Let’s be honest it’s boring, mostly because of the limited amount of scoring. Here are some ideas that will improve the game:
* backboard (large net) above the goal to keep shots on goal in play
* shot clock and backcourt violations
* yellow cards create power plays (5 minutes)
* allow people to go back into the game (creating shifts similar to hockey)
* loosing the offsides rules
* expand the field or play or reduce the number of players
* overtime is two 15 minutes periods where one player is removed from each team after 2 minutes with the minimal amount of players being 6 per side (before you say that itsn’t soccer keep in mind that penalty kicks is equivelant to deciding a basketball game based on free throws).
One suggestion that has been repeatedly made is to make the goals larger to increase the frequency of scores. This would also increase the number of attempts on goal, since players would be able to make accurate shots from a farther distance. A higher frequency of goals would also make the outcome of games less random and more aligned with team strength (as we know from that other thread).
The sport could also be made more individual player-focused by reducing the size of the field, along with the number of players on each side. This is one reason why, to me, basketball is more interesting than (American) football.
This would require that defenders (gasp) actually play defense.
I’m not suggesting that people should be able to just hang out five yards from the goal, but maybe they could make it where instead of being exactly even with the defender, you could be within three yards or something. That way you wouldn’t have these stupid offside penalties because a guy’s head was six inches past another guy’s head.
And there should be no such thing as offsides in a corner kick.
I’m not sure if you’re trolling, but I believe that one of the key things that makes soccer way more popular than any other sport is exacly the limited amount of scoring. A goal is a very important thing and is often very widely celebrated by players and spectators. In sports with lots of points, sometimes stealing the ball is more interesting than a point - that sucks for most people coming from soccer cultures.
The rarity of scoring also adds a lot to the unpredictability. Soccer may very well be the most unpredictable (and as a consequence unfair) of the main sports, but that’s a lot of fun for the fans since anything may happen.
Different tastes for different cultures, I guess. I get the thrill of basketball and ice hockey but, for a brazilian, american football will often be the most boring US main sport, because the players there seem to spend more time waiting around than actually playing the game. Yet it rules in US, and it doesn’t have that much scoring either.
I’ll let the other soccer fans explain to you why some of your suggestions have more drawbacks than you may think. A smaller number of players could be interesting though. Since the game is so much faster than 50 years ago, there is less space for players to do cool moves and such. The game could look better with one less player, especially in smaller leagues where people aren’t as talented as the top players.
They should use 2+ balls at the same time, I think that would make it super interesting, not just for soccer but other sports as well, like basketball.
That’s actually a sport. I don’t know the name in English, but it would be something like “indoor soccer” probably (futebol de salao in Portuguese). Most brazilian kids, when not playing on the streets, actually play this, since you can do it in a basic court and 5 players on each side (or whoever shows up).
It’s a lot of fun and nice to watch. I think one of the reasons this is not that popular is that goals happen all the time (so they’re less special, as I’ve commented before)
so I’m with you on power plays for yellow cards (and other penalties as well). He also advocates some scoring changes. Changing substitution rules make sense. How about counting down instead of up and make it so everyone know how much time is left (i.e. stop the damn clock instead of having extra time). Will make the ending more interesting.
One idea that I had heard wrt baseball (don’t think it would work for soccer because of the low frequency of scoring) is that instead of adding up the runs at the end of the game, you add up the number of innings where you get more runs than the opponent. Makes each inning matter more.
Soccer ebbs and flows dude, It is not meant to be high scoring. The game builds and flows and is extremely strategic.
It is fascinating watching the Athletes (Big strong players), The Artists ( Players with superb touch and exquisite ball control) and the Nerds(Players who find space) all occupy the same pitch and interpret the game in their own way.
I get that as a person exposed to the mindless garbage that is ameircan sports with their rubbish stop/start policies and what not you can miss such subtle things
Pay attention without any bias and you will fall in love just like the world did.
Yes, in fact, when I was in school, we would more often play “futsal” as opposed to normal football, since it’s hard to find enough people for two full teams, along with substitutes. The additional benefit was that futsal courts can be indoors, and this is preferable in hot countries where the heat causes significant discomfort and fatigue. The fact that people play this variation of football shows that it is preferable in some settings.
However, for a globally competitive sport, futsal probably cannot replicate the same dramatic scale as normal sized football. It would be difficult to cultivate the same mob mentality among football fans without the feeling of a large field. In addition, in high level games, players are more athletic and skilled, and can make use of a greater space. I do think some adjustment can be made to the size and player density of modern football, but not to the degree of futsal.
Of course, this discussion might be moot since many football fans follow the current rules with a dedication that can only be described as religious. Any kind of change will be met with irrationally passionate resistance. There is value, however, in keeping the continuity of rules, even if those rules could easily have evolved differently.
this thread is kind of like what would happen if you rounded up a bunch of footballers and put them in a room with some crayons and asked them to improve upon the works of shakespeare…
The frustrating thing about debating a point like this is that you haven’t watched enough football to know the sheer excitement and panic footballs time system can create. You’re regurgitating myths based on your stupid bias without actually paying attention.
A footy game lasts 90 min, 3 min standard extra time with a little more if there have been random injuries. Not only that a official clearly holds a board up at 90 min stating clearly how much extra time is added on at the minimum. So pretty much everyone has a rough idea when the game ends.
Fun example : 1999 Euro championship final Bayern Munich - Manchester United
Game has been played 90 min, Munich are leading 1-0, It’s almost within touching distance, Ref shows 3 min added time, Bayern fans are already celebrating. 3 more min to go.
91’st min United Equalize, Game scheduled to go to extra time. 93’rd min- Last out before extra time, United score again to steal the game with the last touch of the ball.
This is the ‘Beautiful game’. Pure magic, You need to get with it pal.
In it’s first few years, the MLS used to have a countdown clock instead of a traditional FIFA clock with added time. Then again, the MLS is pretty much a joke (remember the shoot-outs? LOL).
I actually find that US sports are more open to evolution and change, in order to make the sports more fair, competitive, or fun to watch. Some contributing factors might be a high concentration of team owners, a centralized viewer base, uniform resources among teams, and a more “scientific” approach towards sports marketing. This could also be why US sports can have many technicalities that are inaccessible to outsiders; small rules keep getting added, making the sport more complicated.
To me, complicated rules turn me away from the sports - I do not have interest in American football or baseball. However, I can understand how these rules have evolved to suit the interests of sports fans. Moreover, one aspect I do appreciate about US sports and about US in general is that there is not so much of a culture of “this way is best because we have done this forever”, which is harmful in many ways.
Better question is, why does soccer need to be made more interesting? There’s no evidence it is boring other than the opinion of the OP. It’s by far the most popular sport in the world and is rapidly growing in countries where it wasn’t, including the US.