Analysis of the goal conceded against Birmingham (22/5)
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Gardner’s goal – a corner is cleared only as far as the edge of the box and, after Ferguson’s shot is blocked, Gardner slams home.
As Birmingham take a corner, Danny Rose has his eye on Gardner on the edge of the box.
Kaboul heads the corner kick clear…
…but it falls to Barry Ferguson. Rose charges over to stop Ferguson’s progress, as Defoe is not close enough to deal with him.
Rose makes a fine block but has now left Gardner unmarked.
Gardner is one of the best strikers of the ball around – he tees it up on his knee, and rifles a low shot in.
EDIT: Great point made in the comments section that there are at least two Birmingham players offside here, as they are blocking Cudicini’s view of the shot. This image from an article on the FIFA.com website explaining how to interpret the offside laws specifically reference this type of situation.
It comes through a host of players, and Cudicini has no chance as it flies into the corner.
That’s it for the season – I may not be writing again for a while, but you can find an epic ‘Spurs loanee update‘ and my article on potential summer transfer activity, titled ‘The 25-man squad rule and rebuilding for next season‘ on the front page of my blog. Thank you for your comments throughout the season.
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• interfering with play; or
• interfering with an opponent; or
• gaining an advantage by being in that position."
Within the Laws of the Game issued by FIFA, there are illustrations of where a player is offside, and the situation with Birmingham's goal is specifically covered and deemed to be offside. The only difference in the FIFA illustration is that one player is blocking the goalkeeper's view rather than the three used by Birmingham.
The point about touching the ball only applies to the "interfering with play" element of the law; not the "interfering with an opponent" element.
Check it out on FIFA.com.
As it happens, winning with the Birmingham goal wrongly allowed, stops all the wingeing that would undoubtedly have occurred if the goal had been disallowed.
I assume Windy's analysis lays the blame on Defoe being asleep at the wheel, rather than Rose for not being able to do two jobs properly. I'd hate Rose to get the blame for that twice, as he was blamed for not coming out quickly enough to block the cross for Man City's goal, when his specific task was clearly to guard the near post.
As you add later - I absolutely do not blame Rose in this instance, he did the right thing. In the City game, I still think he could have taken a chance and come out more quickly, although it was the collective defending that was an issue. I genuinely wasn't trying to single anyone out for "blame" as such.
BTW, I've noticed a few people suggesting that Odemwinge has been one of the buys of the season. As I've said before, get him in asap.
Sweetsman.
It actually passes between the two players to the left.
But and this the crucial point none of the officials is in a position to make a judgment on whether the players are in Cudocini's line of sight.
I have always felt this to be a weakness in this situation.
The referee her is reasonably central but still cannot judge the line of the ball.
Great season Windy for you and Spurs. Indispensible reading.