After years of watching my kids, I am not sure the refs always know what is offside either.
Growing up I always made fun of soccer and considered it a game for uncircumcised foreigners, but I have to like it now because my kids play. The worst thing about soccer is that no one, outside the ref, really knows how much time is left in the game. That and flopping in the box to get penalty shots.
> The worst thing about soccer is that no one, outside the ref, really knows how much time is left in the game
This is also kind of a feature. Different kind of suspense. I don't mind it.
> That and flopping in the box to get penalty shots.
I don't like diving, but I can understand it to some extent. The ref misses a lot of the illegal contact.
Grabbing, pushing, pretty much anything you do with your hands to manipulate another player is illegal contact. Shoulder contact is mostly fine and the generally allowed strength and positioning play.
If you have someone doing subtle tactical fouls in the box (very common). The ref will probably miss it because it's hard to see the finer technical contact at 30-40 yards away. Then there's the safety issue. If you're a forward and you get plowed by a defender, it can be quite dangerous. There tends to be a size mismatch favoring the defender.
So exaggerating contact to make sure the ref is aware that it's occurred is a counter to potential defender gamesmanship, or worse.
I've never been able to do it, I keep my feet at even egregious fouls (really good balance) and consequently, despite probably hundreds of fouls in the box, I never get awarded penalties.
But... I still retain a bit of appreciation for the divers as I know what defenders would be like if the threat of it wasn't there.
Another common problem is the huge license keepers are granted with physical contact.
They know the rule, the problem is just that it's sometimes hard to see where the players are relative to each other the moment the ball leaves someone's foot so there are false positives and false negatives. Tech and replays make it less and less of a problem but it takes away from the game in my opinion. It's becoming too techie.
> Growing up I always made fun of soccer and considered it a game for uncircumcised foreigners
Growing up I always made fun of soccer and considered it a game for uncircumcised foreigners, but I have to like it now because my kids play. The worst thing about soccer is that no one, outside the ref, really knows how much time is left in the game. That and flopping in the box to get penalty shots.