more free flowing.

How times have changed since i attended my first football match in the Boys Stand in the Barrets. It was 1960, and i was in awe at the hard tackles flying in, left and right wingers sprinting up and down the touchlines, 90 minutes of cold blooded action, it was enjoyable to watch. And now, the slightest nudge from a player, adamant calling to gain a throw in, diving in the penalty area, 100 back passing in defence to gain a few yards, over protection for goalkeepers, and now the VAR, where if a player has a hard on and it sticks out beyond the opposition defence, its deemed offside. The Football League upper bosses say they are always trying to improve the game, when in fact over the last several years they are making it a farce to watch. How many of us have been watching a match on tv and got that bored and switched the channel over to watch a film, even adverts look better and interesting. As Poojah states, getting rid of the offside rule would only lead to 4-4-2,s etc going out the window, it would be a free for all. Football is an English game with traditions, and these traditions are slowly disappearing. How times change, and not for the better being a football fan. Agents ruined the game from the day they were introduced, giving the player more power, and less to the Club. A player used to be fully committed to playing to the best of his ability, or he was sacked by the Club, as they owned him outright. They say rules are made to be broken, well F.A., you have certainly broken our beloved sport that we live for every saturday, and even now, its not the same on a saturday afternoon, as tv rights dictate when games are played, so no full days of matches anymore, David Coleman, Kenneth Wolstenholme, the game died with you.

They should scrap drawing lines on the screen. If it's 100% clear with the naked eye that the wrong call was made then VAR steps in, otherwise stick with the onfield decision.

Quoted from golfer

When I was at school our centre half used to stand on the goal line smoking a Woodbine with the goalie  - so nobody was ever offside     P.S.  It was a posh school so the teacher told him off - for not using an ash tray.

Did he come running out to make the tackle like Monk in vinny Jones's version of mean machine

Anyone remember the Anglo-Italian Cup in the early 1970s? They experimented with changes to the offside rule then I think (you could only be offside in the penalty area maybe?).

If you're level you're onside. That used to be the ruling, the spirit of that should apply to VAR.

Quoted from dicko995

How times have changed since i attended my first football match in the Boys Stand in the Barrets. It was 1960, and i was in awe at the hard tackles flying in, left and right wingers sprinting up and down the touchlines, 90 minutes of cold blooded action, it was enjoyable to watch. And now, the slightest nudge from a player, adamant calling to gain a throw in, diving in the penalty area, 100 back passing in defence to gain a few yards, over protection for goalkeepers, and now the VAR, where if a player has a hard on and it sticks out beyond the opposition defence, its deemed offside. The Football League upper bosses say they are always trying to improve the game, when in fact over the last several years they are making it a farce to watch. How many of us have been watching a match on tv and got that bored and switched the channel over to watch a film, even adverts look better and interesting. As Poojah states, getting rid of the offside rule would only lead to 4-4-2,s etc going out the window, it would be a free for all. Football is an English game with traditions, and these traditions are slowly disappearing. How times change, and not for the better being a football fan. Agents ruined the game from the day they were introduced, giving the player more power, and less to the Club. A player used to be fully committed to playing to the best of his ability, or he was sacked by the Club, as they owned him outright. They say rules are made to be broken, well F.A., you have certainly broken our beloved sport that we live for every saturday, and even now, its not the same on a saturday afternoon, as tv rights dictate when games are played, so no full days of matches anymore, David Coleman, Kenneth Wolstenholme, the game died with you.

I respect and understand your view but it's sepia tinted. That full blooded version of football also saw a lot of player's careers end early because of injury, the game was slower and less technical, pitches and facilities for fans were far worse than today (except at Blundell Park) and you stood a good chance of getting your head kicked in outside or inside the ground. Players were treated like vassals of a club and were paid peanuts whilst board members made good money from gate receipts etc.

Agents have brought nothing to the game and money has had a detrimental effect on the game at the highest level but I wouldn't return to the 'old days' for a second.

VAR is ok for offside in my opinion, whatever the rule is it’s going to need measuring.
Issue is the time taken so I think they should get 20 seconds, if it’s not clear and obvious then the attacker gets the benefit of the doubt