world cup needs another format change

[mclosin]

we have seen 9 goals in 7 games, a lot of super conservative play. i think fifa should change the group format a little.

scenario 1: 3 teams in the group make the knockout stage, first place gets a 1 round bye. this would make the incentive to win the group bigger and not completely doom teams for an opening round loss.

scenario 2: keep the top 2 teams moving on, but eliminate the extra time and shootout in the round of 16. force the 2nd place team to beat the first place team in 90 minutes. it would give teams more of an incentive to go out and try and win the group.

i had a longer spiel written out, but i accidentally deleted before submission. does anyone like my suggested changes??

i know that some of the big attacking sides havent stepped in yet, and i do think scoring will go up but i think we are headed for a lower scoring event then in 06 even, i initially thought the opposite would be true.

 

[bigtendominator]

Damn it, same thing happened to me, just lost what I wrote.

I like scenario 1 very much. However, I don't know how many people outside the US feel this way. In the states, the sports are geared to trying to score more, as they know it will garner greater ratings.

Scenario 1, is very good because it provides incentives and gives teams a reason to try and compete after winning 1 game and if someone else has lost 2 games

 

[mclosin]

ya i like scenario 1 myself. since the cup is only every 4 years and most players might only get one chance in their career at it, they should be given some kind of wiggle room. its not even the scoring to be honest, its how super conservative these teams play coming out of the gate.

 

[TheSaint]

the other groups will make it up, last year the average goals scored was 2.3, and over the years its always around that number, so im sure that will change very soon!