We didn’t know how good we had it though. You could celebrate a goal. They still give ridiculous decisions now.
Does football need a radical rule change?
- Thread starter Pogue Mahone
- Start date
We can’t forget because we’re taunted with how much better life was before VAR in cup games where the poxy tech isn’t used. Celebrating goals in real time, knowing that the flag of a linesman actually matters, never being forced to wait for ages with no clue why the games been stopped. Good times.
No, you wouldn't. Abolishing the offside rule ends football and creates a whole new sport.
Believe me, it doesn’t. That’s hysterical nonsense.
No, it's not. I remember when van Basten proposed it and Cruyff called him an imbecile on TV. Feel free to disagree, though.
I know for a fact it doesn’t become a new sport because I play a competitive team sport that used to have an offside rule and doesn’t any more. Just like I played football before and after they did away with the backpass rule. Team sports regularly change rules. They remain the same sport.
I watched basketball outlaw defending and it's not the same sport anymore.
Yes, hockey. But football isn't like hockey or any other team sport. We won't get nowhere, so let's leave it at that. You asked for a radical change. For me, these are required when the whole direction of the sport is headed seems wrong. Nowadays, we have better athletes than ever, more advanced tactics than ever and more goals than ever (in recent times). So, no for me. No drastic changes are needed
I know, right? The regular season is a freaking circus. You can have 20 games with double digits in points and assists and no one bats an eyelid anymore.
That’s all fair enough. Opinions will vary. I guess I’m more at one extreme because I’ve spent decades playing a sport which has evolved significantly over the time I’ve played it (offside rule just one of many changes) and has become more exciting to play and watch as a result. I’ve more recently got into another sport (rugby union) which is constantly testing and revising rule changes. Always with entertainment (and, obviously, player safety) in mind.
So I do find the idea that football rules are sacred institutions which couldn’t possibly change or it becomes a whole new sport more than a little overblown. It’s all a bit flat earthy to me. But I do understand why a lot of football people are inclined towards conservativism. In my opinion that’s a pity but c’est la vie.
I’ve no intention of doing it, but I bet if I went through your pre-VAR post history I’d find examples of you being furious at a goal being allowed/disallowed when it would have been perfectly easy for the ref to take a look and get it right. I think it’s a bit of a grass always being greener situation.
I hear you, but for me doing things solely for entertainment purposes isn't the best of ideas. Someone mentioned basketball above and i believe it serves as a good example. First, they adapted the rules (hurting the guards) because Jordan was unstoppable. Soon after he was gone, they realized the game had become ultra defensive. As a result, they turned the dial all the way to the other end and they have a comedy version of the sport now, one that suits the Sofa Score App generation. For me, changes should benefit the sport holistically. Back in 1990 (remember that dreadful WC?), a change was needed. The game was begging for the attackers to have more advantages. Nowadays? Last season in the PL alone, we had 3.28 goals per game and only 3% of the games ending in goalless draws. As for the "unfair advantage" for the defenders when the lines are drawn, i don't buy it. I like this game of cat and mouse between the defensive line and the forwards. Back in the day, if Rash had made a run on the let and was still behind the defence, strolling back, while Bruno was playing Garnacho on the right side, it would be an offside offence. That is an unfair advantage, not what we have today.
The brainstorming in this thread 
You can tell most of the "ideas" are serious too
You can tell most of the "ideas" are serious too
How about prior to that when the defender passed the ball back to the keeper just to waste time, that was the default Liverpool style for years, Hansen to Lawrenson to Grobbelaar rinse and repeat
Anti-offside: If your opponent has the ball, you are only allowed to have 9 players behind it. If not, the opponent is awarded a free kick whereever the ball is at that moment.
Rather than yellow card for time-wasting, the referee should reverse the decision so if a defender is time-wasting a throw-in, it goes to the other team, or a GK time-wasting turns a goal kick into a corner
We've undoubtedly run this into the agree to disagree stage, but in the case of the Coventry player whose goal was disallowed because of an offside calls that it is objectively undeniable that his left pinky toe knuckle did not give him an unfair advantage that would not have been the case had his left pinky toe knuckle been one millimeter further back. Although it worked in our favor and we went on to the win the game and the FA Cup, Coventry were denied a goal on account of an offside rule that is a farce and robs the game of what the fans deserve to see and what we now see are football matches that are substantially less interesting to watch than those of a generation ago. Go back to any top tier game from 20-30 years ago and you'll see a much more enthralling spectacle than the forgettable football we see today, and part of that devolution has to do with the ridiculous application of the offside rule where magnifying glasses have to be brought out to determine whether a forward player was or was not a millimeter offside.
If a player feigns injury a world champion in combat sports is invited onto the pitch to injure the body part they were holding.
There's been some form of offside rule since the 1860s. Get rid of that and the sport looks entirely different. You'd probably just have two boxes full of players, with defenders hoofing the ball between them.
It'd be nothing like the backpass rule change. It'd be more like if you were suddenly allowed to pass forward in rugby.
The one change I would make is to ban all changes. We’ve changed enough.
Might have been said but I can’t be arsed to trawl back through the replies. But I think it was Mark Clattenburg had a good idea (crazy I know). If a keeper gets done for time wasting it is then a corner to the other team, same with a throw in or even a corner. Players are willing to eat a yellow card if need be, but they wouldn’t be too happy giving possession straight back to the other side.
Not allowed to kick the ball.
Only serious one I have is abolish throw ins. Pass the ball back into play along the ground.
Any part of the body that's in line with the last defender is onside.
It's only offside if the player is fully not in line with the last defender.
It's currently the other way around where even a toe in front of the defender is called out for offside & it's time consuming and stupid.
It's only offside if the player is fully not in line with the last defender.
It's currently the other way around where even a toe in front of the defender is called out for offside & it's time consuming and stupid.
For me, a truly radical change in football would be increasing the number of players to 13 - my favorite number 
The major issue with modern football for me (other than me being old and jaded) is how generic and homogenized everything is now. One of the great draws of old European football was how variable the styles of play were, made for intriguing match ups. That variability has been mostly lost, there is little in the overall approach that separates most teams, it is just quality of player and execution.
Not just teams as well, but individual players. The left footed Right Forward who cuts in, recycles the ball, seems like every team have a version of the same player, playing the same way, in the same areas, just with different levels of quality. You can predict what a player is going to do in a certain situation better than ever before, the game has become so hyper analyzed and efficiency focused that the joy of the game has been lost. Stats becoming such an overwhelming part of football discussion shows this, I didn't care about the greats of the pasts stats, it was their mastery of the game, their style and creativity.
I don't know how we get that back, genie might be out of the bottle with detailed analysis dictating what should be done instead of feel.
Not just teams as well, but individual players. The left footed Right Forward who cuts in, recycles the ball, seems like every team have a version of the same player, playing the same way, in the same areas, just with different levels of quality. You can predict what a player is going to do in a certain situation better than ever before, the game has become so hyper analyzed and efficiency focused that the joy of the game has been lost. Stats becoming such an overwhelming part of football discussion shows this, I didn't care about the greats of the pasts stats, it was their mastery of the game, their style and creativity.
I don't know how we get that back, genie might be out of the bottle with detailed analysis dictating what should be done instead of feel.
The brainstorming in this thread
You can tell most of the "ideas" are serious too
If they just enforced GK 6 second law, dissent and holding at set pieces, would massively improve the game.
Don't even need any new laws, just enforce what already exists!
I prefer this idea but the problem of a toenail or heel being disputed still remains.
Bring back hooliganism
Reduce teams to 10 players, and cap squads at 22 players.
Bring back the rule where the ball must leave the penalty area on goal kicks before a second player can touch it. Purely a football aesthetic thing for me.
Weird rule either way whether you have it or not. If you don't allow short restarts the question is why when you're allowed to take every other restart short. In the current rules it's no wonder teams want to fanny around at the back with it as opponents still have to stand outside the box, putting them at least 12 yards away and are often more when every other restart is 10. After a goal kick players have more time on the ball than every other restart for no logical reason whatsoever.
Make the penalty area 16 yards for compromise? Shove a second 16 yard box in there, purely to mark where opponents can stand on goal kicks? Make the 6 yard box an 8 yard box and have them take it on the line? (probably the easiest). Judging 10 yards by eye would cause a bunch of arguing/delays/refs moving players back and slow the game down.
Weird rule either way whether you have it or not. If you don't allow short restarts the question is why when you're allowed to take every other restart short. In the current rules it's no wonder teams want to fanny around at the back with it as opponents still have to stand outside the box, putting them at least 12 yards away and are often more when every other restart is 10. After a goal kick players have more time on the ball than every other restart for no logical reason whatsoever.
Make the penalty area 16 yards for compromise? Shove a second 16 yard box in there, purely to mark where opponents can stand on goal kicks? Make the 6 yard box an 8 yard box and have them take it on the line? (probably the easiest). Judging 10 yards by eye would cause a bunch of arguing/delays/refs moving players back and slow the game down.
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New rule change: all set piece goals scored against Madrid count as goals FOR Madrid
I think it's only fair
I think it's only fair