I was watching a cup game between 2 second or third division teams Peterboro and Swindon. Crappy conditions, raining, pitch is not great. a lot of fouls and several yellow cards. Swindon controls the ball for most of the first half and has a 1-0 lead. The cup match is a semi final and best-of 2 games with goal differential deciding who moves on.
Peterboro scores in the 60th or 70th minute to tie it. The rest of the game is back and forth, end to end but no one can break the tie. The three guys around me on a slow night are intrigued and actually perturbed with me because they are sure who I am for. I know who they are for!
The game ends regular time and it will be a shootout. I start putting my coat and hat and gloves on to leave and one of the guys says: where are you going? I and I say, "well, the rest is garbage, not soccer, I don't care about the random outcome here with the shootout..." He looks at me with such disgust.
I just think that shootouts are not a pure way of determine who is the best team or most deserving. Why not reward the more fit team with overtimes rather than such a convenience of shootouts? Years ago, an NCAA college soccer match with UCLA went several overtimes and was ultimately decided by a walk on's goal, essentially after almost playing two games. That was for the championship!
I think it is interesting that in a game that has been around for so long, it gets tinkered with to suit TV or the fact that teams might be playing 3 times in 8 days. What does the shootout prove? While I think the role of the goalie is so important, most of the action and touches are by the rest of the players. Defenders for instance average 65 a game. Why suddenly misaligned the deciding variable with the goalie?
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