A quick word on United's disallowed goal/corner kick last Sunday. Personally, I'd have disallowed it too, although I'm not quite sure there is a rule against such trickery. If there isn't then there should be. Not because it's against the spirit of the game (James Richardson of Football Weekly likens it to running up to the opposition goalkeeper and shouting "Look out behind you!"), although it may well be that. For me, the reason why this corner kick should be illegal is because it is indefendable, if such a word exists.
Basically, you cannot defend properly against this corner. When Rooney tapped the ball out of the little quadrant, he was covertly passing it to Giggs, and therefore the ball became 'live' unbeknownst to everyone but the United players. Had say, Ashely Cole, somehow caught on to this, it was within his rights to go and collect the ball and hoof it up the field. However, had he done so, Giggs could have simply said that the corner hadn't been taken yet, and that Rooney was just leaving it for him. When this corner is executed, there is no proof that it has been taken, therefore all of the power is held in the takers' hands. If it works, then they gain a distinct advantage; if it doesn't work, they can just claim that they weren't trying it and proceed to take a normal corner. In other words, it's win-win for the attackers and lose-lose for the defenders. Such a scenario should not be allowed.
Informing the linesman doesn't really come into play, because a) it will most likely ruin the element of surprise unless you do it ultra discreetly, in which case the game of football becomes a battle of espionage antics and thus a joke, and b) there are no linesmen half of the time corner kicks are taken. Therefore the only sensible thing to do is to ban this type of corner kick, because there is no way to properly regulate it.
Basically, you cannot defend properly against this corner. When Rooney tapped the ball out of the little quadrant, he was covertly passing it to Giggs, and therefore the ball became 'live' unbeknownst to everyone but the United players. Had say, Ashely Cole, somehow caught on to this, it was within his rights to go and collect the ball and hoof it up the field. However, had he done so, Giggs could have simply said that the corner hadn't been taken yet, and that Rooney was just leaving it for him. When this corner is executed, there is no proof that it has been taken, therefore all of the power is held in the takers' hands. If it works, then they gain a distinct advantage; if it doesn't work, they can just claim that they weren't trying it and proceed to take a normal corner. In other words, it's win-win for the attackers and lose-lose for the defenders. Such a scenario should not be allowed.
Informing the linesman doesn't really come into play, because a) it will most likely ruin the element of surprise unless you do it ultra discreetly, in which case the game of football becomes a battle of espionage antics and thus a joke, and b) there are no linesmen half of the time corner kicks are taken. Therefore the only sensible thing to do is to ban this type of corner kick, because there is no way to properly regulate it.
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