http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1078509/fifa-president-sepp-blatter-seeks-end-to-penalty-shootouts

Oh, and he obviously hates Chelsea.

What the hell does he want to do? Bring back replay legs (and consequently the drawing of lots when scheduling doesn't permit a replay)? PKs have been the standard since the 1970.

This guy is a buffoon of the highest order (and a corrupt one at that). Jesus christ.

As the writer Brian Glanville has noted: Blatter has 50 new ideas a day, and 51 of them are bad.

Honestly, I get the frustration. It is certainly a crappy way to decide a championship whether it is a high school game or a world cup final. But I don't think there are any better ideas out there.

Sepp needs to go, but he's not said anything that a lot of other big names in the sport have said other than he has the power to tell people to look into it.

I'm sure they won't come up with anything better, but I get it.

I hate PKs with a passion, but I'd rather not watch period after period of extra time until both teams collapse of exhaustion and all the scrubs are put into the game.

The only other option IMO is to bring back golden goal.

Oh, and Sepp is a tool of the highest order.

Every suggestion I've heard has been flawed in some way. The most bizarre yet slightly intriguing was have PKs before the game and use that as a tiebreaker after 120 minutes if the score is tied. I actually thought that was mildly interesting because 1) while the PKs would matter, the pressure would be about 1/20th of the pressure of end of game PKs. 2) it could make the next 120 minutes of soccer hella exciting...especially the last 30 as the team that lost the PKs knows they have to score.

I'm not saying do it, but it does address some concerns and points for a creative alternative I hadn't heard before.

I'll never forgive him for picking 2 world cups at once just so his legacy is extended. 2022 will always be Blatters downfall & now no PK's? Schmuck!

Why not have option to return players to the pitch in a second extra period?

Why not leave it alone & introduce goal line reply instead?

The fact remains that there is just no good way to finish the game. I think PKs are the best option.

Soccer is just different than any other sport and I don't want them to change it. I could see them bringing back golden goal, but as the article points out that encourages anti-football.

I get the fatigue issue and not wanting to introduce "negative football," but I do like the golden goal concept. There is very little more exciting than extra time in the NHL playoffs knowing the first team to score wins, and no one can complain later that the game was decided on a shoot out.

I would love for the golden goal concept to return. Keep the 30 minute extra time length and then go to pks if it isn't settled by then

Golden goal with PKs after 30 minutes is horrible. I hated it when they had it. Golden goal until someone scores might be better where it not for the possibility of 250 minute long games.

As a very big hockey fan - unlimited overtimes will not transition to soccer well. There's nothing in the NHL I love more than a do-or-die game 7 in the playoffs that reaches a 3rd OT. One of the most incredible moments as a sports fan for me was the Stars victory in the Stanley Cup, laaaaate into the night. But being able to trade in and out players in shifts, sleep on the bench, and having a much smaller rink helps make those games tenable. That's just not going to translate to soccer.

I also completely agree with Dre - we've seen the golden goal concept at work and it frankly didn't. I don't think the penalties before the game suggestion would work though - whoever had won the shootout would be inclined to simply defend away and it would still have complaints of encouraging "anti-football".

There's really not a lot of options, unless someone comes up with a really creative option no one has though of before (unlikely). PKs are simply the best option we have for the sport.

Sell Blatter sucks balls and scoring plays should use replay. That is all.

I heard a funny suggestion on 606 football phone in.

Instead of penalties, at the end of a match....each manager, gets to pick one player from the oppositions team to take off! Then after another 10 minutes of play, they each get to take another player of the oppositions team off the pitch.

Eventually you would have a 5 a side match if it went that far.

Never would happen, but would be pretty funny to watch.

I like the before game PK's. But I'd probably end up hating it after some coach would play just for that.

Take the Bayern Munich/Chelsea game. If they had PKs before the game and Chelsea won, they might have played for the 0-0 for 120 minutes and put 10 men behind the ball...which is pretty much what they actually did. If Munich had won the PKs, I don't think they would have played for 0-0 for 120 minutes. I could see the pre-game PK winners playing for a draw in the final 30 minutes but at least you know that 1 team would have to attack. With the golden goal, each team is so paralyzed with fear of making a mistake that neither team attacks. That's why I hated golden goal.

I guess the thing that I like about the idea is that it actually tips the scales early on. So many times you see a game where you say "this game needs a goal" and when it finally gets one, it livens up because now the other team has to do something. Pre-game PKs does that. It puts an impetus on the losing team because the other team has an advantage. Not a gargantuan advantage that should alter the game or the way each time was planning on playing, but enough to ensure that at least one team attack should it be 0-0 or 1-1. Anyway, interesting thought but at the end of the day, I don't see the current format changing. I mean obvious changes like goal line technology have taken years to be even considered so the chances of FIFA making a bold move in regards to this are slim to none.

Did any of yall see the League 1 Championship match on Saturday (Huddleston v. Sheffield United)?

Went to PKs....at one point the two teams combined for 1-5....finished 2-2. Then it went to sudden death and no one would miss.

I hadn't ever seen a PK go this far - apparently they just keep going until every player takes one....and then when they've exhausted the players the goal keepers have to shoot.

End result - Sheffield United lost because their goal keeper missed a PK in super duper duper OT.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
IMG >

I watched that game Ryan was a good one.

So the programs PKs only matter if the game ends in a tie, right? Kind of like a coin flip to determine which side gets the points in a draw?
Because having to make up a PK deficit would be pretty rough and might yield ties at endtimes as well...

I still think that the way we have it is the best way to go

Yeah, idea would be to only use the pre-game PK result if the score is tied after 120 minutes.