Q&A with the SA Editors: April 25, 1997

Mark Switzer

Provo, Utah

I’m thinking a good rule change would be to eliminate offside inside the penalty area, but the best way to find flaws in an idea is to have others criticize it. So, what would be so bad in making it so that if the ball is PASSED from INSIDE the penalty area, there can be no offside? You work the ball downfield like always, making sure to stay onside, then you get inside the 18 and shoot, or a couple guys make runs towards goal, forcing defenders to follow closely, clearing out the area a bit if nothing else. Have I overlooked something?

Ridge Mahoney: It sounds simple, but what about a player dribbling along the edge of the penalty area, with the ball rolling on and off the line or bouncing off defenders legs? Reading the positions of players when the ball is passed is difficult enough; your idea would require the linesman (I hate the term referee’s assistant!) and referee to determine if the ball was inside or outside the penalty area as well. A lot of crosses come from just inside or just outside the box, and so do a lot of shots. What if a player shoots from outside the box, and the ball deflects off an opponent to a teammate inside the box? Is that the same as a pass from inside the box? What about a shot that caroms off a teammate inside the box? A blocked shot or slide tackle would cause all sorts of problems, forcing referees and their assistants (ugh!) to reassess the positions of perhaps a dozen players instantly.

I don’t think this idea is necessary, especially now that FIFA has adapted the “passive” element in offside, and your idea brings too many variables into situations that under current interpretations are complex enough. I like the restriction that a player seeking to get into a scoring position must be aware of where his opponents are; in other sports, this is determined by lines and boundaries, but in soccer, the positions of the ball and players are the deciding factors. Despite its complexities, I think it’s one of the most fascinating rules in sports.

College Park, Md.

The larger clubs in Europe seem not to be performing well when it comes to domestic matches. For example, AC Milan is dwindling around in the mid table of the Serie A and smaller clubs such as Royal Excelsior Mouscron of the Belgian First Division are competing for the league title. With the influx of foreign players joining the giants of Europe, has this only hurt the clubs when it comes to domestic matches?

Duncan Irving: I wouldn’t go that far: Milan may be stinking it up this season, but in Italy its reasonable to assume that any one of six clubs is capable of winning the title when we make our preseason predictions — the big clubs from Rome, Milan and Turin and recently Parma and Fiorentina are normally in with a shout.

Spain and England are similar too — Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal and Real Madrid and Barcelona are all in with a good chance.

Germany — Dortmund and Bayern — has its big-spenders in the right place and in Holland, two of the big three, PSV and Feyenoord are heading the standings.

All of those clubs have big budgets and a large number of foreign personnel, so I’d say that Mouscron is the exception rather than the rule.

As for Milan, one of the aforementioned Italian teams has to have a bad year, although few would have picked it to do it. Sacchi, in his first stint, fell out with Marco Van Basten; under Fabio Capello the club won things but the coach and Silvio Berlusconi rarely saw eye to eye and the club was often criticized for its style of play; Oscar Washington Tabarez was a short disaster, and the Italian federation found a nice way out of its contractual obligations when Sacchi headed back to the bosom of the Milanello.

But they’ve been terribly uneven — the team is no longer his hand-picked squad, rather one that he’s inherited. Given time, things may improve, but it may well be that Sacchi’s coaching halo has well and truly slipped.

city n/a

The absence of Tab Ramos has coincided with a remarkable deterioration in the quality of the USA national teams offense. Is Ramos an irreplaceable link? How is his recuperation going?

Mike Woitalla: It is hoped Ramos will be playing by July.

You are correct that Ramos is a unique talent in U.S. soccer. This raises the important question of why we don’t have more players like him. Currently, the U.S. has Claudio Reyna. He’s a different type of player, but also one who stands out for his excellent skills. Reyna hardly ever loses the ball. His passes of all ranges are excellent.

The U.S. needs more than one player of Reyna’s skills, and one like Ramos, who beats players one-on-one in midfield like no other player.

A successful national team needs more depth than the U.S. has right now. Let’s hope the younger generations of players bring some surprises.

Athens, Ga.

In the February 8 Q&A Ridge Mahoney answered a question about why MLS doesn’t have the “box” goals with the square nets held up by posts and strings as they are in all top leagues, and Ridge said:

“I like them, too, but all goals made in the U.S. have back supports, because they’re much easier to remove, which is important since MLS must share stadiums with NFL teams. The European-style posts might come into use when teams play in their own facilities — perhaps D.C. United will buy a set for RFK.”

Isn’t the real reason why we don’t have those international style goals —
which make the scoring of the goals truly an aesthetic experience — due to the deal that MLS struck with QuikGoal?

QuikGoal makes those ugly — but portable — goals where the ball bounces down — or off the pipes and back out — and is much less pretty to watch. Yes these goals are portable, but surely the international style goals can’t be that difficult to move around.

Why can’t MLS ask QuikGoal to do an “MLS Version”? Or is the main purpose of QuikGoal signing this contract with MLS to market the ugly goals that QuikGoal sells and has in stock?

Ridge Mahoney: Of course QuikGoal signed an MLS deal to sell soccer goals! Why does any sponsor sign with a pro league in the first place? QuikGoal does manufacture several different models of goals, but all are based on the same design.

I do like the idea of an elite MLS goal of a more sophisticated design. But as I said, most teams share their stadiums, so portable goals — as ugly as they are — are more convenient. The international goals require a hole to be dug and a metal sleeve inserted into which the bottom of the post is fitted. With the posts removed, this hole would have to be covered, and on an American football field, such holes — covered with a “rug” of grass — would be located in the middle of the end zone and could be unsafe.

Covering such holes safely is much easier on an artificial turf field shared by football and baseball teams.

I have to say I do agree with you — it seems rinky-dink that the American pro league uses the same basic goal as high schools and youth leagues. Not all foreign leagues use the goals you describe. Some use dug-in posts with removable net supports that curve back from the junction of post and crossbar to the ground, but do not have the heavy bar that connects the base of the post and the back support. And if we’re talking aesthetics, I like it when a low shot driven into the goal caroms off the bottom support and rolls up inside the net.

Let’s face it. MLS often takes the easy, sponsor-supported route. It has far too many problems to worry about what their goalposts look like.

By the way, I prefer white net cords, rather than black or dark red or orange or yellow. I wish teams would decorate their nets, not with sponsor names, but with the team logo. It would look great on behind-the-goal replays.

Lindenhurst, Ill.

Does the recently announced National Soccer Alliance need the approval of U.S. Soccer before it can begin operations?

Would the creation of a women’s U.S. professional league (i.e. the NSA) in 1998 be a benefit to the World Championship in 1999? Or would a pro league be better off starting after the 1999 tournament?

Finally, what’s the status of the women’s division of the USISL for 1997? Where can soccer fans get information about the 1997 women’s teams and schedules?

Dean Caparaz: Yes, the NSA, or any league like it, needs the approval of U.S. Soccer before beginning play.

The creation of a women’s professional league would benefit the 1999 World Championship by raising the interest in the sport across the country. It would benefit the U.S. women’s players by giving them a high-level league in which to hone their skills, by keeping them fit until ’99, and by allowing them to earn a living at playing, as male American players are able to do in MLS

However, if the ’99 World Championship is a marketing success, such a league may be better off starting in 2000 to ride on the coattails of the tournament. It remains to be seen if there is enough of an audience to sustain interest in a women’s pro league, the attendances of the Olympic women’s matches notwithstanding.

(The Olympic women’s matches were well-attended, including 76,000 at the gold-medal final, but many of those fans were there to witness and support an Olympic event, not necessarily to witness soccer.)

The women’s division of the USISL — the USWISL dropped the “I” and is now the USWSL (United States Women’s Soccer League) — has expanded to 32 teams from 23 in 1996 and will begin play in May. You can get more information about the league by calling the USISL at (813) 963-3909.

Crestwood, Ky.

A few years ago Mike Lapper was a solid outside back for the national team, do you know if he will be called in by Steve Sampson and if he might join MLS?

Duncan Irving: Sampson probably won’t call him up. There were talks between Southend and MLS, but Southend apparently upped the asking price and the league begged off.

However, expect him to join over the summer. Southend will likely be relegated and the English club’s bargaining power will have greatly diminished.

Honolulu, Hawaii

I must say that I am very upset by that way the soccer in the United States is being handled. When a World Cup qualifying match is not televised through American television, something is wrong. ESPN claims that it couldn’t come to terms with the Jamaican soccer authorities on a contract. I say it was because of “March Madness” and God forbid that they let soccer on the air over college basketball. What is the USSF doing about this problem? When the games ARE televised, who decides on who does the play by play? Hasn’t anyone in the USSF ever watched a game from England or even Italy? It is simple. As fans, we just need to have someone call out the players’ names and help the action along a little. Not to have two guys talking like the play is between pitches (as in baseball, or during huddles, as in football; or during faceoffs, as in hockey; or during the countless timeouts during basketball games) What I mean is, there is so much mumble jumble going on it distracts from the game. If the USSF is not to careful, soccer in the U.S. will fall prey to the “Great American Commercialism Syndrome.” OK, maybe my comments are a little strong, but I am an American-born player and fan, who plays with American-born players and fans and the consensus is overwhelming. We feel slighted. We, as fans know that we must be patient, but we can also see when things aren’t going correctly. Does the USSF have anything to do with the way the game is covered or who covers it? I’m sure they do. It is time that they open their eyes, there are “millions of young players out there who can be inspired by good soccer and good coverage, let’s not blow it. Thank you.

Ridge Mahoney: You’re welcome. Announcers are chosen by U.S. Soccer and ESPN or ABC, depending on which network is broadcasting the game. The Jamaican federation did indeed demand a huge amount of money, and ESPN would have televised that match if a deal could have been reached.

I suggest you make your feelings known to the USSF. You can call them at (312) 808-1300. Ask for Tom King, Hank Steinbrecher, or Jim Trecker.