Rafa Benitez brands offside law as a disaster

Feb 7 2008 By Dave Higgerson

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has blasted the offside law as “a mess, a disaster”.

The Spaniard launched himself into the debate over the law when asked today whether he understood the new interpretations.

He said: “I understand the offside law is a mess, it is a disaster. That is very clear.

“I have explained 100 times to people, if they will listen, that we need to go back to the old rule.

“The offside rule is a good one, but the key should still be that if the player is in an offside position, he is offside. Finish.”

Benitez added: “It will be easier for the linesmen and referees. But we have someone in an office who wants to invent something and they have created a mess.

“Phases of play is confusing. We see things in every game now that people cannot understand. So it should be simple again, if someone is offside, that is the end of it.

“When I was a player, a long time ago, it was not difficult to understand. Now it is.

“Then if a player was way out in the corner, then he is not interfering with the game, but now we have players in the middle of the box who are considered not interfering.

“That is nonsense. They are being watched by the goalkeeper, they are being watched by defenders, that is interfering.”