While watching the Melbourne City vs Perth Glory game on the weekend, I was feeling slightly aggravated each time Tony Popovic was seen to be encouraging the match officials to brandish a card to the opposition.
Of course it is possible that he wasn’t doing anything of the sort but the commentators had him banged to rights on a number of occasions. It is something we see regularly in leagues across the world.
All I could think of at the time was that football could be so much better without that sort of behaviour from players and coaching staff alike.
Then it crossed my mind that the ultimate irony would be that anyone found to be encouraging the referee to show a yellow or red card would automatically receive one themselves and maybe that little piece of irony would help to eradicate an ugly part of the game.
Some strange part of the brain then took over as the under-23s battled to a hard-fought win over Uzbekistan as I wasn’t finding the game particularly gripping. And these were the other changes – some not too serious – that I would make for the good of the game.
(Tony Feder/Getty Images)
I want five substitutes to become five unlimited replacement players. By all means keep the three from five rule but allow a rotation of players on the field.
Could this change tactics and maybe at times make things more exciting or deadly dull? Losing 1-0 with minutes to go, there is an opportunity to throw three extra attackers on the field in exchange for defenders or even the goalkeeper, or perhaps three defenders come on to nullify the opposition.
We’ve all wondered what the game would look like without the offside rule and many of us have engaged in discussion over the odd glass of ale as to how it could be improved. At the very least, make it so there has to be daylight between the second last defender and the attacker although assistants will still get it wrong.
How about two ten-minute periods where there is no offside? Would we really see 50-metre kick-and-chases? I doubt it but I would love to know.
Hugging and tugging – especially at set pieces – needs to go. How about arms wrapped around a player or wrestling a player to the ground means a red card? It will create further controversies but might begin to change player behaviour.
Make direct free kicks exactly as they sound. No player wall, nobody from either team in between the spot and the goal if the player taking the kick goes for goal. Would it change training regimes or have clubs recruiting dead-ball specialists a bit like a field goal-kicker in NFL?
Bring in a sin bin for dissent. Let the referee do the job they are employed for. Dissent is ugly so off to the bin for ten minutes, adjudicated by the fourth official. Would that see an improvement in behaviour?
I’d love to see an end to the practice of taking the ball to the corner flag near the end of the game and to re-establish time-wasting consequences. And while we are about it, outlaw the practice of shielding the ball without touching it, so you actually have to play at the ball. This is thoroughly frustrating at times.
This article is not meant to be totally serious. These are just some weekend musings that might stir up some other equally crazy, silly or outrageous ideas.
Mick Jeffrey
Roar Rookie
Well it looks as though the Sin Bin idea isn't going to be silly. It's being implemented in Queensland leagues below NPL level for this season. How I believe it works from what I've read is that if a player is being sin binned he/she will get a yellow card and be pointed towards the sidelines, and how long they sit depends on the length of the match (5 minutes below an hour, 10 minutes above an hour). If they get a second sin binning and they haven't received another yellow card during the game other than the initial binning, they're off for the game but can be replaced after 10 minutes. If they get another sin binning and they've also been booked for something else, it works like a second booking (sent off) and they cannot be replaced. If they get sin binned in extra time and they're able to return to the field (as in they weren't booked for something else during the game), they can take part in a penalty shootout, and the time cannot be served at a half time or full time break.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
I love the reason for it not working but the. Why do referees officiate golden goals in NSW when they have been removed from lotg? My article was never meant to be deadly serious but to generate some discussion at a time of the week when we don’t see much on this site. It was interesting to hear that Qld experimented with something over 30 years ago though. I am under the impression (might be misguided) that you can run a competition and have different rules as long as they are stated upfront before teams enter?
bob whiteman
Guest
Something needs to be done to make Football more exciting ( don't know what) but at the present time it is totally Boring. This percentage football takes away what what allows skilfull players do their stuff.
Ian Dalzell
Guest
I read most of the comments which generally follow most articles written on this site & never really feel inclined to offer any of my own opinions. However in the above article the suggestion of introducing a line or area where a player could not be offside is not new & has been done before. When I was on the board of the Qld Soccer Federation, now Football Qld., in the early '80s we had a pre-season competition for the XXXX League, then the most senior competition in Qld.. The then President of the QSF, Ald. Ian Brusasco, tried to introduce an idea that a line be drawn across the field 10 yards out from the 18 yard line at both ends of the field, to be known as the Brusasco line. Whilst inside those two lines a player could not be offside. The idea had a lot of difficulty getting initiated, not because of objections from Clubs or players or difficulty in drawing the line, but because the Qld Referees Association would not appoint officials to those games where this was line was implemented as it contravened the Laws of The game i.e there was no law covering it. So trying to get an idea like that implemented would meet a lot of hurdles.
Winnie the Pooh (Emperor of China)
Guest
Allow harder tackling in order to blow away all the actors and divers. It would toughen the sport up. At the moment a lot of weak individuals thrive in the game using underhand tactics.
JW
Guest
The main changes should be - stop the clock when players are rolling around on the ground time wasting and/or call play on. - sin bin a player for 10 minutes for bad behaviour (rolling around on the ground, demanding a card, time wasting, diving). That would fix 90% of the problems with soccer. Right now, the bad behaviour helps their team by wining a penalty, having an opposition player sent off, or taking seconds off the clock. You need to make it such that their coach and teammates give them a spray for doing any of the above. They aren't helping their team if they are off the field in a sin bin or lying on the ground while play continues. A red card for any of the above may fix it but seems a too harsh penalty in the interim until the culture improves. Ultimately though, I think most soccer leagues are fine with all the carry on, so it continues.
Marcel
Guest
I seem to remember Jimeoin suggesting pin-ball style "multiball" instead of extra time.
Leonard
Guest
Thanks to you, (the other) Buddy (or the other way round). Another quirk I noticed in the US was that where we use to have signs like [Road ends 220 yds], over there it is [Road ends 660 ft].
Buddy
Roar Rookie
Leonard - I’m slightly surprised that the game hasn’t evolved with metric measures and just rounded up. However, that in itself would present problems at least in the early days. For example, at a free kick the defending team has to retreat 10 yards. If they change to 10 metres that is almost an extra yard so positioning would all change. The only one that has changed without notice is the arc used in the corners where they can be 1 yard or 1 metre radius. Believe me, when you have to mark our fields at the start of a new season it can be hard work depending on the age group of the people helping you! A few seasons ago we had a few young guys volunteered and they converted everything from feet and yards to metric but somehow got a conversion wrong and we started the season with wrong size penalty areas - only at one end..... it was quite funny for one weekend but then we fixed it. I also went to a ground where the council has\d installed the goalposts and got a conversion wrong so that the crossbar was far too low. I had an under 13 goalkeeper that could reach up and swing on the crossbar and I assure you he was no giant.
chris
Guest
Agree on your points and it is frustrating. But offside is offside. If not your nose or big toe, what part of the body do you say is the reference point for offside or not? You can score with your nose, big toe etc.
Leonard
Guest
About "yards" - Help! I know that, like many sports, soccer began in the kingdom of yards, feet and inches, and that (unlike with our Melbourne Cup). the actual distances did not change with metrication - just expressed as, say, '19-point-37'. Which means that saying stuff like "The '19-point-37' line / arc / circle" is just so naff. So, is using whole-number yards a matter of brevity? Years ago, I was watching an NFL game on SBS (probably a Superbowl), and the truly 'naff' Aussie commentator converted every measure to metric! BTW, interesting how stuff like TV screen sizes and car tyres have kept their inches. Aviation has too, but that is a bit of a different situation, and journos changing altitudes from ft to m is equally naff.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
Agreed - I wouldn’t get rid of it - as it is a part ofthe tapestry of the game. It is frustrating though when someone is adjudged to be offside as their big toe or nose was beyond the second last defender! VAR and keeping the flag down when it is obvious to anyone who has a basic understanding of the game is also a regular frustration.
Fadida
Roar Rookie
I love the offside rule. It really adds layers of tactical depth.
Fadida
Roar Rookie
Some good ideas there Griffo. I'd be happy for VAR to give yellows for simulation. It's the only way to stamp it out. I find coaches berating the 4th official the single most irritating aspect. The 4th official isn't even making the decision! I'd have a zero tolerance policy implemented. It'd have Fowler, Rudan and Popovic sent off every week but they'd soon learn.
pacman
Roar Rookie
I agree with 2). I have been an advocate of this for many a season. A duty of care is involved, and in this day and age, it is a far more serious issue. As often as not, these time delaying injuries appear to be tactical manoeuvres, as the injured party goes to the sideline and is almost always immediately ushered back to the field by the ref, with no sign of injury.
Nemesis
Guest
I don't see either of those points as negatives 1) No harm. It creates more attacking scenarios for teams. I'd rather have long passes being played to create real attacking opportunities, than mindless backwards & sideways passes that seem to be the norm, especially in the ALeague & also our national teams. 2) The Sweeper Keeper is now pretty much the template for GKs. This would just mean they can't rely on hands outside the box. The sport is Football. Every player should be comfortable with the ball at their feet.
chris
Guest
Buddy, the offside rule needs to stay as it is. The whole game of football, or 80% of it, in my opinion, revolves around that one rule. To change that or even tinker with it would change the game in its entirety. I think its actually genius that the offside rule was even thought of in the first place. It is what makes football the most popular game in the world.
Fadida
Roar Rookie
I was too young to remember Chris. I did reasd in "soccer magazines" of the time about one on one shootouts to decide the game
chris
Guest
Some fair points. Some negatives would be: 1/ Attacking sides would know that the keeper is only a field player in the 18 yard box and may be tempted to play longer balls. 2/ Not sure if we want the keepers making even more howlers as currently happens when they have to use their feet. Keepers always think they are better on the ball than what they really are. Those that have played 6v6 at training will attest to that! It could risk turning the penalty box into a keystone cop routine.
Nemesis
Guest
The Back Pass Law change has had massive positive benefits on the flow of the game. It kept the ball alive for longer periods. My change is just an extension to keep the ball alive for longer. Right now, if the defence pushes high & the attacking hits the ball a fraction too long, play goes dead because the GK can pick it up 18 yards from the goal line. In fact, nearly 1/3 of the attacking half is heavily biased towards the defence. But if the GK is restricted from using his hands, except in the 6 yard box, then every ball played forward will be heavily contested right up to the 6 yard box. GKs will have to be much more competent with their feet, which should be the focus of a sport called Football.