As to the original question. I think Beckham may have been able to save soccer had he come over here 8 years ago, but now he's gotten to the end of his career. I don't think he'll have that big of an impact.

This is kind of like MIchael Jordan going to play for the wizzards.

One comment on shootouts. I actually prefer those to overtime in soccer. I think they should get rid of the 2 over times and just go straight to the shoot out.

I actually really like the offsides rule. I think it adds more stategy in soccer. Without offsides I think there would just be a bunch of cherry picking and kickball. However, I would be willing to make a compromise and make a quarter field line, so that offisides would only work beyond the quarter field line instead of the half line.

I think a good way to improve scoring would be to increase goal size. That would of course make penalty kicks even easier...maybe the penalty kick line could be moved back a little to compensate.

Hengst wrote:

As to the original question. I think Beckham may have been able to save soccer had he come over here 8 years ago, but now he's gotten to the end of his career. I don't think he'll have that big of an impact.

This is kind of like MIchael Jordan going to play for the wizzards.

One comment on shootouts. I actually prefer those to overtime in soccer. I think they should get rid of the 2 over times and just go straight to the shoot out.

The MLS got Beckham one stop earlier than most thought. Most people thought Beckham would come to the US after one more stint with a European club.

The thing about Beckham is that he's not a dominating player when the ball's in play. Sure he deliver some good crosses when he's out wide, but dominating the field like Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, or Zidane was never his game. What Beckham does best is deliver stunning free kicks. In England's past few matches, he's been good for a goal a game because of his ability to put free kick on the heads of his teammates. Just the fact that England brought him back says a lot about where his abilities stand. If he were really washed up, you'd think a country like England would have enough young studs in the stable to replace him in a second.

Any player who is good enough to play on the English national team is a better player than anyone who has ever played in MLS. America's best and brightest never get more than a sniff by England's big four clubs.

kitic77 wrote:

[color=#008000]I would also add an additional on-field official and thereby cutting in half the amount of players and ground each ref has to cover. It's worked wonders for hockey. Currently the ref:player ratio in soccer is 1:22. That's too many for one official. In football it's 7:22, baseball it's at least 4:10 (6:10 in the playoffs), basketball is 3:10 hockey it's 4:12.

I would implement post-game replay and punish divers. They can be issued blue cards for each dive. Five blues and you miss the next game.
[color]

I also think more referees are needed. Maybe one for each half of the field and a lead referee that floats around. I would still maintain the offsides referees but I do agree that they can often make bad calls. I think this needs to be revisited to improve calls...especially when the offsides call can change the result of a game.

I also agree about diving. When I played soccer I could not stand it. I was a halfback and forward and I knew that I could get calls if I dived...but it was just too hard for me to fake it. I think I didn't want to look weak and always fought through slide tackles. It is even worse to see a guy rolling around on the ground, acting like they broke a leg. Then when the stretcher or the trainers get there, they just pop up...or on the reply you see they were tapped in the shin and they are holding there knee. That's why I think some people watch a game and think soccer players are wimps.

Double post. <br><br>Post edited by: cougfan1, at: 2007/07/16 12:57