My first fanpost ....
I didn't like Hope Solo's "cowards" remarks. In another forum I said, "sour grapes, no grace. I'm looking forward to seeing a new # 1," (This got a lot of comments, mostly because many patriots misunderstood me to mean that I wanted some other country to dominate world soccer.) While I stick with my hope for a new U.S. goalkeeper, I've decided I share Solo's dislike of Sweden's strategy of parking the bus. Truthfully, I didn't like Ben Olsen's "grinding it out" approach either. Fans (at least fans like me) don't come to games to see eleven players clogging the penalty area, in hope of that one break away chance. Boring.
So, after the Sweden games in the knock out stages of the 2016 Olympics, I've been thinking. The U.S. and Brazil were both clearly the better teams, and under the tie-break rules, Sweden played a smart game. They knew they had better odds parking the bus and looking for the 50/50 chance in penalty kicks than they would have had playing to win in the run of play. Hats off to them. But there has got to be a better way. The current system rewards boring soccer.
And even if it is not enough that the PK tie-break system encourages a bad product, I think everyone hates the Russian roulette of penalty shootouts. So much depends on luck; it is psychologically crushing for the (often very good) player who inevitably flubs their shot. Worst of all, it betrays the beauty of football as the quintessential team sport by reducing the game to a one v. one competition, focused on the goalie of all people.
My suggestion? In tournament play where a winner must be determined, first play the usual two fifteen minute extra time periods. Then, if the game is still a draw, give the win to the team with the most shots on target.
In the Sweden-USA game, the US outshot Sweden 26-3 with a 5-1 edge in shots on target. In the Sweden-Brazil game, Brazil outshot Sweden 32-6 with a 9-2 edge in shots on target. The better teams, in both games would have won. Better yet, Pia Sundhage and her ilk wouldn't be able to "play for penalties." Fans would be rewarded with attacking soccer. Everybody (except maybe Sweden) wins!
Note: I'm suggesting shots-on-target rather than just shots to encourage genuine attempts on goal, not just wild lobs from distance to pad the stats. I don't know if this would work, but I'm curious, what do you think?
