The offside rule... and how it caused Patricio's injury.

[Dire Wolf]

Nearly 24 hours later and I am still seething at the farce of a rule and the resultant serious injury to Rui. If the rule was that the flag goes up as soon as the player who is judged offside moves towards the ball, then play is stopped and Patricio is not injured. But no, because there is now this reliance on VAR to correct decisions after the fact, play continued even though everyone could see Salah was offside, and the resulting incident left a player potentially extremely seriously injured.

Now, it may be that Rui is not that badly hurt, but he could have been and it was so unnecessary if the rule wasnt such a pile of shit. There are times when I seriously question my enjoyment of the game, and notably those are occasions when the officials and the rule makers are so out of step with what I think most fans actually want that they come up with ideas that make football a far less enjoyable spectacle.

This offside rule is bullshit. Nearly everybody hates it, players clearly are confused as to why the flag hasn't gone up for ages even though it is a clear offside, and fans (if they were in the stadia) would be making their opinions known almost every game in the way fans can. It's a terrible application of what shouldn't be too complicated a rule. And what has been boiling my piss for the last 24 hours is that one of OUR players suffered because of it, potentially if he hadn't been so fortunate, a career threatening injury.

I hate it. And right now I hate football and people behind it.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I agree with the principle but I don't think a flag would have changed anything there. None of Rui, Salah or Coady would have stopped.

 

[Dire Wolf]

I agree with the principle but I don't think a flag would have changed anything there. None of Rui, Salah or Coady would have stopped.

I'm not so sure. I think if the flag had gone up straight away, as I think it should, there wouldn't have been that kind of collision. Hard to say for sure in hindsight, but I think serious injury would have been far less likely.

 

[SSB]

My gripe is the time never gets added back into the game. The play could carry on for another 5 to 20 seconds before the flag goes up and the game is taken back to the initial offside. It's cheating us all out of actual game time.

 

[PuntsWolf]

If the flag goes up and the whistle blows I think Rui probably makes a token effort and Coady certainly isn’t busting a gut.

When the flag used to go up instantly the refs are normally very quick to blow the whistle.

 

[Tony Towner]

I can see it from the opposite perspective though. Remember Bournemouth away when the flag went up even though Jota was onside so VAR couldn't do anything?

 

[PuntsWolf]

I can see it from the opposite perspective though. Remember Bournemouth away when the flag went up even though Jota was onside so VAR couldn't do anything?

I think this was clear offside though. It’s one of those which is easy to give and should Be given correctly 100/100. Bournemouth one you’ve got players moving in opposite directions where the ball has travelled far, much harder decision.

 

[Dire Wolf]

I can see it from the opposite perspective though. Remember Bournemouth away when the flag went up even though Jota was onside so VAR couldn't do anything?

I understand that and know that some decisions are really tight, but personally I'd rather have the occasional mistake made than a situation where players are getting injured unnecessarily.

 

[Tony Towner]

I think this was clear offside though. It’s one of those which is easy to give and should Be given correctly 100/100. Bournemouth one you’ve got players moving in opposite directions where the ball has travelled far, much harder decision.

I agree on last nights and they should be told to flag in those instances, but if he were marginally off the result would have been the same, so you are then asking the linesman to go back to gut feel

 

[AndyWolves]

I don't really see the link between the two.

An unfortunate accident that could happen when a player is onside.

Reverting back to the old style won't prevent head injuries.

 

[Carrotdude]

I agree to a point but in this case I think the offside was close enough that I wouldn’t want the flag to go up straight away anyway. There have been cases where players are 2 yards offside that have ended up in someone making a challenge that could result in an injury. When it’s that clear the flag really should just go up.

 

[Dire Wolf]

"Jurgen Klopp calls for football rule examination after Rui Patricio injury vs Liverpool - Mirror Online" https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/rui-patricio-injury-liverpool-klopp-23734187.amp

 

[Johnny75]

I don't really see the link between the two.

An unfortunate accident that could happen when a player is onside.

Reverting back to the old style won't prevent head injuries.

Important part of this is that under the old rule the linesman may have thought Salah was onside and never flagged. It was close.

Andy is right, it won’t prevent head injuries and as football is a contact sport the chances of reducing head injuries like Raul’s and Rui’s are zero unless every player wears a helmet.

 

[The Bear]

I don't even know how you'd tweak it to stop potential injuries.

Even if the linesman flags but the ref doesn't blow until the passage of play is over, players would still see the flag.

It's all or nothing IMO. Frankly I prefer it the way it is. Injuries can happen at any time from any clash, that's just the sport.

 

[Dinowolf]

It has long been a bugbear of mine that referees do not apply the Laws of the game correctly, esp. on heading.

The challenge on Raul is a prime example where players just run at opponents and jump into them on the run. They're supposed to plant their feet first and jump up vertically; there are examples in referees' guidance.

In the game v 'Pool it happened several times. It's dangerous and should be stopped.

Regarding the offside Law, ref. assistants should flag immediately, it doesn't mean the ref has to blow up immediately if he thinks VAR will be involved. Common sense.