One Man Diagonal by Giovanni Piazza - extracted from the SOCREF-L archives
One-man diagonal first.
There are two main differences between the standard DSC and the one-man diagonal:
with the one-man diagonal..:
a) the referee does not need to keep his AR in sight
b) the referee needs to go deeper than usual to pay closer attention to offside
Point (a) is an advantage - in terms of movement - but point (b) represents an
increased demand on the ref. However, the added freedom that point (a) gives the
referee will help him to achieve the objective in (b).
Let's start from a GK situation: the referee will position itself at the centre circle, as in
a three-man situation, but while in the three-man situation he will *always* take the
side opposite to the lead linesman, in a one-man situation he will take the same side
as the ball. It is easy to spot in advance where the goalkeeper is going to put the ball,
so crossing the circle (20 yds.) can be done with an easy jog. (In younger age groups,
where the ball is not likely to land at the halfway line, the ref can move closer to the
box, but things don't change in terms of width). After the ball is kicked it can reach
the halfway line:
a) on the same side of the pitch as the ref, or
b) on the other side
In (a) the referee is golden; all he has to do is stay ahead of the ball and run
downfield, paying equal attention to the ball and to the offside line. In order to do
this, he has to stay as wide as possible and as deep as possible. How deep? Let the
play make the decision for you; the more the ball is contested, the closer (depth, not
width) you should be to the play rather than the offside line; if the ball comes
downfield with little or no contest between players, be bold and take the offside line.
The key here is *width*; remember, you are on the same side of the ball, so you will
never be far away from the play; go wide, wider and widest.
In (b) the referee is at a disadvantage; so, as soon as he realizes that the ball is going
to cross the halfway line on the side opposite to him, he has to start a diagonal
movement that brings him to cross the field and get to the same side as the ball. This
implies crossing the center field, but it is fine, absolutely fine; this is a one-man
mechanic....... The idea here is that the referee should try everything he can to be on
the same side of the pitch as the ball when it crosses the halfway line. Don't be
scared; getting to the same side as the ball *always* implies zero or one diagonal
movements across the field and it is easy to see in advance whether or not the ball is
going to cross the halfway line on our side or the opposite one. Usually there is no
need for anything more than an easy jog to gain this advantage point. One way or the
other, we are now at the point when the ball has crossed the halfway line on our side;
let's go from here....... In order to decide what to do next, we need to establish a
reference point at the 25 or 30 yard line and see what happens to the ball between
the halfway line and our imaginary reference point. If the ball goes straight downfield,
we go with it and we try to stay ahead and take the offside line, or to go as close to it
as advisable. Don't make reaching the offside line a matter of religion; close is close
enough. The three things that really matter are *width, width and width*. HERE
COMES THE TROUBLE........ ......The ball crossed the halfway line with us but it is
Page 1 of 4
kicked across the field before reaching our mental reference point on the 25-30 yard
line......... If the ball goes away from us at any time after crossing the halfway line
and before reaching the 25-30 yard line we should commit ourselves and cut across
the field in the direction of the opposite corner flag, regardless of how deep or shallow
the movement of the ball is. In one-man system we simply cannot afford to follow the
ball like puppies..... We need to establish our own patterns........ This cutting across
the field is the most dangerous moment of them all; we lose the angle on the offside
line and we are in the center of the field, so we need to get out of the way as fast as
possible and sprint, sprint, sprint. This is the single referee action that requires speed
and stamina; commit to the crossover and go, go, go.
Of course, the next logical question is when to stop, and the answer is: as soon as we
are on the other wing, ahead of the ball and we have regained our angle on the
offside line. This is a *key* point; once you commit to cross over, do not stop halfway
through the movement; go all the way until you regain the offside angle. What
happens if the ball switches back to where we were coming from, either while we are
crossing over or after we are done with it? Let it go; in a one man system we cannot
afford more than one live-ball cross over at midfield per play, unless we want to die,
and we also have to take offside into consideration.....
Let's say we are lucky, though, and we are on the same side as the ball as it crosses
the 25 line; in this case we can go for the offside line without further hesitation, take
it and call the play from this position until its end. *Never*, *ever* think of crossing
over in the last fourth of the field, unless you think it is cute being caught with your
pants down, in the center of the field while little Joey is screaming in pain in the
middle of the box or Sammy the Nimble is breezing with the ball toward the
goalmouth and everybody else is screaming "Offfffsiiiiiiiiidee!".
If the ball goes away from you after it has crossed the 25-30 yard line, push slightly
toward the center of the field - as much as you can without losing offside!! - and don't
be scared........ Look at where you are: you have *all* players boxed in between you
and the ball, you have the offside and the only thing is that you are away from the
ball (but you have a good angle anyway.....). Not perfect, but good enough.........
However, it is true that being away from the ball in the final fourth of the field is the
real weakness, so we should introduce in our one-man diagonal one element that
minimizes this risk. The element is a careful exploitation of *any* dead ball situation
(dead ball is easier to write than ball-not-in-play). In the offensive half of the field,
every time the following occurs:
a) there is a dead ball situation, and
b) the ball is on the other (vertical) half of the field, and
c) you *have the time*,
cross over diagonally and take your position along the diagonal, as illustrated above,
on the same side as the ball. This is almost mandatory on fouls, when you have to go
there, sort out the mess, set the wall and all those neat things, but it is also highly
advisable on throw-ins. Actually, throw-ins are the one-man referee best friend,
mostly those when the ball is kicked *way* out of bounds. In those cases there is
plenty of time to cross over and rest.
A couple of tips:
Page 2 of 4
1) on corner kicks on a one-man system, *always* take the far post, and position
yourself on the inside corner of the GA.
2) don't take the "socref approach" to offside, and don't spend too much time on
endless, mind numbing analysis on the most irrelevant factors. If he is offside
and goes, nail him *now*.... Don't wait. If you wait, in a one-man situation you
nail yourself to the cross (don't you just *love* these Catholic metaphors).
Nobody is backing you up, nobody is going to give you a late signal if one of
those strange situations happen. Cut the debate before it begins and if he goes,
call it.......
So far we have seen a full beginning-to-end play and we have fully illustrated the
diagonal in this context. Unfortunately - as we know - soccer is characterized by
frequent changes of possession (hey, what if one gets injured in the process, or if his
self esteem suffers from being nutmegged......), so we have to reconcile our one-man
diagonal with change of possession situations. If there is a change of possession, the
actual position of the referee is immaterial in determining what to do next.
Remember, we do not have AR's to keep in sight, so we can roam freely around the
field with the only objective to get to a better position to rule on the play; as far as
our position goes, the two (vertical) halves of the field are exactly the same!! Given
this, as soon as there is a change of possession, turn around and take off toward the
corner flag that is on the same (vertical) side of the field *as the ball* when the
change of possession occurs. Run as hard as the play requires and keep running
toward the corner flag until you have regained your angle *on the offside*. The most
common error here is to stop when you have regained the angle on the ball. This is
not enough, and using the angle on the ball as our only reference point has two major
drawbacks:
a) it leaves you way too central way too often....
b) it leaves you in a bad position to call offside........
As a matter of fact, regaining the angle on the ball is meaningless as an objective. A
good angle on the ball is a by-product of a good angle on the offside and the latter
never comes without the former......... So, if there is a change of possession, identify
the "good" corner flag and sprint in that direction as hard as you have to. Several
things may happen at this point:
a) a breakaway. The changes of possession results in a continuous attack that
keeps going until a shot is taken. In this case, the only thing a referee can do is
to continue running straight, as fast as possible, until *after* the shot is taken.
Pietro Mennea, the Italian sprinter whose 200 mt. world record resisted longer
than *any other* (excuse us.....) was very well known for his "never-give-up"
finish, and once he explained his secret: "I never ran a 200 metre race; I
always run a 210 metre..........". Too often I see too referees give up once they
realize the breakaway is going all the way, and I see them calling the play from
the center of the field and from too far behind. That's no good; a breakaway is
the most demanding play but also the play when fouls are more blatant and
visible; I personally try to do *everything* I can to minimize the disadvantage
a breakaway puts me at and I do not slow down until the ball is out of bounds
or within the unchallenged goalie's possession.
b) a new play is set up by the team in possession: somebody will look up, decide
what to do next and play the ball accordingly. In this case, the referee can use
this time to analyze his position, the ball's, see where ball and referee are with
respect to the halfway line and apply the original principles illustrated above
Page 3 of 4
c) a mix of (a) and (b) above: a breakaway stems from the change of possession
but it does not go all the way because the defense interrupts it, the ball goes
out of bounds or whatever...... The best reaction in this case is to follow the
breakaway mechanic until the offside angle is regained or the breakaway is
interrupted (not just slowed down, *interrupted*) and then re-assess one's
position with respect of the ball (same vertical half or opposite one), the field
(defensive half, offensive half, and if so, behind or ahead of the 25-30 yd. line).
The ensuing position will be dictated by the results of that observation,
according to the basic principles.
d) the change of possession is followed by something not well defined, a struggle
for the ball, tackles over tackles, one-on one duels in a relatively restricted area
of the field. In this case the referee must go as wide as possible to get the best
angle on the ball and *then* see if an angle on the offside is required too. If
this is the case, he will rectify his position going deeper, as deep as needed to
get the required angle.
That is basically everything that one needs to know to implement a good one-man
diagonal. It looks effort intensive and physically demanding, and it actually is, but less
than it looks like. The secret for a perfect execution is not the top speed, but the
ability to remain in constant motion at a slow/moderate pace. In many - too many cases the need to sprint is caused by not having executed a proper slow motion on
the previous play. This creates a chain reaction: the sprint tires the referee, who will
try to make up by not moving on the next play, and this - in turn - will cause the need
for more sprint etc. I am talking here to the referees who took on refereeing at a later
age and at an expanded waist :-}, usually dragged into the sport by their kids
playing. I bet the rent that many of them do not like the sense of exertion and the
physical exhaustion that they feel at the end of a day at the park. I am no physical
trainer, but I would like to invite them to try this diagonal (one man or three man, it
does not make any difference) and execute it properly, keeping themselves in
constant, slow/moderate pace motion with the occasional outburst of energetic run
when it is needed. I swear: they will work-out more but at a better pace and they will
feel *well* physically at the end of the day. If not, I'll give you back your money,
guaranteed......
A less demanding but less effective one-man system of control is the lateral. It works
more or less like the diagonal until the ball crosses the halfway line, but then the
referee will never have a live ball cross-over and will keep going deep and wide on the
side he was when the ball crossed the halfway line. Dead ball cross-overs will always
be executed when needed, and they will be needed more often than with the one-man
diagonal. It is simpler and less demanding, but it does not give the referee good
angles in many situations. That's it.
giovanni.piazza@ey.com
Page 4 of 4