THE TECHNOLOGY DEBATE
A lot has been said recently about football and the use of technology. Should we add a few extra linesmen? Maybe a fourth official or a TV umpire? Uefa currently have an experiment running which sees two extra officials (AAR’s as they are called) standing behind the goals to help judge on dives, shirt pulling and goal decisions.
The first question I must ask is how easy is it to see if the ball has crossed the line, from behind? Add to that all the crisscrossing of a net in front of your eyes and I can imagine that it’s a harder job than it looks!
This weekend Tottenham Hotspur hosted Wigan Athletic. They thumped 8 goals past them in the second half. Wigan also scored 1 which meant there were a total of 9 goals scored in 45 minutes of football. That’s an average of a goal every 5 minutes!
Now that is what people want to see!
20/20 cricket is exploding and threatening to rub out any remaining interest in test cricket because it is far more exciting to watch. People want excitement. People want to be entertained.
World Cup rugby often produces the most boring rugby – especially in the final. People want to see tries scored. Wining a match 6-3 because you kicked two penalties and they only kicked one… oh how boring! 80minutes and all you can give me are three kicks at goal! Come on!
Rugby bosses are trying desperately to encourage ‘running rugby’ to be played and rule changes have been introduced so that the game has greater try scoring potential.
There are rule experiments taking place in this year’s domestic cricket competition in South Africa to try and attract more crowds.
Even F1 is trying it’s best to change car design to make passing easier.
The point? People want to see action!
Why do I say all this? Some kind of TV ref system being introduced could be the worst thing for football. Football is often about momentum. Why do you think players go down so easily and make a big deal of a little bump on the leg when their teams back is against the wall? Break the opposition’s momentum. Having to stop and ask ‘upstairs’ if someone was offside or was tugging a shirt will destroy the fluidity of the game.
There is nothing worse than having to sit and wait while a fourth official decides on whether a try has been scored or not in rugby. The same screen shots played over and over. Just get on with the game! It’s painful!
Can you imagine that in football? ‘Ok, let’s see it from camera number 4… hmmm… ok, go back to camera number 1… Looks kinda on the line from that angle hey. Let’s make sure and watch camera 3’s angle.’
Please no.
Bad decisions can be just as painful however. I am so glad I’m not Irish right now!
So what can be done to stop such things happening again?
These are my suggestions:
- Hawkeye. Cricket uses Hawkeye to help decide things like LBW etc. A system should be created whereby players can be ruled offside by Hawkeye. What we don’t want is for there to be a need to check with a TV official to confirm. I propose a light above the goals that flashes red when a player is offside. That way, when a striker receives the ball he can see by looking forward if he is on-side. All the defenders will be chasing back to try stop him and will be able to see the light as well. The keeper doesn’t really need to see it. A bunch of defenders and a striker charging at him will give him the hint…
- To help with corners and free kicks; I like the idea of an official behind the goal. With the offside sorted, the official can focus more on fouls and bad tackles. In rugby the assistant refs move to behind the poles to determine if a penalty or conversion has gone between the uprights. In the same way when a corner is given he can then move to behind the goal to keep an eye on the shenanigans going on in the box. Remember any offside is covered by Hawkeye.
- Now I mocked the ability of refs to see if a ball has crossed the line because of interference with nets etc. And having too much to look at can also be detrimental to decision making. I think balls could have little chips placed all around them with a similar Hawkeye technology used to determine if a ball has crossed the line or not. Maybe a green light (or orange or something) can flash on when the ball has crossed the line completely.
There will always be human error – even human opinion. We don’t want watching football to be like watching an EA Sports Fifa 10 game. What we do want however is justice.
France going to South Africa is not justice. The Irish should feel most aggrieved.
Human error is no excuse when the use of technology can help.
Don’t interrupt the game. Don’t make us wait to see what a TV official will decide after 20 replays.
Use technology to help the game flow, to help the ref by enabling him to focus on fouls etc.
I’m against the breaking of play. I am for technology however. Surely someone out there is clever enough to develop a system that can ensure both a flowing and a fair game.
WHERE DID SIR ALEX GO WRONG? OR WHERE DID RAFA GET IT RIGHT?
The weekend is over and the biggest talking point will be the result of the match between Liverpool and Manchester United. On most accounts it was a game for United to lose – which is exactly what they did.
So where did Sir Alex go wrong?
I mentioned in my match review that Rafa often gets criticized for his team selection but that I thought Sir Alex had got it wrong this time and Rafa – spot on.
First of all: defense. I could give 4/4 to Sir Alex for his defensive selections. Most people would have done the same. Vidic has had a poor run against Liverpool but I still would have picked him. The same can be said for Rio, who is not at his best. Evra seemed rather uninterested and had a poor game. Maybe Fabio could have played but risking the youngster would have been just that: a risk. O’Shea on the right, did the job, I guess but I still feel that United miss Rafael! Taking one step back however, I didn’t leave thinking ‘thank goodness we have Edwin back!’ Foster did have a couple of dodgy moments but Edwin was hardly convincing either.
Midfield is where it all went wrong for United I thought (and by implication where Rafa showed his class). Ryan Giggs has been in the form of his life and you can’t blame Sir Alex for picking him. Valencia has been good so no surprises there. Carrick is a solid midfielder and I’m happy with his selection. That brings me to Paul Scholes. The man is brilliant, of that there is no doubt. He is also old. I think that the pace of the Premier League has left him behind. I would use him as a sub to close out games and in Europe. Anderson’s work rate and energy was sorely missed on Saturday. Nani may not always be top draw but he gives United something different – something they needed! I would have gone Nani, Carrick, Anderson/Giggs, Valencia. I give Sir Alex’s midfield a 2/4 because even though Giggs was there, he is too slow as a winger now days.
All that said what United missed the most was Owen Hargreaves. Estimated to be 6 weeks away from returning, Owen Hargreaves is the piece of the puzzle United need the most! Mascherano is 70% of the reason Liverpool got three points yesterday. Hargreaves could have done the same for United.
I would have picked Rooney and Berbatov (so 2/2 for Fergie) but they hardly had anything to work with.
Liverpool were too strong and too quick for the United’s midfield and that is where the game was lost (or won in the case of Liverpool). United played with too much patience and not enough drive. Both Nani and Anderson could have helped with that.
In the end all credit must go to Liverpool for the pressure they put on United. They played better than they have all season. Time will tell if, like last year, Liverpool get bragging rights for the games against United. But the champions may still be crowned Champions again.
WHAT A DAY, WHAT A DERBY!
The Manchester derby just got hotter!
There was a lot of talk about yesterday’s match; who would win, who would play, who would score, who would get booked.
Man derbies haven’t always been classics but yesterday certainly was!
4-3 United. And what a finish! (Read here City fans moaning about the extra time.)
In summary: City played a bit better than United in the 1st half overall but the 2nd belonged to United.
United, with good, clever thinking went ahead after just a few minutes (the sign of a winning team).
Following some poor defending and a gift of a goal, City dominated the midfield and perhaps deserved the lead when Tevez got nothing but bar.
For me the real turning point of the match: Park off, Valencia on.
Mix that with Hughes pushing star man Ireland wide and United took control.
Cue more shocking defending and we were heading for a draw.
With minutes to go however, the man who would never have walked alone, found himself alone, in acres of space. Give Owen a ball in the box and it’s only going one place.
My heartbeat didn’t slow for at least an hour! The real winner? Football. (I think the commentator may have actually said that…)
