Rules are weighted against defenders – It’s Not a Funny Old Game

WHEN referee Michael Oliver awarded a second penalty to Liverpool against Leeds United last Wednesday evening, I blasted on twitter, “Never a penalty”.

I got an immediate response from local whistler Barry Devenney who asked, “which one?” My answer, “in my day both!”

During that conversation I was ranting and raving at the TV which had my teenage son more than a little perplexed and reminding me that I was a Liverpool fan!

That might be, but fair is fair and two wrongs never made a right!

Honestly I’m very frustrated how the rules of the game have evolved so much to favour the attacking player.

Take the two penalties the other night. By the letter of the current laws I can see why they were given but in my opinion neither were spot kicks.

The first was awarded against Stuart Dallas for a hand ball after a cross from Andy Robertson struck his arm. Dallas was using his arms to sprint back and prevent the cross as much as anything else and he wasn’t going to be able to keep them down by his side.

Furthermore he wasn’t even facing Robertson when the ball appeared to strike the back of one of his elbows.

The rule about players keeping their arms down by their sides is absolute nonsense. More often than not a defender is stretching to his limits to prevent a shot on goal and in that situation it’s nigh on impossible to keep your arms down.

In the second penalty incident contact by Luke Ayling on Sadio Mané was minimal to say the least. Anything less and he would have been giving the Liverpool striker a clear run on goal. Mané was in full flight and the fact he was slightly off balance was the reason the Senegal striker went down as much as anything else.

Both incidents had me thinking how much the rules now favour the attacker.

I’m going to show my age now, but in my humble opinion the best defender in my lifetime was none other than former AC Milan legend Franco Baresi. What a player. His ability to read the game, to snuff out danger, to organise his defence and to inspire those around him was truly unique. He was also exceptionally streetwise but I do wonder would there have been a place for him in the modern game?

Perhaps I’m exaggerating a little – Baresi was so good he probably would have adapted –  but you get my point.

More-and-more the rules are weighted against the defending teams and defensive players that I feel the art of great defending is being lost in some respects.

We all marvel at the attacking flair of the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Salah and so on, however in the modern age I don’t believe defenders get the same kudos that the likes of Baresi, Maldini, Beckenbauer, Nesta and the late Bobby Moore did.

And another thing, the offside rule as we currently know it is also a nonsense. In the past a player was either offside or he wasn’t – no grey areas. In more recent times a player is only deemed offside if he is interfering with play. Once again that rule is weighted against the defender. In my mind if a player is offside – even he is positioned right out on the side line – he’s interfering with play – end of.

Why stop there? Another rule that’s a particular bug bearer of mine is the one that states a goalkeeper must stay on his line during the taking of a penalty kick.

This rule is totally unfair on the keeper and is a huge advantage to the taker. I wouldn’t know that much about the art of goalkeeping, but what I do know is that it is a natural instinct for a net-minder to motion slightly forward when attempting to save a shot. The rule as it stands doesn’t allow goalkeepers to do what they are naturally good at and hence in most instances they don’t have a fighting chance.

Goalkeepers should have a metre-wide box the length of the goal in which they are allowed to operate in when a penalty is being taken.

There are three or four situations right there that discriminates against those players commissioned to keep the ball out of the net.

Defending, I’m afraid, is becoming something of a dying art and if the rules continue to evolve in favour of attacking players then the genuinely great defenders will be no more!