How about VAR — a revolutionary development in refereeing — how did that fare? Pretty well, I’d say. As it ought to have done — I mean, who is going to argue with VAR’s basic job: Tohelp the referee, to make sure that if he misses something or makes a “clear and obvious error,” VAR […]
SoccerTalk with Paul Gardner
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
World Cup 2018 Part 1: The French Revolution
The signs that the 2018 World Cup was not going to be business as usual came early. No Italy, no Netherlands, no Chile — three potential finalists, all three failing to qualify. Maybe you can add tothat list the USA — not a potential finalist but a team that unthinkably failed to emerge from a […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
The set-piece mindset: not a good idea for soccer
Yikes! Here they come again! The set-piece merchants, the soccer commentators who will keep insisting that our sport is all about “set pieces.” They’ve been banging on for decades now, forevertelling us that the number — or the percentage — of goals scored from set pieces is steadily increasing. Is it? And would it be […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
VAR totally fails to seize its chance for glory
If ever there was a tricky soccer situation that was waiting to be solved by VAR, surely it was the problem of goalkeeper movement at penalty kicks. Rule 14 is sharp and clear and brooks no misunderstanding: “The defendinggoalkeeper must remain on the goal line, facing the kicker, between the goal posts until the ball […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Colombia's miracle escape from soccer's red-card ejection rule
A good deal of attention has been focused on the functioning of the VAR system during this World Cup. Rightly so, for it represents a revolution in soccer thinking (and how many ofthoseoccasions can you think of?), a move into allowing technology to play a major role in refereeing. So far — according to my […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Another team to be taken seriously: England
Last week I made a point: that it was time for the soccer world to take Mexico seriously
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Time for world soccer — especially the USA — to start taking Mexico seriously
The Mexicans have been very, very patient. Far too patient, I think, in trying to establish their right to belong up there with the top soccer countries, with Brazil and Germany, Italy andSpain. At this moment, there is something approaching astonishment in the soccer world: Mexico has beaten Germany! Unfancied Mexico has beaten the world […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
VAR and the insidious spread of technology
There are problems with the VAR system that FIFA has decided to introduce at the World Cup. That decision itself is quite likely the biggest of the problems. It raises the question: is soccerready for this? It’s true that a great deal of intricate work has been done on the system — in workshops, discussions, […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Should referee calls be swayed by player reputations?
For some decades now, I have been asking referees — at all levels — a certain question. At least one hundred referees, I’d say, have given me an answer to this question: Do you handout quicker and harsher punishment if a player committing a foul is known to you for his physical play? I have […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
From Liverpool to Calvary, via Kiev
It was not to be, was it? Too many surreally bad things happened to Liverpool in Kiev. Surely some curse was at work here making sure that Liverpool and its fans would have to bear yet another burdenof tragedy and gloom. After the awful fan episodes of Heysel and Hillsborough comes a brutal soccer reckoning, […]