It’s pretty quiet from an Arsenal point of view, so we thought we’d cover something a bit more general.
FIFA’s technical director Marco van Basten – you might remember him from such things as being a really great striker – has released a blueprint for the future of the game which includes such ‘improvements’ as scrapping offside, changing penalty shoot-outs to a system which sees players dribble towards goal before trying to score, and doing away with yellow cards for a sin-bin regime.
“We must keep looking for ways to improve the game,” he told SportBild. “To make it more honest, more dynamic, more interesting, so that what we offer is attractive enough.
“There are lots of variations which need to be tested in the coming years.”
On no offside he said, “Without offside, the strikers could be behind the defenders, which would be much more difficult. If they move far back in front of their goal, the attacker will have more opportunities for distance shots.
“This would make the game more attractive, the attackers would have better chances, more goals would be scored.
“That’s what the fans want to see. In field hockey, the offside has been abolished, and there are no problems. The teams would also adapt in football”
While according to the Dutchman, sin-bins would, “frighten teams. It is hard to play 10 against 11, let alone with eight or nine.”
He also suggests a maximum foul limit, whereby a player who makes more than that will have to leave the field, and a run-up style penalty shoot-out thing.
He does not make it clear whether or not players should wear clown shoes while doing it.
Note: We were going to do a spoof of this stuff, making up silly things like ‘Players may only celebrate first-half goals with a manly handshake’, or ‘Referees can give a player a chance to avoid a sin-bin by challenging him to do 10 press-ups in 10 seconds’, but you can’t really satirise stuff that’s so ridiculous in the first place.
Much like Michel Platini, van Basten appears to be one of those great players/mad as a box of badgers administrators. What a shame.
I like these changes. It would completely change the game but it would be more exciting!
I don’t think it would. I actually think the no offside rule will make it pretty boring. The defenders would just stay near the goal-keeper all the time, and strikers trying shots from distance, that just keep getting deflected. Also things like high-press will just die, and completely destroy the game.
Also worth considering is that, in that sort of game, Sam Allardyce would be the greatest tactical genius in the world.
That proves it’s a bloody stupid idea.
I just don’t see what problem Van Basten is trying to solve. It’s not like football is boring and fans are leaving the game and TV revenues are down.
We have great exciting football these days compared to the defensive tactics of the early 90’s.
He is just copying these dummy rules from ice Hockey. Why doesn’t he consider eliminating corner kicks so that players play behind the goal up to the fence.
Exactly, it’s hardly like the game is withering on the vine. It’s the opposite if revenues and player salaries are anything to go by. The best administrators go unnoticed, like referees. They are not the story. Seems Van Basten, like Infantino, is trying to make himself the Mike Dean of admins.
And how grateful all the PL teams must be that Dean has been demoted to the Championship. Although I feel for the teams in the Championship now.
As a goalhanger when I play I (initially) think the no-offside rule is great. But practically it would encourage teams that hoof the ball long distances to their forward(s). And would then encourage more defenders to sit deep and have big spaces in midfield.
It would mean man for man marking. It would completely change the game.
But I do like the sin bin idea. It would benefit us!!
As long as they keep Mike Dean in the Championship.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ULLwYCqvO0
What is the punishment for this?
Shall we also ask van Basten if the games would be more exciting with players walking on their hands? Or if he’d like to have trousers made of fire ants?
Not sure if sarcasm, because I would like to see both those things.
I like sin bins for total fouls (Sp*rs would end up 8 vs and 11 at least once a game), however the offside thing seems ridiculous and would lead to more long ball football surely, although wouldn’t mind seeing it tested in some far away league that doesn’t impact us in case it does actually work.
The penalty thing is moronic. How would that make it better? I like shootouts as they are as long as goalies actually stay on their line.
watch the old MLS highlights for the dribbling shootout. They only had about 5-10 seconds (there was a timer) where they could run in and shoot/dribble around the goalie. I think the goalie’s save percentage actually went up compared to traditional PKs. It was pretty fun to watch actually. I’m a traditionalist, but the biggest changes I think the game needs are: – extra sub in extra time (Wenger has backed this idea) – if you use a stretcher to come off the field then you AUTOMATICALLY have to be subbed for being hurt or acting like a wimp –… Read more »
Well, until they agree to call themselves Totalham Hotspurts, in which case…
… Nah, still no. You sold it to me. All of the above are great changes. DAVID for FIFA President!
Lets be honest. We would hate Spurs not having a team. No one to mock for always being in our shadow.
some good ideas, david. the one i would change of yours is the transfer window. it should shut before the season starts.
Only thing I would do is make a player sit out 15 minutes for a professional foul along with a yellow card, and the same for a dive any dives are automatic sit out for 15 mins so it’s 10 v 11 during that time.
I would change 2 things:
1.No more subs in stoppage time.
2. Time limit on taking throw ins/goal kicks.
I’m sick of games limping to a conclusion because of deliberate time wasting. The last 5 minutes should be the most exciting of the game- no wonder stadiums are emptying out early
I’d also suggest the following: -no yellow cards for time wasting- you’re just sent off after the warning. -teams that perpetually waste time (southampton, stoke, mourinho teams), don’t get rewarded with added on time if they’re behind. You had plenty of time to play, and chose not to, so you should be punished. -bald referees should be banned. -managers must dress the part. No more track suits or ball caps- managers wear a suit and tie. -physios shouldn’t be wearing those surgical gloves all the time. How often do we see our own physio with his gloved hands on his… Read more »
Those MLS dribble penalties are way more fun to watch. But what happens when the keeper fouls the penalty taker during the dribble? Double dribble-up penalty?
I’m trying to remember the original NASL days (yes, I’m that old!). I believe a goal was awarded.
I don’t like many of his ideas. Scrap offsides, and you’ll have strikers standing on the offensive 18 with balls being lofted from the defensive end. End extra time and there will be more complaining about how PKs are a lousy way to decide matches.
In the end, these are solutions in search of problems.
Apart from refereeing football is perfect,we just need a human referee keeping an eye on general conduct but as for actual decisions there should be a room of referees with instant video replays. That and John Terry has to play with no toenails.
You meant without shinguards, ever 😉
I think he should add a new rule where the player who will get a yellow/red card could run away from the ref… like in snes International SuperStar Soccer
You made me chuckle on the toilet… aaaaah… it’s finally come out
I always thought the offside rule should be modified: continue the 18-yd line to the touchlines (make it dotted to differentiate from the box); once the ball is inside this area, there is no further offside. If the ball is that close to your goal, you should be defending, not stepping up to trap.
Agree with this, I also think the game could adjust to no offside rule without resulting in boring long ball games as suggested here by the people who must enjoy watching a game that stops every few minutes for an offside, those people should switch to American football. That’s right, if you like the offside rule you should become a fan of “real” football.
Other than the fact that three-and-out followed by a commercial is not very exciting, I’m not certain what you’re getting at.
Oh my! Please don’t screw with my favorite sport like they have done with cricket.
Interesting that you bring in cricket into the discussion. One thing that drove me away from cricket was this obsession with high scores. Without an even contest and nearly every team playing the same tactics, the game has lost its charm and is so one dimensional.
Removing the offside rule is a terrible idea. Imagine a game where both teams play 4 strikers and park them at the opponent’s box or corner flag. Would just be hoofball all game long
No more offside would be the dumbest move imaginable. We’d end up with a bunch of no talent goal line hoggers for strikers.
Think of a John Aldridge in every team? *shudder*
Think of a team with 3 or 4 John Aldridges, all hanging around the area, whilst one of the 4 CBs lump the ball up to them…
Eergh!
with 2 midfield ball chasers for each team lumping it in. ugh.
This is clearly van Basten’s way to make teams fight over the services of Emile heskey.
How about a sin bin for the ref and his assistant when he gets a decision wrong? The Mancs would have no officials every other game.
Who determines whether a decision was wrong? Another referee?
The no offside thing is a stretch, but the running penalty could be interesting. The purists might scoff but it has its merits. In fact, I believe it has been done before. On second thought I believe it was indoor footy. Exciting none the less.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRITqS6WEn0
MLS did it ages ago with a timer of 5 seconds to shoot
There’s a reason that MLS stopped doing the “break-away” shoot-out – because it was idiotic. The original NASL also did it. Even back then, it was criticized for being ridiculous. One newspaper published a piece that contained the following gem (I might not have the exact words right, this is from memory): “If it’s going to be a circus, why not go all the way? Have trip wires pop up at random locations while the striker is running in with the ball. Make the goalkeeper dip his gloves in olive oil before each shot. Give the coach a high-powered rifle… Read more »
“Give the coach a high-powered rifle – if the striker doesn’t shot within five seconds, he does.”
Funniest thing I’ve read all day ???
What have I just watched ?
Though I found it incredible that when the ‘keeper fouled the striker in one of them, the striker was then awarded a regular penalty. He missed that too.
Could you get sent off midway through a breakaway-shoot-out? Who keeps nets then?
Load of rubbish.
I was against this before I saw the video. Amazing stuff! Not sure what the guy with the bouncing start was doing (57 seconds in).
Hahaha! He got a penalty while taking his penalty!
I found this! Watch it, you will like to see a bastard in decay.
https://youtu.be/Yojig4Eho7Q
just to point out the obvious, a pen is supposed to have a large advantage to the attacking side, as it is a punishment for the defending team cheating to save a goal. having to dribble the ball in and take on a keeper who can come rushing out would be basically a 50/50 chance.
Just for penalty shootouts.
Less chance for either team scoring…which is ok since it is equally fair for both!
They tried the dribbling penalty shot in the US (MLS) league. I think they ended up scrapping it because it was too dangerous to the outfield players and the keepers. Too many injuries.
MLS originally did a penalty kick system in the manner he mentioned. It was insane and also very dangerous. You can YouTube videos of it and see what it would look like.
I had a good lough out of that. Thanks blogs. But perhaps the biggest satire of the day was Mike Dean being demoted.
I remember Arsene Wenger suggesting to change the pointing system in such way that every goal difference should be added to the normal 3 points earned from winning the game.That way a team which won 3-1 would earn 5 points – 3 points for winning the game and additional 2 points for the goal difference. The first few Emirates Cup were even conducted in such manner. This way teams are encouraged to attack and their would be no room for defensive teams like Chelsea. It would also avoid(to some extent, atleast) cases where teams would win the league with few… Read more »
Dribbling towards goal instead of penalty kicks would be an improvement. Used to do it in NASL in the 70’s-80’s in the U.S. Shooters had 5 seconds to approach goal and score, while the keeper could come out. Though it is not great video quality, you can skip to 1:30 here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJEnwi7otu0 to see how it worked.
I didn’t know him well but I now know he is silly
There’s a trial at the moment where off-side doesn’t apply to Utd strikers and they seem happy with it 😀
So it’s basically ice hockey on football pitch
Apart from the offside bit. There is obviously a form of ‘offside’ in ice hockey, but it works a bit differently. The receiving player can’t enter the offensive zone before the puck does.
No offside works in hockey because it’s a smaller field, much faster paced game and goals can only be scored in the equivalent of the box. Personally I think a sin bin system like in rugby would be so much better than the current one.
The runaway penalties were used in MLS a while ago. It was shit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBSZA9vQYow
No off-side: As many have said will just lead to long ball. Leave well alone.
Pen Shootout: Again, leave well alone.
Sin bins: Possibly some merit in some shape or form but I’m a little sceptical. Happy to see it trialled in a pre-season tournament out of curiosity as much as anything.
The old North American Soccer League, with FIFA’s permission, instituted changes in the late 1970’s that are relevant. Rather than the halfway line determining whether a player could be offside, there were lines in each half 30 yards (or 35–it’s been a while) from goal. The purpose was to increase scoring but, as predicted in some of these comments, it meant that defenders stayed further back even when their side were in possession, to prevent attackers from getting in behind them. The NASL also added “bonus points” for goal differential (up to some maximum–I think three). So a high scoring… Read more »
Hahahaaa nice article Mr.Blogs
We should get rid of goalposts too. I like the old school ‘the goal is between the two sneakers(shoes)’
The foul that dirty prick Herrera committed on Firmino at weekend should be a sin-bin offense. So cynical and under-punished with a yellow.
No offside in extra time of international competitions might be fun.
Other than that, I suggest that in the 22nd minute of each half everybody has to play with their hands on their heads.
What about the Pogba judo throw whilst defending a corner (learnt from Huth or John ‘The Cunt’ Terry possibly).
Actually I like these ideas but most important for me is that someone is looking to get the game more modern and exciting. It costs a lot to watch the game on TV or live and surely no one can argue the fact that very few games are actually entertaining. Perhaps 5%?? Most TV sports have revolutionized themselves but football has remained in the dark ages and some changes beggar belief – my favorite screw-up is the one where the goalie can kick the ball back into play either side of the goal so that the game can continue/speed up… Read more »
Offside was introduced for a reason, i. e. to avoid teams just leaving players goal-hanging and the game looking much like an extended Stoke match. The same argument goes to negate the argument for offside being applicable only within an extended 18 yard line. (It was originally 3 players but, when reduced to 2, increased scoring rates) . Getting rid of offside would undoubtedly remove so many incorrect decisions and most post-match analysis! Similarly, defences would just leave more men back and midfield becomes totally bypassed – Stoke again! Sin bins, as with the “orange card” additional card sometimes suggested,… Read more »
I like the idea of accumulated fouls leading to some type of penalty, it works well in futsal and would give a real disincentive for fouly bastards like Hererra. Maybe something like a shot from the edge of the area where the keeper is allowed to advance.
The problem is that once the opposition gets near the foul limit you’d see teams diving all over the place the minute a defender comes near them
The diving takes place now so no change there
Jeez this year’s gone quickly. April 1st already…,,
One of the best things about football is watching a footballer doing amazing things with a football. Under the current rules with 22 players and only one ball, the opportunities to see this are artificially limited. It would be good if each team at the manager’s discretion could call for a multi ball session when a number of extra balls would be lobbed, by the fourth official, at random into the field.Ten balls would probably be about right. When a ball goes out of play, that’s it and slowly the game would work back to having only one ball. This… Read more »
New rule coming in where players score points for diving and square balls with rounded corners to be introduced to save players chasing after the ball
Looks like Van Basten has had a bung from the americans. These are mostly us sport style changes that they want to see to get the yanks involved. The running pen is already used in college / lower leagues. Maximum fouls – basketball, sin bins – ice hockey. No offside don’t get me started on that!
What the harm in doing this as an experiment. We can have friendly with these rules and go from there?
Comment:I like the idea of no offside in the extra time sounds like soften the rules for winner to emerge.
I can’t believe you’ve put him down for saying these things. How on earth would any change he proposed be a negative? Is this an old school is best and change is terrifying so I’ll put anyone who suggests it down deal or can you honestly argue against any changes he’s suggested? Disappointing from you guys. I remember an arsecast where you suggested the same idea to replace penalties and now you’re taking the piss out of a legend for suggesting the same thing.
There are obviously things that could improve the game going forward, but when you lead with ‘no offside’ you’re basically asking not to be taken seriously. The Arsecast thing was a light-hearted discussion, tongue in cheek. Penalties are a perfectly good way of deciding a game. They’re a skill and it’s not a lottery. I also think a sin-bin is a discussion to have. Not in place of yellow cards though. Maybe for when a player is on a yellow but commits a foul that isn’t really enough to send a player off for – even for second yellow –… Read more »
Here’s my main reason for liking the sin bin idea.
One of my biggest gripes (apart from when Arsenal do it) in football in the cynical foul – the one in the last 10 minutes when a team’s a goal up and the opposition are having a dangerous attack. Call it a tactical foul if you will.
In the context of the game with so little time remaining that yellow card means almost fuck all, which is why everybody does it.
A player or two in the sin bin for the last 10 minutes would make it much more interesting.
How about introducing a rule where the ball can go out of play but not be penalised until it touches the ground….or someone….or something. Bend it like Beckham. Corners would be great to watch. 😉
Rugby keeps experimenting with rules whereas Football needs 10 years to crawl towards goal line technology!
Sin bins are actually very good for the game both in rugby and ice hockey. I agree that the off-side would get all players to play like school-children running behind the ball.
One innovation that would make a big difference would be 1 video call per half per manager…
the no offside rule has been in use all season in the BPL, but only for man utd.
a rule that should be borrowed from rugby is team fouling, once a ref believes rotational fouling is being used, he just books the next player on that team to commit a deliberate foul, and continues to do so, if sin binned all the better.
Defensive midfielders with frickin’ laser beams on their heads.
The offside rule suggestion is ridiculous. you’d have 4 cb’s, 4 strikers, and 2 mids per team chasing everything in between and lumping it in.
I like the extra time, and blood sub suggestions, and retroactive for diving.
What I think will be coming however will be the video challenge or review for PK’s / Dives, Red Cards, perhaps even for goals ruled good / bad per offside. Don’t know that I like it, but it’s a matter of time.
Im guessing he had been chilling in a few “cafes” in the capital when he wrote this down on his pack of blunt skins with the end of his vast reefa. I cant see an issue with the card system, its the refs that make the problems. none of them are consistent within one game yet alone game to game. With the sin bin we NEED video on everything. If the refs are left to their antics with a sin bin we will see teams losing players for nonsense decisions and have 8v11. It also affects football more. Rugby isnt… Read more »
Sounds great, if you’re the sort of type that likes 48 team world cups, sugar daddy owners and walking down the high street with a Neville brother on each arm.
Funniest thing I’ve read all day.
Although hearing the Plymouth fans singing “Steve Mcmanaman is a wanker” knowing he is in the commentary box ground doing the compulsory BT Sport “it is a legal requirement to have a high pitched mosquito sounding scouser doing punditry” runs it close.
Proper enforcement of existing rules, with the assistance of video replay and/or a second referee, would go a lot further toward improvement than these half-baked ideas.
The offside rule should at least be changed. It was presumably introduced to prevent players from “fishing” around the opponents goal in search for a long ball to pick up, but there is nothing more annoying than players getting flagged for offside in a more harmless situation such as from a corner (on the second pass back to the corner taker) or when receiving the ball in an onside position (having been offside when the pass was made, which is enough with today’s rule). I’m not convinced removing it completely would ruin the game the way other people seem to… Read more »
Simplify the offside rule by changing it back. None of this “well the ball wasn’t played to him” crap. The keeper and defenders still consider those players when making split second decisions, so I’ve never bought into that “not interfering with play” rubbish.
As a field hockey player for 30 years now, removing offside has opened the game right up and created more goal scoring opportunities. However the main difference is to score a goal you must be inside the goal circle so there is no risk of shots from down town or playing the ball into the box high and hope a Crouch or Carroll get thier big ugly heads onto it. I do see his point though about compressed defences… how many times has Arsenal tried to play their style but have struggled when teams just sit 11 men in the… Read more »
This comment will be hidden, but I’ll say it anyways:
These are all changes that should be tested. I fully support a more fluid and exciting game. Add to Van Basten’s list a 6 second timer for throw-ins and set pieces.
Soccer is very popular today… but it will die if it does not evolve.
The idea of one video call for the manager would be great.. For a bs offside or a foul not called or terrible penalty call or whatever.. But barring minor improvements to the way refs make calls the game is sublime ?
Just proves that ex-players shouldn’t be put in executive positions with football governing bodies.
Get rid of offside? Ridiculous idea. Football has the right balance – if there are too many goals then that devalues them, and the scoring of them loses impact. Before you know it you’ve got basketball, where there’s only really interest if the scores are close in the last 1/4 of the match, and the rest of the game is largely irrelevant – hence you can get a beer, hot dog, etc, because the intensity has gone. Even Rugby has too many points scored. Also, one of the most exciting situations in a football match is a one-on-one. They’ll disappear… Read more »