New football rules

What do you think of these suggested rule changes that I read about in an article, the purpose which is to improve the game.

1) Penalties only awarded for denying a goal scoring opportunity the same as red cards.
So iffy handballs, or player fouled moving away from goal at the edge of the box was just a free kick.

2) Whoever wins the penalty takes the penalty.
So only the player who was fouled can take the penalty.

3) Make penalty shoot-outs fairer.
Taken in the sequence of ABBAABBAAB instead of ABABABABAB to negate advantage of kicking first.

4) Judge offside purely based on the position of the feet.
To make VAR decisions simpler.

5) Stop the clocks.
To prevent time wasting stop the clock every time the ball is out of play and play 30 min halves. That way it ends up with roughly the same amount of playing time.

 

3 and 4 yes, 5, to an extent. Maybe certain stoppages, aftermath of a foul etc, but I don't see any reason to stop for goal kicks or throw ins etc, and I wouldn't shorten the half. Rugby manages okay with a flexible clock.

 

I'm fine with everything except number 5. I also think 4 is a bit pointless, it would have the same issues, you'd just be debating the difference in millimetres between feet not other body parts. doesn't really make it any simpler.

 

I like them all except the 30 minute halves. GAA has 30 and 35 minute halves depending on level and it seems like the game is over very quickly.
The one about only giving a penalty for a direct goalscoring opportunity sounds very good. Hopefully you'd end up with a lot less diving in the penalty area.

 

And it would be quite difficult to take a penalty with a broken leg!

 

Interesting ideas.

1) I reckon this has got the potential to get complicated and controversial. Anything that adds more subjectivity can be problematic.

2) Could be interesting. Paul Futcher gets pushed at a corner. Would need some clarity about what happens when it's a handball.

3) Good idea, but I'd completely reform shoot outs anyway, going with the old MLS system of the attacker dribbling from 30 yards out before shooting. So much better than a series of spot kicks.

4) Yes, 100%. The whole foot. Would hopefully stop idiotic "fingernail" offsides.

5) Games could go on for hours. But it's something that should be looked at in greater depth to find a fair but workable system.

 

That's a very good point!

 

I don't think it would. It would just mean they spend as long as they do now analysing to decide that one players foot was 0.00001mm offside

 

1 - rubbish
2 - rubbish
3 - pointless
4 - fiddling about with a stupid system
5 - some merit if properly done

The most important rule that needs changing is the offside rule, not even mentioned here. Divide the pitch into 3 zones, with offside only being applied in the defending team's goal zone (30 yard line). Go back to the old offside in that zone, ie offside is offside whether the player is being passed to or not. Linesman to put the flag up immediately, none of this stupid idea of waiting for the goalkeeper to risk injury by coming out to challenge a player clearly offside but the flag hasn't gone up yet.

 

I wouldn't bother with any of those. Football was always a great game. Still is at most levels of the game. At elite levels it's unwatchable. A tedious exercise in attempting but failing to apply rules that don't matter exactly as they're written. I'd just get rid of VAR.

 

The ‘clear goal scoring opportunity’ rule would be so open to interpretation.
Goals are scored from moves where it looks impossible and more often than not missed where it looks a dead cert.

How often do we complain at the lack of a red where our team are fouled on the attack?

It creates an ambiguous rule to replace a simple one - even if we accept the simple one isn’t perfect.

 

You mean like Russo's goal last week....

 

Most of this sounds like what a bunch of drunks in a pub would come up with....

 

Fingernail offside is one thing, but judging the exact time the ball was kicked at the same time as measuring a fingernail is quite another.

 

Like the offside, marked off with your foot only, makes sense and time wasting definitely needs sorting out, I want to be entertained for the full 90, players feigning injury really phisses me off.

 

I don’t like the penalty ones if I’m honest.

You could argue that whenever you’re in the 18 yard box it is a goal scoring opportunity.

 

Point 3 was used a couple of years ago in some competitions.

 

I'd love number 2. Imagine that game the season before last at home to Bristol City, when we won a penalty in the 93rd minute, and Michael Sollbauer would have had to take it.

 

That's why I stated that the whole foot needs to be in front, to avoid such nonsense. While I'm all for offsides being correctly awarded, having such precision technology massively favours the defending side. This would just restore the balance.

 

It wouldn't though. It would be exactly the same. Is the whole foot offside? Let's analyse for 3 minutes to see if 0.00001mm of the foot is still alongside or if it's in front.
That's what would happen