FIFA needs to get rid of the away goals rule.

Discussion in 'The Beautiful Game' started by Every Four Years, Dec 14, 2019.

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Should the away goals rule be scrapped?

  1. No

    3 vote(s)
    42.9%
  2. Yes, play extra time and penalties if needed.

    2 vote(s)
    28.6%
  3. Yes, go straight to penalties after second leg.

    2 vote(s)
    28.6%
  4. Yes, find another way other than extra time/penalties to resolve a tied fixture (e.g. replays, etc.)

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. Every Four Years

    May 16, 2015
    Miramar, Florida
    Nat'l Team:
    India
    Not much to elaborate on here, really. Lots of people have already said what I’m about to say here.

    The away goals rule is probably one of the dumbest rules to exist in modern football. 0-0 is not a different result from 1-1, it’s the same bloody thing. Failing to win your home game with a goalless draw should not be considered a good result. You should either have to win your away game in regulation or in extra time or penalties.

    There are countless examples of games which were effectively ended early in the second leg because the away team got one goal. This should not happen.

    Hell, even penalties require some (if entirely arbitrary and very flawed) attempt at a display of footballing superiority from the winning team. The away goals rule does not. How is conceding two and scoring one better than not scoring but only conceding a single goal? I would much rather see ties go to penalties after 30 minutes of extra time than this nonsense.

    Lol, that was actually a little longer than expected. Kind of ranting a bit here haha. Anyway, what do you think? Do you agree with me that the away goals ought to be placed in the dust heap?
     
  2. Roger Allaway

    Roger Allaway Member+

    Apr 22, 2009
    Warminster, Pa.
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I thought that the away goals rule was intended to encourage away teams to come out and play instead of bunkering.
     
  3. Every Four Years

    May 16, 2015
    Miramar, Florida
    Nat'l Team:
    India
    Yeah, that was the rationale, but there’s no proof it’s actually had that effect, and it’s also strangely sometimes led home teams to play defensively because they know they a goalless draw is an okay result.
     
  4. unclesox

    unclesox BigSoccer Supporter

    Mar 8, 2003
    209, California
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Good gawd, please tell me you are not serious!

    For me, advancing through open play is more satisfying than winning a kicking contest 11 meters in front of goal.
    Spot kicks often only requires 5/11 players from each team stepping up to take a penalty. Sometimes even less! The vast majority of time not every player is involved in a 'shootout'.
    That's what I would call "nonsense".

    The away goals rule is an excellent concept because it not only brings about more attacking play but it also creates more drama than if there was no away goals rule.
    Unless the scoreline from the second leg is the exact same as the scoreline from the first leg there will always be the case of one team needing to score.

    Scenario.
    In the first leg the home team win 1-0.

    -- With the away goals rule in effect:
    A second leg scoreline of 2-1 for the home side would require one team - in this case, the home side - to seek a goal. And if they score then the situation remains the same - one team requiring to score - except that it shifts to the away side. No matter how many or few goals are scored, the situation of a required goal almost never disappears. This brings about lots of drama. And for many people, drama = excitement.

    -- With the away goals rule NOT in effect:
    A second leg scoreline of 2-1 for the home side would see the aggregate level. And I'm not convinced that (a) at least one team would be committed to attacking in the same manner as if the away goals rule was in effect, and (b) although there would be some drama it wouldn't be at the level with the away goals rule in effect where one team is on edge of going out if they don't score. Yes, both teams need to score to advance, but neither is eliminated if no more goals are scored.
    This will often result in both teams going on the defensive every time the aggregate is all square, especially in extra time.
    And this, in turn, would probably lead to more ties decided on penalties.
    And I cannot stress it enough: Watching a team advance through open play is much more satisfying than seeing a team advance on spot kicks. All day, every day. Whatever method/format is required, if it helps avoid the dreaded nerve-racking unfairness of penalties then all the better.
     
    EvanJ repped this.
  5. poetgooner

    poetgooner Member+

    Arsenal
    Nov 20, 2014
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    The away goal has certainly achieved drama, if nothing else. Without it, both teams might play for the draw and fight it out in ET/penalties.

    With the away goal rule, while it isn't necessary competitively fair (I agree a 2-1 result isn't different from a 1-0 result, from a fair competitive sense) it creates drama because it almost always forces a team to be on the attack mode.

    It feels bad and unjust to lose on the away goal, but we shouldn't ignore that when teams are down on away goals, they're force to attack, which results in better entertainment.
     
  6. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not only can eliminating away goals make clubs content to go to extra time, it can make them make substitutions thinking about if a player subbed on in the 80th minute will play 10 or 40 minutes. If the second leg away club has more away goals than the first leg away club, you know that extra time won't happen. If the first leg is scoreless, one goal by either club in the second leg guarantees that there won't be extra time. That means that clubs can make subs knowing how long they will have to play.

    If away goals are eliminated (which I don't want to happen), that should apply to group stage tiebreakers also. For example, 2016-2017 Europa League Group K ended with Southampton hosting Hapoel Be'er Sheva, with one of them advancing and one being eliminated. They ended playing each other in Southampton tied with 7 points. The game at Hapoel Be'er Sheva was 0-0, and Southampton had the better goal differential +2 to 0. Southampton needed a win or a scoreless draw. A scoreless draw would have made all the head-to-head tiebreaker even and advanced Southampton on goal differential. Hapoel Be'er Sheva needed a win or a draw with goals, and the latter would have advanced them on head-to-head away goals. Most of the game was scoreless. Hapoel Be'er Sheva scored in the 79th minute, which changed the game from Southampton not needing to score to needing to score twice. Virgil Van Dijk scored in the 90+1st minute, but everyone knew Southampton needed another goal, which they didn't get. If head-to-head goal differential but not head-to-head away goals were tiebreakers, Van Dijk would have made the home fans celebrate. Instead, one of the announcers said "the Saints go marching out of the Europa League." Southampton's nickname is the Saints.
     

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