Why Offsides Are Dying Out

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Why offsides are dying out.
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Every time VAR gives another marginal offside, the frustration is the same. A blurry freeze-frame, an imprecise line, and an attacker judged offside by millimetres.
It happens almost every week now, provoking the accusation that the offside law has been broken by VAR.
But the facts speak differently. Offsides are at an historic low and falling. Maybe that is why they are so frustrating now when they do happen? It feels more like an arbitrary imposition than it ever used to.
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#var #premierleague #championsleague

[@tatsuyasigh1906]

No doubt Morata leaving England contributed to the drop in offsides rate 😂

[@DavidDaliva]

Lmao

[@amaandadan446]

*ROFL*

[@Hugh_Amungus]

Morata totally bodied, absolute scenes lmaoooo Seriously feel bad for him tbh

[@cristoferc5311]

Morata hahaha, i laugh my arse at morata hahaha

[@jcxkzhgco3050]

Gun Master Morata has scored in all of his last 6 games

[@epicrandomperson1998]

Ah Darren Bent, some say he's offside right now

[@mowvu5380]

some say he was born offside

[@rellrylio5567]

😂😭🤣

[@12mountain]

😂😂😂 this is gold

[@alone2break]

Imagine filippo inzaghi with VAR

[@ManchesterBurns]

would still bang like 30 goals or so.

[@ILLALLU]

@@ManchesterBurns 100% right

[@B3Band]

Imagine Inzaghi appearing on The Athletic

[@honestpenaldo]

imagine ronaldo with var, no more offside goals and free penalties and tapins

[@zephergaming4437]

Blood Bath and Beyond - Pop Goes Metal Covers LOL

[@Yoy__]

My life originally appeared on the athletic

[@imanafdar]

so how much athletic bought you?

[@imonarailroad8825]

The best place to find life

[@thabisochokoza9496]

Live

[@dudeispoe2315]

This joke actuallt made me chuckle lol

[@steliosmouratidis3829]

I am, all of sudden, sad that the off-sides are dying out. DAMN your narration and music selection

[@sadinmostafamusad2577]

first like. Just preparing for when this like hits the 2M mark.

[@ivana6599]

@@sadinmostafamusad2577 gonna comment to see if that happens

[@BoqPrecision]

I know ...why is this making me feel mournful for an era? Why am I caring about offsides all of a sudden

[@anhduy07]

Me too, suddenly i felt sad

[@Saru289]

Offsides originally appeared on the Athletic

[@toogood4u49]

Athletic, originally appeared on the Athletic

[@drex5160]

Me: Who's Joe? Tifo: Joe Momma originally appeared on the Athletic.

[@miguelpereira9859]

An actual good Athletic joke, well done

[@maxfayers9235]

Something really interesting in football is that people talk about mid to late 2000’s as the glory years of pl football, but when you go back and watch the full matches, the tactical and technical quality in matches was so far lower than now. I watched an old game the other day where Man United beat Liverpool 2-0. It was around 10-15 years ago and my god the quality was rubbish, everything so forced and direct in the first phase of build up. Football is so much better now in terms of quality

[@azhimahmad5652]

exactly....but tbh, the passion of today;s players were not the same...you can feel it..I grew up in the 90's...people like Tony adams, lampard, gerrard,scholes and other footballing greats play with so much heart...and it really shows in their games...today's we have players like pogba, jorginho,auba who didnt really translate the passion of their clubs...you know what I mean? todays players were great but lack of something we used to see in the past..pardon my english, me not from england

[@ciarjuan7968]

Lion Heart you’ve clearly never watched Jorginho

[@azhimahmad5652]

@@ciarjuan7968 LOL....

[@rounak471]

@@azhimahmad5652 you forgot to mention oliver kahn. The dude was beast.

[@lonestarr1490]

@@azhimahmad5652 I think everyone thinks that about the footballers of his time compared to the footballers which were around when he grew up.

[@favrehatsgechoked8985]

Also, with the introduction of var, the linesmen are urged to let play continue even if the striker tends to be marginally offside. Most times the situation does not lead to a goal. This could also be a reason for lower offside numbers

[@migueldelmazo5244]

This guy gets it.

[@HulkSmash512]

except when they do score and the play is brought back to var and the guy after scoring finds out he was actually offside by a toe. sometimes a move is just perfect and var kills good goals.

[@favrehatsgechoked8985]

@@HulkSmash512 if he's offside by a toe, he is still offside. No matter how good it was played, the goal must not be allowed

[@rezoanalom9732]

No, they let play carry on initially, but if the play doesn’t result in a goal, they will still call it.

[@Gregorio621]

But VAR is recent and the video showed offsides have been in decline even before VAR

[@Liamfulful]

Offside is still the best rule in football. You couldn’t imagine a game without offside.

[@nofurtherwest3474]

nah, it'd be fun without that rule. you'd have cherry pickers but so what. both teams would do it.

[@Safwan.Hossain]

@@nofurtherwest3474 It would kill the game. It'd he a shitshow

[@tonyoliveira8605]

@@nofurtherwest3474 For ppl like you theres futsal

[@drex5160]

What about the handball rule? Imagine a game without it🤣

[@crismonroesanjuan3546]

Exactly!

[@Sizdothyx]

To be fair to the trend, attacking plays have started from the deep for about 15 years now. It's more of a shift in play-style, really. Center forwards have all but died out giving way to deep lying forwards and false nines which pull back defenders rather than play on the shoulder to the opposing defensive line. There are very few players in the mold of a Pippo Inzaghi or Gabriel Batistuta or a Ruud Van Nistelrooy anymore, and even then, their job is to draw the center halves out rather than actually score. Look at Giroud from the World Cup. He pretty much only had three or four golden chances to score throughout the tournament, unlike Baros in the Czech Republic's EURO 2004 adventure, who had about 12. Players are just getting used to new strategies and trends. Just you wait until the next center forward boom comes out and we'll see an uptick again.

[@magicjack4076]

Boring Name same with vardy even though he scored 10 goals so far under Rodgers he’s been making runs away from the goal that opens up space in the midfield for like James Maddison to have a shot

[@tannerwilson4843]

Any chance of a video about the tactics of Sheffield United’s surprising start to the EPL Season?

[@Shundi12]

5:34 ... and that's the Burnley Way! Thumbs up for the Athletico Mince reference XD

[@B3Band]

The concept of Offside originally appeared on The Athletic.

[@advenco344]

The game of football was created by the Athletic.

[@judgejudyandexecutioner.5223]

You get less strikers playing off the shoulder of the last defender like Torres, Henry and the like these days

[@davidtogi5878]

What do you mean by playing off the shoulder?

[@judgejudyandexecutioner.5223]

@@davidtogi5878 Its a term for when a striker plays his game on the offside line. Always trying to get in behind the defence by standing in line and trusting his speed. Standing shoulder to shoulder with the defenders as it were.

[@taz1231990]

Nah the players run around more now , there much fitter

[@AIIXIII0]

@@taz1231990 Run around supporting. Not much about being fit. More about modern tactical. Back then, there was two strikers and 4 midfielder. Right now, One striker and 3 midfielder. The striker right now is not required to make runs but supporting and holding the back. The wingers is the main goal scorer now. The wingers would be much further than current forwards.

[@AIIXIII0]

True. I miss these kind of Strikers.

[@tommygoldstraw1318]

When people say the offside law has been broken they don't mean that offside is being called more frequently, but there is a grey area 'where the ball has been played' and that VAR is imperfectly judging offside

[@daviscarl3766]

Tommy Goldstraw lots of frames btw intent to pass and the ball leaving the foot

[@lonestarr1490]

There is no "same level" anymore.

[@imanafdar]

its not VAR who do the judgments afterall VAR is only a video, referees are the one who judge the game

[@vanlandings7466]

The PL var refs are just shit. VAR is irritating at times even in la Liga and bundesliga but the refs are much better overall.

[@finding_aether]

VAR just highlights how shit it has been. It has been shit all along :D

[@UltanOfficial]

Where did this originally come from? I didn't catch it in the video

[@DizzyBusy]

It has a weird name, something like The Atlanta?

[@edwin7788]

5:58 kiwi-style lmao

[@scottlawson1800]

No doubt Alvaro Morata is still wondering what 'offside' means

[@McBeaner720]

Oh God been watching him since first Madrid days can confirm.

[@dbigya9063]

"Football has changed" makes me sad everytime I hear it

[@Banzybanz]

Liverpool still play a good offside trap.

[@paulie-g]

Indeed. They're clearly taking advantage of the certainty VAR provides in this respect. Both their high line when in possession and free kick defence rely on it.

[@grahamcox2160]

Love the Atletico minces reference (and that’s the Burnley way)😂

[@MichaelCheng628]

2:14 you put 2002 when it should be 2006 for henry

[@spethmanjones2997]

Accidentally mixing up 2s for 6s originally occurred on The Athletic

[@yt_NXN]

@@spethmanjones2997 bruh

[@spethmanjones2997]

Nixon Sanchez I hope you read that in a soft English accent

[@djeieakekseki2058]

Spethman Jones lol

[@jabrown]

Out of all your videos, I like the ones about tactics maybe the most. Football tactics is such a beautiful emergent phenomenon.

[@jabrown]

@@christophergerstle5000 well said!

[@Michael_Deti]

What a great channel!! Just stumbled across and found great videos questioning football and challenging the rules of the game. It's exciting to watch these videos ;)

[@migueldelmazo5244]

The game is evolving a break neck pace, so I look forward to when KZbin puts this in my feed in 9 years. At that time, the 4-4-2 will be back with onside traps along with bell bottoms and grunge music. There is a cycle, an ebb and flow to all things except fans griping about their favorite sport. :)

[@avgaming4093]

Everything naturally improves with time. It would take a whole lot of dysfunctional people to believe the counterpart- people evolve and so do the things we do. No one purposefully does things worse the next day. This football is easily in my opinion better than the one 10 years ago, 10 more before that and so on. I firmly believe that Messi and CR are better footballers than Pele or Maradona ever were because the game improved as well. That is the beauty of humans, and with it entertainment including sports gives people something to admire. That’s why this sport is beautiful.

[@advenco344]

AV Gaming both of your comments are brilliant

[@johnnyboi331]

@@avgaming4093 this is simply not true. those old arsenal/united teams would tear apart modern day arsenal and united. we like to pretend like man city and livepool are the only 2 teams playing football...

[@TheSystemaSystem]

@@johnnyboi331 That's just because Arsenal and United have had a proper decline in quality on and off the pitch the last 10 years. Has nothing to do with the overall evolution of football.

[@johnnyboi331]

@@TheSystemaSystem Its not like ufc though. football has alread evolved for 100s of years. just like boxing the improvements are extremely small every year. there is only so much the human body can do with a football. in mma the sport is new so the techniques are still being labbed out.

[@guccitoad6539]

How can you do a video on offsides without mentioning the rule change in the 1990s? It used to favour the defenders because being level counted as offside. It basically marks the beginning of the modern era where backpasses were banned. VAR is a reversion back to the old days where the attack no longer gets the benefit of the doubt. A clear rule change is needed, it should be that your entire trailing foot must be past the line to be offside. The foot is a better guide and easier to monitor - same principles are used for throw ins and the goal line. VAR has basically given defenders an extra half yard of protection.

[@philsblogs8527]

Was Theirry Henry offside that many times in 2002 or 2006? because it's written 02 but said 06

[@sigururfreyrjonatansson1113]

France only played 3 games in 2002

[@christopheringram1605]

Sigurður Freyr Jónatansson which means if it was 2002 that’s a lot of offsides per game!

[@nicklevesque576]

4:50 really tried to sneak Dan James in with the other superstars

[@5amH45lam]

'The Golden Age of offside'. That's like the Golden Age of verrucas' or something. (Which coincidentally was also around the 80s/90s period). Great video, by the way,! Thanks for sharing!

[@gareth6956]

John McGinn of Villa runs in behind and has picked up a few goals doing so, difference is hes doing it from midfield.

[@MrEgor31]

Great Thank You for This Interesting investigation. Amazing work.

[@winterglue274]

I originally appeared on the Athletic

[@lassepetersen9301]

If Fillippo Inzaghi would have played in VAR-times, he would have scored 100 goals a season!!

[@louis3848]

You guys are the masters of putting crazy titles then really making it not seem crazy at all

[@dominicsilvestrini7038]

I thought VAR is only used for ‘clear and obvious errors’ if players are being adjudged offside by millimeters then how is that ‘clear or obvious’. If it can’t be determined within 30 seconds that a player is offside then it is not clear or obvious and therefore the on-field decision should stand.

[@theskankingpigeon965]

No, offside is one of the parts of the game where there is (supposedly) an objective answer as to whether someone is offside or not. The 'clear and obvious' condition is for subjective decisions (like fouls). However, I would quite like it if 'clear and obvious' was used for offsides, as you suggest. The thing with that though is that linesmen wouldn't flag the marginal calls for fear of distracting the defence, so they will not flag for offsides as often, meaning there will probably be a lot of technically offside goals being scored. But if it's the same for everyone, perhaps no one will feel particularly aggrieved by it (except Sean Dyche, who is aggrieved by literally everything). I personally take issue with the a person's shoulder being the measure of whether or not they're offside. When was the last time you ever saw someone score a goal with their shoulder? I don't know why they don't use the part of the body that they strike the ball with. If your feet are onside and you kick the ball, kinda feels harsh to be called off because your armpit is. It would also be a lot easier for VAR to check if a head/foot is onside rather than shoulders/knees.

[@richardmatthias6098]

"Clear and obvious" are not decided based on the difficulty of the problem. It's based on the objectiveness of the problem. And offside calls are some of the most basic decisions in the game just like goalline calls, it's extremely clear whether or not a play is offside, the only reason why certain decisions take longer than they should is because of the technology not providing the perfect angle.

[@danpreston564]

Offside isn’t judged on clear and obvious because it’s a black and white issue.

[@georgesheldon4]

You have to appreciate the ellipsis on Darren Bent's quote before "is Jamie Vardy" 😂

[@davidriley354]

I said the words "Jamie Vardy" before I heard them 😂🤣😂

[@killercd7682]

same here

[@gyanchudasama4412]

Terrific analysis yet again.

[@ritwikraghuvanshi7543]

And when I play PES Master League, Suarez is offside every damn time😆😭

[@WilhelmUnterharnscheidt]

or Ozil xD

[@Hugh_Amungus]

Suarez isn't offside, it's his teeth that are offside

[@PissG]

@@Hugh_Amungus His teeth are offside. His teeth are offside. Luis Suarez. His teeth are offside.

[@AIIXIII0]

@Njabulo Zimu Why? Its fairly bad right now. Changed to Pes in 2018 and never came back to Fifa.

[@AIIXIII0]

@Njabulo Zimu I can get those too with Option Files on Pes 20. For free too. FUT Icons is draw based right? Draw until you get one based on luck?

[@Tom-sw6fc]

Loving the videos

[@undergroundkid8337]

i love this channel the voice over is so assured

[@fellipedovale202]

Good video. Though I think the response to the frustration at VAR offside calls is misplaced; the issue isn't with the frequency of offside calls, but with the seemingly minuscule criteria applied (hence the appeal for a 'daylight' rule). It is interesting that offside calls are decreasing, but I think the frustration is with what is necessary for a player to be offside and the officials drawing up the lines for adjudication.

[@MightyD__]

Your videos are absolutely brilliant.

[@Seallussus]

Know what also is dying? Magazines. Online or not.

[@devononair]

Spurs fan here, chuckling at the mention of Jermaine Defoe! My abiding memory of him is him being offside! haha

[@alexandrenunesdeoliveira9417]

Ohhhh the dramatic piano music in the background. What an eerie offside feeling.

[@kingaufswag]

I think the biggest problem with the introduction of var is the fact that they said it was meant to be used for "clear and obvious" errors. However the offsides being called by var are showing such little fine details of the offside that no linesman in real time was ever gonna spot, meaning the error was neither clear no obvious. It defeats the whole purpose of what it was supposed to be brought in for

[@TehRawB]

Slight error in your graphic at Thierry Henry. Narration says 2006 but graphic says 2002. Keep up the great content!

[@franticredge7517]

Good video!

[@themrwoody1434]

I think the biggest frustration with VAR isn’t necessarily when they get decisions correct, but when they take forever to get the decision right. Another problem is they are getting more and more decisions bizarrely wrong.

[@12yardsfootball]

Damn good video! This channel will always be an inspiration for me.

[@cannonballbob6949]

I watched every home game for my team in Sweden and I would always be caught of guard by an offside because they almost never happen

[@HoXanna]

Never thought we would be looking back nostalgically at offsides one day

[@duckyboi6071]

Never thought I would see a luton shirt and an AC milan shirt on the same slide

[@MrDOOlevrai]

Bent doesn't seem to know about Dortmund and Messi...

[@sirius1807]

they talk about premier league only

[@sxcJOELisNotsexy]

VAR's failure is ultimately down to human error.

[@butterbean2771]

Do a video on how the language barrier is over come at football clubs with multiple nationalities.

[@michamarkowski2204]

I can hardly agree. Many teams (e.g. teams playing with high defence) still use off-side trap, although usually younger or less skilled players get caught. And there are some offensive players who are off-side line masters. E.g. Lewandowski is almost never off-side, when he's receiving a pass.

[@alexisaac2686]

Please do the tactics of Marcelo Gallardo of River Plate

[@lukemclellan2141]

Your request was fulfilled!

[@dondamon4669]

Its amazing how much it has changed really

[@TheTwoGoalsOneCup]

6:10 that dig at Bobby seemed a bit unnecessary without any following context haha

[@malcolmkittle5115]

That's not a dig a Bobby, it's a compliment more than anything. He's saying that Wood isn't as technically gifted as Firmino

[@benhaney5843]

I've always wanted to see a high level game played without the offsides rule, just to see what it would look like. It may not be the free for all you'd think. After all, players in the NBA don't just cherry pick all game because then their team would be short a defender. Such things usually work themselves out within the natural flow of the game even without a dedicated rule.

[@johnnyfreespeech5815]

It’s not the quantity of offside decisions but rather the quality of offside decisions. We are seeing VAR rule out goals with camera stills and angles that do not definitively show a player has strayed off. They show the grainy picture from a slanted angle and draw a couple of line to suggest that he looks like he may be offside. The rule needs a change if it is to work alongside VAR.

[@aidanmagill6769]

Pippo Inzaghi: 😢

[@robing8705]

Not sure about that one... As example, Liverpool are playing the Offsidd Trap for a few years now and it works brilliantly. Also the VAR intorduction helps them, because Offside gets called a lot more accuratly

[@ManchesterBurns]

liverpool play deeper when playing against better teams.

[@a117bond]

The big bang originally occurred on the athletic

[@edwin7788]

is offside originally brought by the atlethic?

[@abdullohahmadbadawi6896]

In some cases like Napoli Vs Atalanta, Players now too much rely on VAR even though referees said play on and they still wait ball to out of field so they can ask the ref to use VAR. While at it they lost consentration on the defense and cost them conceded a goal.

[@GeniusLad32]

If you need to draw a line between the player's arm and the ground to tell if they're offside, the benefit they're getting from being offside is essentially nil.

[@bmarkrundle]

5:20 *Deulofeu

[@AbdulAziz2526]

Very nice content

[@schorniflytothesky]

Guido Burgstaller. Master of the Offside

[@adrianiliesi3213]

I have to admit I wouldn't have guessed this was a trend. As a Liverpool fan, it makes it even more suprising seeing our high offside trap this season. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

[@Mookie-Jones]

"People dont do that as much anymore, running in behind" Meanwhile vardy is leading leauge in goals

[@DuragAllDay]

The exception proves the rule.

[@JodiGilar]

I still think that attackers that love to run in behind like Vardy, Inzaghi, are the worst kind of attacker that I have to face as a defender.. They force us to focus not only on what's in front of us, but also their movements, once we thought that their movements are useless and let them have their way by not sticking to them, they'll have a 1-on-1 chance with goalie..

[@bartomiejkumor9375]

The video literally points out that Vardy is an unique character in modern football in that he's still effectively running in behind and consistently scoring goals...

[@erdnasiul87]

This history originally appeared OFFSIDE on the Athletic

[@killercd7682]

It's just a fantasy that football, and everything else in life, is always getting better and better. It just isn't. As good as this channel is, it's completely wedded to the idea that modern football is this amazing revolutionary never before seen thing. But it's equally true to say 'there's nothing new under the sun'.

[@HulkSmash512]

luka jovic was literally a toe nail off like if you have to use var to see if a player is a toe nail off something is gone wrong. its brilliant for clear offsides that are missed but i think at a certain point you just have to admire the reaction quickness and wit of an attack to make a move like that. i mean some goals that are rules of are brilliantly worked goals only to be given a fucking toe offside.

[@thevellocet]

Your voice is the resonant frequency of my room.

[@mowvu5380]

that's the closest i'm gonna get to see a Luton Town shirt next to an AC Milan shirt haha ffs. also, i'm absolutely loving the "originally appeared in the athletic" memes haha

[@SonicSP]

Most of the time I am not upset about VAR giving offsides even marginal ones, in fact I am happy because it shows the system working like I want it too. I much prefer the current system to the just linesman. (Last weekend was one of the exceptiona cos they actually screwed it up even based on their own lines).

[@marcwhyte]

“and that’s the Burnley way” thats a nice comment isn’t it Andrew

[@nicholasgunson2945]

My Nan's funeral originally appeared on The Athletic.

[@ChesterRGC]

Let's not forget that also VAR ist contributing to that decrease at offsides: assistant referees are less riskily willing to lift up the flag knowing that VAR would eventually stop an illegal goal

[@daviernestpradipta4646]

The Athletic here, The Athletic there, The Athletic everywhere

[@jayrodm643]

You are the Athletic *Turns Dramatically*

[@saradmatthewtigga4413]

😂

[@nofurtherwest3474]

do you actually anything of substance to say?

[@christopheringram1605]

no further west well saying things substantive originally appeared on the Athletic

[@nofurtherwest3474]

@@christopheringram1605 then it should follow that the comments are in a similar tone, but no, everyone wants to be a comedian. I gotta sort through 10 stupid ass lame joke comments to find one where someone has something substantive to say about the video in question. I guess most people are just dumb. I have to keep reminding myself of this or else I'd go crazy.

[@goonermu8629]

I'm going to make this comment before watching the video in regards to offsides. They should always favour the attacker. My understanding of why the rule is in place is to prevent what the streets would call "goal hanging". If that's the reason, I see no reason to be so strict on determining offside. Even VAR depends on when they decide to pause the video. In that fine margin, the attackers should have priority. I'd go as far as to suggest a yard leniency to the attacker. Maybe it would kill the offside trap, but that's not how you should defend if you want to play football as intended.

[@mmw4990]

The rule is the rule, you can't say oh well they can have an extra yard... That just changes the rule. The mms in the recent var decisions are ridiculous and the attacker should be given the advantage there but I completely disagree with everything else you said

[@theskankingpigeon965]

@@mmw4990 'the rule is the rule' - so what? just change the rule. remember backpasses? I certainly don't. stupid rule. it was changed. football is better for it. GOOD.

[@mmw4990]

@@theskankingpigeon965 you're missing my point. The rule as it is is cut and dry, you're offside or you aren't (obviously there's margin for error however small that's life) but by saying it's more lenient than that opens a can of worms. Withthis particular rule at least. I'm all for changing rules if it helps the game. But instead of having a real line (the last man) you want to draw an imaginary line a yard behind them essentially. I see that causing far more problems than it solves

[@goonermu8629]

@@mmw4990 the rule can be changed to allow a yard leniency....

[@mmw4990]

@@goonermu8629 but that's just saying the law is the same except the line is now a yard behind the last defender instead of on the last defender😂😂😂

[@rijosam5278]

Even if it's only millimetres it's still offside right? Also it's getting blown out of proportion rn imo. For example the recent claims that Firmino was called offside because of his hand but who knows what's the real case is. The angle that was available to us doesn't justify the claims of both sides. Why? Because at that angle it's normal for the naked eye to seem he was onside.

[@metalcory95]

Interesting. This would probably explain some of the defensive struggles that West Ham experience as one of the teams whose tactics is centred around playing the offside trap. We concede so many clear cut chances because the opposition keep getting behind our defence. Playing such a high line with low quality defenders is suicide especially with a keeper like Roberto.

[@freeross371]

I'm sure the offside rate plummeted when Henry retired😂

[@carlbyronrodgers]

AC in the 90s played clockwork offside almost the same as the Netherlands 74

[@mishagelenava2962]

Calling 1994 AC Milan Arrigo Sacchi's team is like calling 2015 Barcelona Guardiola's team. Of course Sacchi's and Guardiola's teams were predecessor and a lot of key players were the same, but teams were still different and coaches were definitely different. Fabio Capello never gets the credit he deserves. Sacchi build an amazing team and won 2 European cups, but he failed domestically quite a lot, as he won only one serie a title with Milan and no Italian cups. Capello brought more stability to the team domestically winning 3 consecutive and 4 total serie a titles. He also made 2 European cup finals and won 1. And all of that happened with quite a lot changes in the squad. Sacchi's Milan's main stars were Dutch trio of Van Basten, Gullit and Rijkaard. Van Basten started to have a lot of injuries and retired early. Rijkaard left in 1993, Gullit left in 1994, but he declined his play quality and role in the team much earlier. So, the main players Capello's team was built on(especially in the attack) were different. Still, people call that 90's AC Milan Sacchi's team and completely forget about Capello and his contributions.

[@MartyD]

Do teams still utilize an offside trap?

[@donmie123]

Can u make a video about utility players in the European league? Their importance, the different styles & usage.

[@EMETRL]

going back and watching any champions league final from over a decade ago is really unsettling. Compared to modern football it looks absolutely chaotic, like they're playing hot potato out there. Milan vs. United comes to mind especially, I swear my neck muscles were getting a workout swinging left to right and back to left again as balls kept getting spammed back and forth. It looks primitive, as if they had the tactical creativity of schoolboys. But the thing is, it was genius in its own way and it worked.

[@prabuddhagsherpa3679]

1994 Milan was coached by Capello not Saachi.

[@weston7trillion]

The pot shots at Burnley originally appeared on the Athletic

[@joebart8593]

Offsides: *are dying* VAR: Allow me to introduce myself

[@zephergaming4437]

Yeah they don’t run in behind and they don’t bend there runs either anymore like Robbie Keane and Kevin Phillips used to do so well

[@McMonkeyful]

I've always hated the way offside is implemented. The original idea was to prevent attackers from goal hanging (like kinds in a playground match) but the rule was exploited by canny defensive coaches to become a trap (I think of George Graham's Arsenal). I've always argued that there would be far fewer offsides & more exciting attacking play if the rule was that there had to be clear daylight between the attacker & defender. As in the attacker was given the benefit of the doubt & had to be clearly past the last defender & it was not judged by fractions of a millimeter (was it Son the other day who was adjudged to have his armpit offside?). Of course, wherever you draw the line it's going to be up to the linesman to make the decision & people will disagree with their calls but at least if the player had to be clearly ahead of the last defender & not just have a tow or nose crossing that line, then the linesmen are likely to be more consistent & the game would become more attack-oriented.

[@joaots2571]

You can also say that teams now park the bus a lot, so no space for runs