Tom Anagnost is now the head coach at Mississippi State University. He recently was the assistant at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. Tom Anagnost has previous coaching experience with the University of Michigan women’s soccer team.
The offside rule in soccer is one of the most widely discussed and misunderstood rules in the sport. It may help both spectators and players to appreciate the reasoning behind the offside rule before attempting to understand its details. The purpose of the offside rule is to prevent forwards from lingering deep in an opponent’s territory, waiting for a long pass which can make for an easy scoring opportunity. Without the ability to cherry pick long passes for goals, teams are forced to play as a unified group, opposed to a defensive line that makes downfield passes whenever possible.
After reviewing the logic of the offside rule, it becomes easier to understand the rule itself. The rule states that at no time can a play be made to an offensive player if that player is closer to the opposing goal line than the last two defenders. Considering the goalkeeper’s relatively stationary position, this means that in order for a player to receive a pass or in some other way become directly involved in a developing play, there must be at least one defensive player between themselves and the keeper.
There are several additional aspects to consider when it comes to the offside rule. Firstly, being in an offside position is not an offense in and of itself. If a player in the offside position does not become involved in a play, or no play forms, the referee is not expected to whistle them. Similarly, offside offenses will not be called in a player’s own half of the field or if they draw even with the last defender.
