Liverpool fans have been reacting to a post on Twitter regarding proposed changes to the offside law.
Arsene Wenger, who is FIFA’s head of global development, has recently proposed changes to the offside rule, which is currently causing controversy in the Premier League following the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) at the start of this season.
Wenger’s changes would result in fractionally offside goals being allowed, such as Olivier Giroud’s against Manchester United on Monday evening, as a goal-scoring part of the striker was in line with or behind opposing defender.
Wenger stated: “The most difficult [issue] that people have [with VAR] is the offside rule. You have had offsides by a fraction of a centimetre, literally by a nose. It is the time to do this quickly.
“There is room to change the rule and not say that a part of a player’s nose is offside, so you are offside because you can score with that. Instead, you will not be offside if any part of the body that can score a goal is in line with the last defender, even if other parts of the attacker’s body are in front.
He continued: “That will sort it out and you will no longer have decisions about millimetres and a fraction of the attacker being in front of the defensive line.”
Despite Wenger’s claim that under his proposed rule changes “you will no longer have decisions about millimetres”, Liverpool fans have been left somewhat confused by the information, with many stating that the current problem of fractions will remain, however, the focus of VAR will now be on the back of the attacking player.
Wenger has revealed FIFA plan for new ‘daylight’ offside rule, which could be used at Euro 2020. Thoughts on this? pic.twitter.com/H9jx107lD7
— LFC Fans Corner (@LFCFansCorner) February 19, 2020
Same problem will still exist because an attacker may only be milimeters in line with a defender
— Taylor (@TaylorBrown98) February 19, 2020
Am I being stupid or is this going to have the exact same problem? The replays arent clear enough so there will still be an argument of millimetres as to whether there is daylight or not.
— Road to #19 (@OwnHalfAlonso) February 19, 2020
The only thing offside should be your feet, gone beyong a joke now and ruining the game with patetic decisions… ???
— Chris Harper (@kopette1) February 19, 2020
This offside rule seems more confusing now
— Ahmir Amin (@Mahnoor39727590) February 19, 2020
No! Offside=Offside! There will still be calls that are 0.00001mm and still people misnaming about them
— Matt Stevens (@Mattstevens044) February 19, 2020
Its so simple how to resolve all this. Offside should be judged if your feet or any part of your feet only is off side. Other body parts shouldn’t matter. It’s the most practical non confusing way to settle all the nonsense.
— Dave Baker (@Bravedave2010) February 19, 2020
What do we think?
Although Wenger’s proposal is an answer, is it not particularly issue-resolving. Yes, there would be no more ‘armpit offside’ decisions, however, the focus of any VAR check will simply shift to the back of the attacking player.
Having said this, the proposal may swing favour to the attacking side dramatically, with forwards who play off the last defender only having to ensure that less of their body is onside than in the current rules.