Outspoken Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has come out in favour of introducing time-outs, currently seen in US sports league such as the NFL and NBA, to professional football.
He says it would allow managers to exert further influence on the game and give them a chance to talk tactics and encourage their team at crucial points in a match.
“It would allow a coach to have a [better] relationship with players during a match,” Mourinho told reporters in an interview with CNN. “It would probably be a solution, or give [coaches] some more freedom to walk around the touchline.”
Mourinho suggested giving managers two time-out slots each per match, each a minute long, where the clock would be stopped and the two coaches could leave their dugouts and talk to the players.
As well as improving the manager’s influence and giving him a greater role in the match, it has also been pointed out that time-outs would provide time for extra television advertisements, thus increasing the value for television rights for competitions like the World Cup and Champions League- a prospect that bodies such as FIFA and UEFA would no doubt be interested in.
Already, fans have come out against Mourinho, arguing that time-outs would slow down a game which is relatively stoppage-free compared to sports such as League, Union, Australian Rules and American gridiron football.
At this stage, it seems time-outs aren’t going to be introduced in the near future, but many others in the world of football management probably agree that they should have greater influence on the field of play – and Mourinho claims that he knows of many colleagues who support his view.
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