With the World Cup coming to an end, soccer is likely to fade back into sports obscurity (when compared to football, basketball, and baseball respectively) until 2018; however, it is growing in popularity. One of the major complaints as to why soccer isn't more popular is that it's far too boring. So, here's some ideas on how to make it more exciting going forward.
1. Allow as many substitutions as you have players.
Pursuant to FIFA rules, each team is allowed 3 substitutes; however, if the teams agree beforehand more substitutes can be allowed. The current U.S. Men's National Team had 23 players on it that attended the World Cup. How is Landon Donovan not one of the top 23 American players? Also nowhere near 23 players played in the 4 matches our team played. I'm sure they all enjoyed being part of the team, but if you're number 22 or 23 on the squad, odds are you're going to play about as much as the backup punter in the Superbowl.
2. Allow line change ups similar to Hockey
One of the best things about Hockey (besides the fact you can fight then are sent to chill out for 5 minutes) is that you can completely change up your entire line up in the middle of the game without much delay. Imagine if you could do that in soccer. Both are aerobic sports where endurance is key, but if you could pull a player off the field without having to stop play and sub in a fresh player, the game would definitely be more entertaining.
3. Penalties for faking injuries
Alright, this is one of the biggest problems we, as Americans, have with soccer...especially, international soccer. Go watch a MLS game, the number of fake injuries is vastly lower than any World Cup match. FIFA has to take a bigger step to stop this complete debauchery of the world sport. Start penalizing these guys for faking injuries. A guy gets bumped and acts like he was a casualty in Saw IV. Meanwhile go watch some ESPN Classic NBA Playoff games between The Celtics and The Pistons in the late 1980s; it looks like a UFC match.
4. Change the Offside Rule
I'm not saying the Offside rule needs to be done away with all together, but it can be improved. If a WR beats a CB down the field, he's not penalized. Why should you be penalized because the defense let you get behind them? Play better defense. You can easily add lines on the field where if the ball is beyond a certain point, it doesn't matter if the pass is made to a player who is behind the defender.
5. Overtime/Extra Time Rule Changes
Several things about extra time needs to be changed.
* Why is there no sudden death? Someone scores to break the tie in extra time, the game should be over. Period. No one wants to see the game go to penalty kicks and it's sad how the less athletic team just plays defense and hopes they'll get lucky in the penalty kick phase.
* Reduce the number of players. You want to see more excitement? Reduce the number of players from 11 to 7. Put 2 guys back as defenders and have 4 attackers with 1 goalie, then you'll see who has the better team. This will also greatly reduce the chance this game goes to penalty kicks.
* If the game does go to penalty kicks, make the players dribble the ball down from midfield all the way to the goal. So much of the penalty kick is just based on which way the goalie guesses and dives. Instead, make the player have to get some momentum and heighten the drama as he has to go all the way down the field with the ball then make a shot on the run instead of just running up and kicking a ball that is sitting still.
6. Brazil should be placed in the same Group with Germany for the 2018 World Cup. It should be the first match. I didn't get a chance to actually watch the complete beat down the Germans handed Brazil, but I did listen to it on the radio and it sounded like what you would expect would happen if Germany played North Korea on FIFA 14 with the difficulty level on "Amateur." Good Luck Argentina.
I know a lot of people say we should get rid of ties, but the NFL has them, the NHL has them, and the Europeans would have a mental breakdown if you got rid of ties. So unfortunately, they are here to stay. I don't like them anymore than you probably do, but it's something we're all going to have to live with.
In other news....Hey, SEC Media Days starts Monday! Get your bets in on how many times Spurrier makes fun of another SEC coach!
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