Did anyone watch the game between Liverpool and Manchester City on April 10th? The game ended in a 2-2 tie. I called a friend of mine after and he whined for fifteen minutes that the Man City’s second goal should have been disallowed because there were four players in an offside position creating chaos. I looked at it again. I can see why the referee did not call offsides. The four players in question were all slowly going away from the goal. The ball was passed to a player that was onside and was not near to the the offside players. But I can also see what my friend was saying. The four players may have acted disinterested in the ball and made no attempt to go towards it when it was played. But they were not that far away and could easily have made a play if they wanted to.

Look at this video. At 7:35 you can see the ball being kicked by the passer and the four players clearly between the defenders and the goal.

This happens all the time. The game does not have a rigid set of rules. They are interpreted by the referee at the time of play. It’s no wonder we have disagreements with referees.