You don’t necessarily pick up on it if you watch as many games as I (and possibly you) do, because we often don’t notice gradual change: frog in boiling water and all that. But next time there’s a corner kick or a free kick from a wide position, watch carefully. Watch for the grabbing, the holding, the twisting, the blocking, and those players whose sole function is to run into opponents. You’ll see it while the ball is in the air, and you’ll see it — often more so — before it’s even in play.
Maybe it will feel normal to you, which is OK. Sometimes it strikes me as normal, too.
Except it’s not. It’s not good for the game, and if you take a step back, it doesn’t need to be this way.
I was at the Chelsea vs. Brentford game recently. Brentford took nine corner kicks, and every time, it was the same nonsense. One of Brentford’s central defenders — usually Kristoffer Ajer, sometimes Nathan Collins — would make it his business to shield Chelsea keeper Robert Sánchez. Chelsea would respond by having somebody, usually Enzo Fernández, attempt to snowplow Ajer out of the way. They’d wrestle — the smaller Fernandez would get low and push with both hands, the bigger Ajer using his frame to try to out leverage or spin Enzo — and hand-fight like two NFL linemen and, on several occasions, the pair ended up in the back of the net.
And, of course, they weren’t the only ones. The penalty box was a cluster mess of men holding, shirt-grabbing and jiujitsu-ing their way to gain some sort of advantage.
Like you, I’ve been desensitized, but in a rare moment of clarity, I asked myself: «What is this? What am I watching?»
I fell in love with this sport. What you see in these situations — not just in this game — isn’t what made it happen for me, and most likely for you. Grown men wrestling, grabbing and shoving isn’t a part of it. Heck, it’s not part of soccer, and it’s not really even allowed anywhere else on the pitch, either. If Declan Rice stops Kylian Mbappé from making a run by giving him a bear hug, it’s a foul. If Virgil van Dijk body-checks Lamine Yamal into the second row, it’s a foul. Oh, but when it happens during a corner kick? More often than not … carry on.
I don’t blame the players, as they will always push the boundaries to what the referees allow. Anybody who has played any sport at any level understands this. Nor do I really blame the referees, because they don’t just follow the Laws of the Game; they are instructed to follow directives from their referee associations. For whatever reason, match officials have decided to let things slide.
«Before the ball is in play, pretty much anything goes, because at worst, you’ll just get a reprimand from the match official,» one former referee told me. «Once the ball is in play, the rule of thumb is often that you don’t call anything if the shoving and pushing is mutual or if it’s a one-handed shove or grab. Two hands and then yes, you’ll get a call … Most of the time, anyway. It varies a bit from league to league and competition to competition, but generally that’s how it’s interpreted.»
You can argue that as long as referees are consistent, there’s no real problem.
Why did the penalty call in the recent Africa Cup of Nations final, when El Hadji Malick Diouf was adjudged to have fouled Brahim Díaz, cause so much controversy? Not because, strictly speaking, it wasn’t a foul — Diouf tugged his shoulder, which, simply put, you are not allowed to do. Rather, because that sort of thing had been going on all game and the referee hadn’t been calling it.
Fine, but I still have a problem with it. Not just because the referee’s job is hard enough as it is, which means you end up with situations like the Diaz penalty. No: It’s because it looks bad and it adds nothing to the game. The pre-kick royal rumble isn’t why I love this game. The goals that are generated from it — six-yard box goalmouth scrambles, with the ball pinballing around and players crashing into each other — aren’t entertaining. I don’t need to watch guys making $10m a year do that. I can see that at my local under-10s game in the park.
This isn’t a knock on scoring from set pieces or clubs hiring fancy set-piece coaches, by the way. (Yes, Arsenal: I’m talking about you, but not just you here.) That can be exciting, and it’s part of the game. But the truth is, guys who are good at set pieces would be good at set pieces if they didn’t also have to worry about being blocked, manhandled and probed on every corner kick.
Nor is it about me not wanting physical play. I’m all for that. Give me a crunching tackle or a shoulder charge any day. I love that. Let it flow! Just not with the hands.
Arsene Wenger, whose job these days is «Chief of Football Development» at FIFA, wants to see a «daylight rule» when it comes to offside because it would lead to more scoring. You know what would lead to more scoring? Not having an opponent trying to rugby tackle Erling Haaland when the corner kick comes in.
Surely, no normal person enjoys this unless it’s their team getting away with it. And so, I think it’s time to stop tolerating it.
The neat thing is you can do it without messing with the Laws of the Game, too. Law 12.1 says a direct free kick is awarded if a player «holds an opponent» or «impedes an opponent with contact.» Boom! Done! Oh and under the «Other Advice» rubric, refs are told to warn players who hold before the ball is in play and, if they’re ignored, to book them. Do that too. From that, you will get more goals, better players making a difference and probably less controversy too.
Is it absolutist? Sure, but you can guarantee that players and coaches will adapt in double-quick time. Because, ultimately, you’re only asking them to do what comes naturally to them and what they’ve done their entire lives: Play soccer.
