In Atlanta United’s most recent home game against Columbus Crew, something happened in the final moments of the game that led to two yellow cards (Crew defender and Atlanta striker) and one red card (Atlanta’s head coach). In my opinion, this “gamesmanship” event does not need to continue to happen in professional soccer. And it shouldn’t.
Down 0-2 in the first of 5 minutes of stoppage play, Atlanta’s Dom Dwyer scored on a miraculous bicycle kick. Under an obvious time crunch, Dwyer wanted to retrieve the ball from the back of the net. United had the momentum, and wanted to restart play as quickly as possible. But Columbus’ defender picked up the ball and refused to give it to the waiting Dwyer. Dwyer retaliated and began pushing the defender to the back of the net, while at the same time grabbing for the ball as much as he could.
The picking-up-and-holding-the-ball-to-waste trick is not new or unique to soccer, the MLS, or the Columbus Crew. It seems to be accepted in all levels of the game. And it’s maddeningly frustrating to the team and fans of the team that is running out of time. And it’s a beautiful thing for the team and fans that are up and looking to run out the clock.
Personally, I think this type of tactic is tacky, and should be beneath the game. I'm probably viewed as a naive purist when it comes to this stance. I happen to think a lot of the tactics that players use to waste time near the end of the game really takes away from the competition.
Putting those aside, though, I’d like to make a suggestion to remedy this particular tacky tactic. (In case you were wondering, I’m not proud of the “tacky tactic” alliteration.)
- When a goal is scored, an official ball person rolls a new ball to the center line for the ensuing kickoff.
- If the previous ball is “held”, or not put out of play in a timely manner, an automatic yellow card is given to the keeper.
- If the referee deems this action as intentional, the automatic yellow changes to an automatic red card on the keeper and the head coach.
My son thinks this proposal is too harsh, and I usually defer to his knowledge of the game. But in this case, I respectfully disagree with him. Much like the “professional” foul of a breaking player where the defender receives an automatic yellow card, this proposal discourages the practice. It also allows the referee to make a judgement call to truly punish a blatant abuse of it.
I think this proposal is rational and well thought out. But maybe readers, and long-time soccer (I mean football) fans, view that as my own naiveté.
