The incidents involving Harry Kane in the game v Liverpool on Sunday were. to me, unique and therefore worthy of their own thread. Let me explain.
There are two type of incidents in the game of football. First, those that can be clearly defined in the narrative of the Laws of the Game that are absolute and leave no room for individual interpretation. Then there are those that are a matter of personal opinion but the referee is the sole arbiter in a match situation. We had both of those incidents within seconds of each other in the Spurs v Liverpool game and I cannot ever remember that happening before; hence it's uniqueness.
So far as the "offside" incident is concerned, the analysis has been done to death on TV, but perhaps not explained to well to overcome all doubters; so let me continue. First, in the body of the text of the Offside Law (Law 11) there is the statement along the lines of "a player should not necessarily be penalised for standing in an offside position". We therefore have to consider whether Harry Kane was interfering with play when he received the ball to enable us to make a decision. "Interfering with Play" is defined within the Law Interpretations further down in the document and I quote verbatim - "Interfering with play means playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a team mate". In this instant Harry Kane received the ball having been touched by an opponent - a clear case for not being penalised. No debate, an absolute nailed down decision.
We now move on to the incident with the "clash" with the goalkeeper and whether or not a penalty should have been awarded. This is clearly a case of being down to personal opinions. My own interpretation of the things that need to be considered to arrive at a decision are as follows. My personal interpretation of a dive (or simulation) is one where there is no contact whatsoever, such as the Delli Ali incident in the same game where he was rightly cautioned. Harry Kane was clearly "touched" but no dive in my opinion. So we all have to weigh up the level of contact to decide whether or not there was sufficient contact to impede the progress of Harry Kane (incidentally, Kane going to ground was neither here nor there in terms of decision making re contact levels, although some may consider that doing so makes it easier for the referee to award a penalty).
Over to you!!
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I must admit to some confusion about the modern offside law.
Based on the above, if a player (let’s call him Big Josh) is standing 15 yards offside on the penalty spot when a long shot comes in and is parried by the goalie, he can calmly stroke the rebound into the net and claim a goal? That seems odd to me, as he has surely gained a big advantage by being in that offside position in the first place (as did Kane of course). Or is there another part of the law that’s relevant here?
1. Surely offside is irrelevant as Lovren got a touch? the one before didn't make a difference as he hasn't played anything but Lovren he tried to clear so the intent was there.
2. Soft one, could see a case either way as Van D did play the ball but was too late to pull out (i am sure there is a joke there somewhere)
LOL though cant stand Liverpool and their fans, shame they didnt lose it
This covers it - verbatim: offside by gaining an advantage by being in that position "that rebounds, is deflected or is played to him from a deliberate save by an opponent, having been in a offside position".
I think the key difference in the two scenarios is the word "save". As I say, a minefield!
It’s too important a law to be subjective, IMHO it should be black or white.
- Is Kane not interfering with play? Lovren wouldn't have attempted the clearance had he not been there (in an offside position).
- Lovren effectively deflected a Tottenham pass. It's not as if he tried to pass the ball back to the keeper and found Kane.
The law is not right.
1. He is offside
2. He went down to easily for my liking no penalty
Then a defender turns around, desperately chasing the ball and just manage to touch the ball, but not enough to prevent the ball to reach the center forward, who then scores.
Is this not offside then? How long must the referee wait to make a decision? I mean there is always a chance there'll be a touch when a long ball is played.
A player in an offside position when the ball is played is offside, unless .......
Mind you, we still argued about it back then lol
Though not 100% sure.