1) It’s more or less a tradition at this point, and it’s hard to change tradition in this sport. Otherwise, I have no problem with the suggestion.
2) Meh. It’s rarely an issue in a game that’s far more about possession than it is about position (unlike American football, for example). When it really matters, the referee or linesman generally get pretty picky about taking it from the right place.
3) Agreed. Refs should be quicker to issue yellow cards for diving and league/tournament officials should be able to suspend players for egregious examples after games, regardless of whether or not they got away with it in real time.
4) No. The author gets the rule wrong and none of the suggested changes would keep even the remotest spirit of the rule intact.
5) No. The way to make everyone better is to improve, not to tear down others. The citizenship rules do need so revise, however.
Don’t waste your time with these keyboard warriors. As I’ve noted before, if any of them ever actually found themselves on ANY playing field they’d most likely crap themselves then pass out (not necessarily in that order).
I always thought that any penalty in the goal area (leading to a penalty kick) should be reviewed via instant replay. The flow of the game has already stopped, so the minute to review the film will not interrupt active play. If the offensive player is shown to be acting, he should receive an automatic yellow.