Does football need a radical rule change?

Pogue Mahone

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In 1992 the back pass rule was introduced. The aim was to make football more entertaining by getting rid of time wasting and boring passing exchanges between the goalkeeper and his defenders.

For a decade or two after that it had the desired effect. The game seemed faster and more helter shelter. More recently keepers are as comfortable on the ball as most defenders and teams are happy to knock the ball around at the back and wait for something to happen. Football has become less entertaining to watch. Undoing a lot of the good work of the back pass rule.

Are we overdue another radical rule change? If so, what should it be?

My personal preference. Get rid of offside.
 
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I wonder what would happen if the rule was:

Any player receiving the ball in an offside position must pass the ball back to a teammate in an onside position.
Would probably drastically change the game tactically. Maybe having the striker always stay behind the defensive line with a strike partner in line.
 
Liverpool starts every season with a 30 points deficit?
 
Offside rule should be that if any part of the attacker's body is level then he is onside.
Matches should also be 60 minutes with the clock being stopped whenever the ball is dead.
Finally, Liverpool should start every match 3-0 down.
 
General Admin:

  • Franchise and sportswashing 'clubs' are to be banned.
  • Sponsorship transparency and caps.
  • Wage caps.
Game Admin:

  • If a team time-wastes, the opposition get the ball.
  • Drawing fouls by the corner flag is considered time-wasting.
  • 'Tactical' fouling to be considered a professional foul.
  • Var to be improved
  • Liverpool banned forever
 
Penalties should only be awarded for incidents that either denied a goal or a clear goalscoring opputunity.

Dribbling the ball right up to the corner flag and keeping it there in a delibrate attempt to waste time should result in a freekick to the other side and a yellow card for time wasting.

No subs should be allowed in stoppage time.

Any game that ends with the scores level should go to a penalty shootout
 
Top_Bins said:
I wonder what would happen if the rule was:

Any player receiving the ball in an offside position must pass the ball back to a teammate in an onside position.
Would probably drastically change the game tactically. Maybe having the striker always stay behind the defensive line with a strike partner in line.
Click to expand...

That would probably make those boring same cutback goals we see over and over way more common.

If we wanna make it more exciting what about keep the rule as is and get rid of points for draws? You get points for winning and nothing else. Teams would have to attack more.
 
A new offside line to stretch the game. Move it 15m back from the halfway line.
 
I liked Wengers idea about players being onside as long as they had a body part onside. Weren't that being tested? Only issue I see with it though is that VAR checks would still take time drawing lines on body parts.

The automated offsides are well and good but the offside rule was never meant for automatic tools and video. We need to innovate. Brilliant goals like Kvara against Liverpool getting disallowed because his heel was offside with his back to the goal, those type of goals were never meant to be caught by a referee
 
The problem with scrapping the offside rule is that teams will just end up defending much deeper, it would also become a very man to man marking setup I think.

I think realistically the clock idea could good. Average time for ball in play over the last number of years seems to be between 55 and 58 mins. I'm going to estimate there is probably another 4-5 minutes gained by eliminating general time wasting.

Perhaps similar to the above, a timer for set pieces to be taken, corners 20 seconds, direct free kicks, 30 seconds, throw ins 10 seconds etc.

I would also allow the advantage rule to be more flexible. As in rugby, keep it going until the opposition are back in full control of the ball. To often we have the Ref blowing only for the ball to break kindly to the attacking team.

For tactical fouls and even just general fouls, allow teams to stop the ball and play it from anywhere it has continued to.
 
Any maybe one more now I'm thinking about it,

For professional fouls that are going to result in a Red card (not violent conduct), give the team a choice of the opposition player being sent off or a penalty with no goalkeeper. Try and avoid scenario where players deliberately cheat but ultimately can benefit from it.
 
FeedTheGoat said:
I liked Wengers idea about players being onside as long as they had a body part onside. Weren't that being tested? Only issue I see with it though is that VAR checks would still take time drawing lines on body parts.

The automated offsides are well and good but the offside rule was never meant for automatic tools and video. We need to innovate. Brilliant goals like Kvara against Liverpool getting disallowed because his heel was offside with his back to the goal, those type of goals were never meant to be caught by a referee
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Yes but such goals are still offside

Eg in cricket no matter how small if a bat is behind the crease then it's a run out. You can't just shrug and say oh well it's only a teensy bit.
 
ArtetasHair said:
Yes but such goals are still offside

Eg in cricket no matter how small if a bat is behind the crease then it's a run out. You can't just shrug and say oh well it's only a teensy bit.
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You are missing the point. When decisions like this goes from relying on the linesmen to the automation we are starting to see now it sure is about time that we take a look at the rule as a whole and ask if it is good for the game if we still have to disallow goals where the offsided player have taken no advantage of his offside position. It is a thread about changing rules, not ignoring rules already in place
 
National sides should be allowed to buy players off each other. I know a few of the Irish lads were upset when Grealish scored against them as they felt he should be Irish. Imagine just being able to fax an offer for £40m to Boris Johnsons and then have him play for Ireland instead?
 
RedRocket9908 said:
Penalties should only be awarded for incidents that either denied a goal or a clear goalscoring opputunity.

Dribbling the ball right up to the corner flag and keeping it there in a delibrate attempt to waste time should result in a freekick to the other side and a yellow card for time wasting.

No subs should be allowed in stoppage time.

Any game that ends with the scores level should go to a penalty shootout
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I like the idea on no subs in stoppage time.

You could also fundamentally change the way subs come on. In Rugby, it’s done in seconds. The amount of time wasted by the 4th official inputting numbers into boards, especially when multiple subs are coming on and off is infuriating. Just announce on the PA or via the scoreboard.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
In 1992 the back pass rule was introduced. The aim was to make football more entertaining by getting rid of time wasting and boring passing exchanges between the goalkeeper and his defenders.

For a decade or two after that it had the desired effect. The game seemed faster and more helter shelter. More recently keepers are as comfortable on the ball as most defenders and teams are happy to knock the ball around at the back and wait for something to happen. Football has become less entertaining to watch. Undoing a lot of the good work of the back pass rule.

Are we overdue another radical rule change? If so, what should it be?

My personal preference. Get rid of offside.
Click to expand...
The purpose of offside was to ensure that strikers didn’t just stand on the toes of the goalkeeper all game. In a way that’s been negated by the way the better teams shrink the size of the pitch by playing with a high line.

I think scrapping the offside rule and instead having a limit for how long strikers can be inside the final third (or quarter or something like that) would make it more interesting. So they still have to time their runs into the area and can’t goal hang but there’s no silly line drawing and tracking how long they are in that area can very easily automated.
 
ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg said:
I did t like it - but it’s actually created some jeopardy, some excitement and reasons why teams are actually competitive against each other.

It’s been a rare successful initiative.
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Clogs up the schedule too much for my liking. I'd certainly be scrapping the November international break just to give the schedule a bit more space to breath with the CL expansion.
 
Every foul is a yellow card no more warnings.
If a player is lying on the ground (faking injury) they have to be substituted
 
VAR should be limited to 10 second review for the ref, if he can’t make his mind up then it’s not clear and obvious and game goes on. Same for offsides, if the lines cannot be drawn and decided in 10 seconds, it’s too close to call and it’s linesman’s call. VAR would be massively improved by this. To retain an element of review we could have a challenge system like cricket or tennis,
 
Reduce the 5 subs back to 3.

Once you go across the halfway line you can't play back into your own half.
 
In the later rounds of the cups, both teams are asked before games if they want extra time or to just go straight to penalties. If the decision is unanimous then it's decided. If no agreement is reached, it defaults to extra time?
 
Impulse said:
Offside rule should be that if any part of the attacker's body is level then he is onside.
Matches should also be 60 minutes with the clock being stopped whenever the ball is dead.
Finally, Liverpool should start every match 3-0 down.
Click to expand...
Sign me up for these.

I have constantly wanted a true stop clock in football, it would kill the majority of tedious time wasting, mean that everything is completely fair and consistent in terms of game time and would stop those silly skirmishes of people trying to time waste while others are trying to get them to hurry up which then ends up taking more time off the clock because a player flops about after someone wrestled the ball from them or something.
 
My two would be:

1. Give more leniency for offsides. Can make it the upper body, or just one part of a player has to be behind the last man, or whatever. But eliminate this hair's breadth offsides rule where every goal has to be VAR'd and high lines are blessed to play in.

2. Punish tactical fouling severely. It's one of the only ways I can see helping alleviate this constant pressing everywhere thing that turns the game into a chess match of just advancing the ball through a press every time. Watch the best Pep and Klopp teams and the amount of times they'd just swamp the opposition in their own half and then the only times they'd play past them one of Fabinho/Fernandinho/ would just "accidentally" hack them down before sprinting back to get into shape and avoiding a card. The consequence being they'd be stopping 4 to 5 great countering opportunities "innocently" before actually being punished.
 
You are only allowed to pass the ball forward, like in rugby, but the opposite.

You have to start with two strikers, one who is above 6ft and one that can run really fast

Teams must cross the ball into the box at least 10 times a game or they are docked points.
 
No more international breaks or qualifiers. The euros or World Cup become an open format and its straight knockout, like the FA cup.

Penalty shoot outs happen after 90 minutes but before extra time. The winner receives half a goal. Adds jeopardy to boring extra time games as one team starts behind, and gives those who miss the chance to redeem themselves.

Var is restricted to a 1 challenge per team per game basis. Automatic offside technology handles offsides, other than that keep the var out of it.
 
If defenders are allowed to flounce onto the floor at the slightest touch to win easy freekicks when under pressure in their own half, then attackers should be allowed to do the same to win penalties inside the box. If we deem that a penalty should only be given for a significant foul inside the box, then the same should apply everywhere else on the field. Players are happy to play the ball boringly around at the back, because they know there is very little risk attached when the easiest way to beat the press is a dying swan act and a scream.

Shielding becomes obstruction when the opponent attempting to win back the ball leaves the direct line to the ball and the defender rotates his body to block him off that line. Defenders are footballers too, and their job is to play football - not to stand still with their arse pirouetting around the ball so it can dribble out for yet another goal kick.
 
Pexbo said:
The purpose of offside was to ensure that strikers didn’t just stand on the toes of the goalkeeper all game. In a way that’s been negated by the way the better teams shrink the size of the pitch by playing with a high line.

I think scrapping the offside rule and instead having a limit for how long strikers can be inside the final third (or quarter or something like that) would make it more interesting. So they still have to time their runs into the area and can’t goal hang but there’s no silly line drawing and tracking how long they are in that area can very easily automated.
Click to expand...

I actually can’t see any problem if strikers goal hang without an offside rule. If the worst outcome from a rule change is more goals then who cares?

In field hockey they did away with offside and everyone assumed that strikers would goal hang but turns out that makes them too easy to mark. So they tend to push high and wide as soon as their team wins possession. Which stretches play and creates more space in midfield. End result you basically never see a nil nil game and the pace is relentless. They had to introduce rolling subs shortly after because everyone got so gassed trying to cover a bigger area of pitch. As a spectator it’s been a huge improvement.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I actually can’t see any problem if strikers goal hang without an offside rule. If the worst outcome from a rule change is more goals then who cares?

In field hockey they did away with offside and everyone assumed that strikers would goal hang but turns out that makes them too easy to mark. So they tend to push high and wide as soon as their team wins possession. Which stretches play and creates more space in midfield. End result you basically never see a nil nil game and the pace is relentless. They had to introduce rolling subs shortly after because everyone got so gassed trying to cover a bigger area of pitch. As a spectator it’s been a huge improvement.
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Rolling subs would be ace. Just that.
 
FootballHQ said:
Clogs up the schedule too much for my liking. I'd certainly be scrapping the November international break just to give the schedule a bit more space to breath with the CL expansion.
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It replaces friendlies, the same international windows. It’s 10 times better than friendlies were, better than qualifiers too I’d say because teams of equal standing play each other. If anything you could probably get rid of qualifiers and link qualifying to the Nations League so it gets rid of pointless games like England beating Andorra 8-0 or whatever. The women’s game has been doing that.

Also it was the CL that decided to expand which nobody really asked for, I’d rather it went back to the old format. I agree in general I’d rather fewer games in all competitions to make them more special, but club should be targeted more than internationals.
 
I'd go with stopping the clock when the ball is out of play, but the rest are unnecessary - particularly the touted offside changes.
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
My two would be:

1. Give more leniency for offsides. Can make it the upper body, or just one part of a player has to be behind the last man, or whatever. But eliminate this hair's breadth offsides rule where every goal has to be VAR'd and high lines are blessed to play in.

2. Punish tactical fouling severely. It's one of the only ways I can see helping alleviate this constant pressing everywhere thing that turns the game into a chess match of just advancing the ball through a press every time. Watch the best Pep and Klopp teams and the amount of times they'd just swamp the opposition in their own half and then the only times they'd play past them one of Fabinho/Fernandinho/ would just "accidentally" hack them down before sprinting back to get into shape and avoiding a card. The consequence being they'd be stopping 4 to 5 great countering opportunities "innocently" before actually being punished.
Click to expand...
But this will give another issue of having to check IF any part of the body is behind the last man. The attacker would just start playing even further on the ‘shoulder’ of the last defender. There has to be a line somewhere and that line will have to be checked. We should just get rid of VAR.
 
I’d consider a trial of the basketball rules like the shot clock and can’t play it backwards after the halfway line. I don’t think anyone really likes to watch two centre backs pass it between themselves for 30 seconds.

Clamp down on the Arsenal tactics on corners and time-wasting, feels against the spirit of the game.

Revert the short goal-kick in the box tactic to having to go outside the box. It’s led to hardly any long goal kicks which involve contests (people like contests) and instead you have these tedious build ups along a team’s goal line. Something that’s accelerated in the past few years since this rule change.

In general there are fewer contests compared to years ago, leading to a duller spectacle. Any rules that lead to more one on one battles are positive.
 
Ollie Derbyshire said:
But this will give another issue of having to check IF any part of the body is behind the last man. The attacker would just start playing even further on the ‘shoulder’ of the last defender. There has to be a line somewhere and that line will have to be checked. We should just get rid of VAR.
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The rule is less about VAR and more about opening the game up and giving attackers more cushion to actually run/attack. Modern football has gotten so constricted where everything is now about "duels" and it's all a constant battle in the middle of the park, and it makes games often times gross to watch unless you're one of those role-playing online "tacticos" that loves a good "chess match" (which is code for a boring 0-0 draw with a million fouls and every winger tracking back).

If you hurt teams ability to play these super compact high line pressing structures, it would open up play and make the game far more enjoyable to watch on a minute by minute basis.
 
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