An interesting note is that basketball was like this until the introduction of the backcourt violation and shot clock. The difference, of course, is that baske

An interesting note is that basketball was like this until the introduction of the backcourt violation and shot clock. The difference, of course, is that basketball is a fast-paced, high-scoring game, and the entertainment value suffers mightily when it is slowed down. Soccer is about deliberately building to a scoring opportunity, so forcibly speeding up the game would simply ruin the structure. Obviously, "turtling" can be a bit of a problem as a result, but it's not hard for a team to sacrifice some defensive structure to press for a turnover.