Got to be changed imo
Just taken 3 mins to determine whether W Hams goal was offside or not.
4 players offside but according to current rules not interferring. Player who scored was just about onside.
In this particular instance its hard to see how the 4 "offside" players were not interfering as they were all lined up attempting to attack the ball from a free kick. As a defender you are either trying to mark them or holding a line & letting them stray offside.
Feel sorry for the Saints on this one.
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SHAMBLES
Offside decisions have never been subject to the now famous “clear and obvious” clause. You’re either offside or you’re not. And in this case, he wasn’t.
VAR correctly overturns the linesman’s decision and West Ham get their goal.
”If a player is not interfering with play what’s he doing on the pitch.”
I don’t think that’s word for word but pretty close.
I’m certain that someday someone will come up with one.
Mad.
The simple solution would have been to call out the foul on the defender then the decision on offside would have been otiose.
In any event, the current interpretation of the law is ludicrous.
Are they ahead of the ball?
Are there less than two opponents between them and the goal line?
Is the player interfering with play and seeking to gain an advantage?
…at the moment the ball is played (not necessarily forward) by a teammate.
Handy checklist.
The offside law was brought in to stop goal hanging, not rule out goals because somebody's toenail was beyond the last defender. We need to simplify the process, not come up with bizarre and hugely complicated 3d systems like in the world cup.
The only problem with the above is we've spend the last 30 years encouraging linos to make their decisions later and later, it may now be impossible to get them to be decisive and timely in their officiating.
Cannot imagine now boring the game would be if we had a modern day Arsenal expertly stepping up to catch any attacking player offside!
I get blasted on here for moaning about our lack of goals ( not recently obviously) and keep being told its our defence that's the problem. If Innis, Hector et al could professionally play as a unit & stopped the opposition from scoring I'm sure all would be pleased. And defending starts on the training pitch during the week.