I agree with Kicker that penalties are very fair because each team has the same opportunity. Sometimes teams like Barca and Arsenal become so focused on style of play that they forget the object of the game is to score goals. Yes some teams might be better in terms of attractiveness of play but at the end of the game the only "better" that counts is which team was better at putting de ball in de net.
So a team that doesn't take a shot at goal during regulation and extra time but insteadpulls all XI players back hoping for penalties is the "better" team if they "win" the penalty shootout?
We'll agree to disagree here.
Football is entertainment. PERIOD. And teams that sacrifice entertainment at the altar of result do the game a disservice in my opinion.
At the VERY LEAST....try to win. It's why catanaccio was HATED back in the 70's and anti football is no different. How many people outside of a Greece fan could honestly say they were ENTERTAINED by Greece in Portugal?
If yuh is a minnow playin a giant...at least I could understand why u playin dat way. But when alleged "BIG" teams adopt the same tactics, it seem cowardly to me.
Even when little T&T played in Germany, they had their critics amongst their own fans. Why Beenie didn't give Latas more time? He tied down de players too much and didn't showcase de "trini brand". How Theobald could play over Latas? etc etce etc
To each their own. I like positive football. If "result" football is all you care about...more power to you.
And that "you" is a collective "you"...not aimed at anyone in particular.
Football is ENTERTAINMENT... Agreed.
But what is entertaining to you might not be entertaining to a next fan. An English or Stoke fan typically frowns on a Spanish or Barcelona brand because they find watching the ball being knocked around 100 times with no attempt on goal to be too indirect and useless for their liking. They favor a more direct approach and they like to see players getting stuck in.
Similarly, an Italian fan finds beauty in a catenaccio brand soaking up pressure with defensive discipline and structure and hitting a team on the counter attack.
A German fan will have little patience for dallying on the ball, beatsing and showboating, but value fast, efficient, effective football. A Brazilian fan on the other hand is not satisfied if their football is missing flair and exhibitions of skill.
ENTERTAINMENT is subjective... Not because you like a certain style of play means that rules should be implemented to incentivize the kind of football you like.
Part of what makes football great is that contrasting styles compete against each other to try to come out on top. Who is to say an Italian brand is worse than a Brazilian brand... A German brand better than a Dutch brand.. An Argentinian brand better than an African brand???
At the end of the day, if a team puts XI players behind the ball and you cannot score on them in 120 minutes of normal time, then you were tactically beaten. If you cannot score then you did not do enough to win regardless. Or maybe you were just unlucky.
It is not always the case that the better team wins, that is the beauty of football.