Away goals rule could be abolished

[Purdy]

Football just keeps getting worse

 

[jaybee]

in the event of a draw there should be an infinite amount of extra time, however every minute a player from both sides gets taken off the pitch in random order so by the time 10 mins are played you are down to 1 man each, and the rule should be that you can't play rush goalies so you can't just stick an outfield player in goal when the keeper comes off.

Taking players off is super exciting in grass root football tournaments. Some of the most exciting tournaments I have seen and in some cases been lucky to coach in, have been where normal 5/6 a side match time of 10/15 minutes has happened and the score still level so they move to a golden goal situation instead of penalties and they play like this:

1: Take a player off leaving only 3 players and goal keeper on each team then play 3 minutes more.
2: Take another player off leaving 2 + goalkeeper and play 2 more minutes.
3: Take another player off leaving 1 + goal keeper and play until a goal is scored.

Situation 3 has happened a few times at our home tournament when I used to coach. One year, on a very hot summers day in a semi final with a big crowd (since most teams were out and hence all watching round the pitch) my son was left with the keeper. He could barely walk as was exhausted and had almost given up. Our keeper got the ball to him after saving the attack from the 2 on the other team. He turned round and just smashed it from inside his own half and it went in. Got the biggest bundle of his life from all our home teams reacting to the win.

 

[4k4uNuNu]

Football just keeps getting worse

There does seem to be a lot of changes recently and none seem to be for the better. Will be interesting to see how this affects things.

But take VAR for example, even when used correctly it still takes passion out of scoring as it's always in the back of your mind of whether the player was a gnats hair offside. That unchained euphoria can't happen like it used to, something which made the game so great to watch compared with other sports.

 

[mysticsniper]

UEFA are just clueless

Surely the home team in the 2nd leg has an advantage, the further the game goes into extra time and pens.

 

[HangTime]

Agreed gives advantage to playing at home second, but I suppose there is no law saying it has to be a 'fair' draw, in the same way that FA cup ties give an advantage to the team drawn at home.

 

[robfosters]

I can’t see how playing at home in the second leg gives you an advantage

 

[fez]

I can’t see how playing at home in the second leg gives you an advantage

Currently or with the new rules?

Currently the team playing second has the home pitch/crowd advantage in a position where they know what they need from the game. They also will potentially be playing extra time/penalties in front of their home crowd. That is currently offset by the opposition having the away goal rule in the last game so they know that if they achieve parity in the score in the right way they will go through. I've never had an issue with the away goals rule personally.

 

[adam cool dude]

In the modern game it doesn't have the holding that it used to. Going away was a big deal. Long journey on coaches etc. Now players travel and stay in complete luxury in top tier stadiums etc.

 

[mid_gen]

I guess the argument is that the away goal rule *more* than offsets the benefit of knowing exactly what is needed.

Of course, the fair solution is to do away with 2-leg game and play neutral grounds in the knockouts. Clubs miss out on a load of money, and fans have to travel more though.