I am not advocating this rule. I am asking what would the outcome of this rules would be on the beautiful game. It’s simple. Instead of the current offside rules, where the attackers has to be level with the defenders, what if the attackers has a 1 yard (or 1 meter) advantage. So if the attacker is 1 yard ahead of the defenders when the ball is passed to him/her, he/she is not off-side. The Pros: -it will increase scoring -increase goals = increase excitement -possible increases in TV ratings, increase attendance -could off-set the low scores resulted from better and more athletic goal keepers in recent times. The Cons: -not part of the soccer tradition -could damage some of the records of past soccer scorers -it would be harder for linesman to judge an off-side
It won't increase scoring. All that will happen is that defenders will lag farther back in order not to be caught holding someone onside. This change might also discourage defenders from overlapping (in order to make sure there's always an extra guy to cover in case of a breakaway), thereby keeping a guy from going up to help out the attack... thereby weakening the attack. And if you want to see how much "harder for the linesman to judge an off-side" it will be, you might want to try the Referee forum. I'd be curious to see what they thought of it.
I think the rule where the Linesman has to be able to see daylight between the last defender and the attacking player for the player to be called offsides is sufficient. One yard is a huge distance when making a break on goal. Especially in set pieces. Either enforce the rule or don't and lets go back to 2-3-5 formations.
There would most certainly be some kind of controversy in a big match because the attacker was clearly 1.5 yards in front of the last defender and that's why they got relegated and that's why the rule's interpretation needs to be checked again. It's simple. The rule is fine and should not be debatable. If any player is in an offside position, it's offsides. No contemplating passive offside or 'not involved in the play' offsides. Simple. Attackers better hustle back and not whine after non-calls or the attacks will be muted by offsides calls. It's the only way to end the controversy.
They could give the linesmen big measuring sticks and have them run along side the last defender or they could put lines on the field...