You can change one rule, what would it be?

Boskowski

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

No more extra time in 2 legged ties that are tied after 90 mins.

It gives the away team 30 extra minutes to score an away goal.

Go straight to penalties.

I thought the away goal rule doesn't apply in extra time, no?

Sleepy

Anyone caught diving is banned for life.

It's the only way to save the game.

PhiloCypher

If you feign a head/facial injury your medical staff are obligated to take you off the pitch for 5 mins for a thorough examination leaving your team down to 10 men for the duration.

Arghus

One rule? It'd probably be that the clock is only active when the ball is in play. Whenever one of those things is happening - players arguing with the ref, goal celebrations, injuries being treated on the pitch - then the game clock is stopped until play resumes. It would cut out time wasting and it would be fair. I can't see any negative and it would surely lead to a faster, fairer and less bad-spirited game.

I don't know if the issue of dealing with diving with retrospective action is going to work. I think it would just be opening an can of worms. So many "dives" are either laughably bad or so far from clear that people still debate them even after watching them half a dozen times in reply -Was it a foul? Was there contact? How much contact? etc,etc. Big old game changing utterly fake dives are relatively rare. I know everyone can think of a few examples, but that's after watching football for years. Diving has a pivotal effect in maybe not as many games as we may think. Just my view...

I do think referees could clamp down on playacting a bit more. When they just know a player is faking it, they should be strong enough to card them. During The Champions League final it was clear from Clattenburg's face that he knew, knew, that Pepe was faking it - then card him, you imbecile! It's as bad surely as dissent - trying to con the ref, time-wasting, bringing the game into disrepute - so treat it like that. I think retrospective punishment could work in that case. It's pretty clear to see if someone did or did not receive a blow to the face, for instance

Wichita Lineman

I'd ban passing backwards, like rugby only in the opposite direction.

Seriously though, I'd be in favour of a sin bin for 'simulation'.

citytillidie

Flint Fredstone wrote: »

Can't wait for all the arguing on here when players aren't getting sent off anymore.

ITV were talking about it during the Ireland France game if Duffy had of given away a pen instead of the free kick, he would not have been sent off

namloc1980

PhiloCypher wrote: »

If you feign a head/facial injury your medical staff are obligated to take you off the pitch for 5 mins for a thorough examination leaving your team down to 10 men for the duration.

How would it be known for certain the injury is being feigned?

BorneTobyWilde

That the women's game should be made to wear same gear as beach volleyball .

Fly goalies

funtime93

RoboKlopp wrote: »

Fly goalies

Ehhhh... Isn't this allowed? Just never see it.

larchielads

Since we're talkin about changin rules, since when didn't the ball not have to go forward from kick off saw it a few times in the euros now just saw lewandowski just do it there for 2nd half of extra time? ???

thelad95

larchielads wrote: »

Since we're talkin about changin rules, since when didn't the ball not have to go forward from kick off saw it a few times in the euros now just saw lewandowski just do it there for 2nd half of extra time? ???

Was changed just before the euros

storker

PhiloCypher wrote: »

If you feign a head/facial injury your medical staff are obligated to take you off the pitch for 5 mins for a thorough examination .

...and a colonoscopy. :eek:

inforfun

Automatic disqualification if a team doesnt win a single match from 5 in 90 mins and still are in the semi finals.

Or just go back to a tournament were only number 1 & 2 progress from the groups.

Cant end up with a team winning a tournament while they won less matches than Turkey who went home after the group stages.

Omackeral

Bandana boy wrote: »

Yellow card for any player other than the captain who talks to the ref

I think the captain and the person who was fouled should be allowed to converse with the ref. Everyone else crowding around should be fed to the lions.

ShaneU

citytillidie wrote: »

That is changed now to that

Wow that was quick, glad they listened.

siblers

Get rid of that rules, if a player gets 2 yellows cards over the course of so many games, it carries a one game suspension to the next game. Seems nuts that Ramsey misses on a semi final because of a handball that had zero impact on Belgium's chance of getting a goal scoring chance.

Ardillaun

OK, I'm a soccer ignoramus but, I hope, a respectful one:

1. Proper timekeeping a la rugby, ice hockey, basketball, you name it. Stop the clock, restart it and sound the horn when the game is really over.

2. Rugby has a better system of carding. A yellow should mean ten minutes off.

3. Video reffing should come in. Any doubt, ask the lads upstairs.

4. Jersey pulling should be strictly punished - yellow card and penalty where appropriate. Video reffing would cut that down enormously.

5. Simulation is rewarded in soccer and arguing with the ref. That lad Muller, for example, looks like he's in some sort of play where his lines and moves are all directed at the ref. Both bad behaviours should be discouraged with cards.

6. Instead of extra time and penalties, what about a diminishing number of entirely substitutable players every ten minutes, e.g. 9, 7, 5, 3, in a sudden death format? It could end with a three shot penalty shootout ice hockey style with a player starting from the centre spot, and after this sudden death again - anything to avoid penalties.

7. Defo no yellow card for taking off the shirt. It's probably good for viewing numbers with the female fans, dare I say, and is entirely harmless.

8. Head clashes. These are really dangerous, e.g. Carragher's injury where he had the full 'fencing sign'. Big changes would be necessary. Another day's work.

MICKEYG

Move the offside line from half way line to the 18 yard line. Would stretch the game.

martyos121

Rolling subs like in basketball, obviously with exceptions (no changes right before penalties and direct free kicks). It could lead to some interesting situations, think it was trialed at youth level somewhere.

alchemist33

Ardillaun wrote: »

OK, I'm a soccer ignoramus but, I hope, a respectful one:

1. Proper timekeeping a la rugby, ice hockey, basketball, you name it. Stop the clock, restart it and sound the horn when the game is really over.

2. Rugby has a better system of carding. A yellow should mean ten minutes off.

3. Video reffing should come in. Any doubt, ask the lads upstairs.

4. Jersey pulling should be strictly punished - yellow card and penalty where appropriate. Video reffing would cut that down enormously.

5. Simulation is rewarded in soccer and arguing with the ref. That lad Muller, for example, looks like he's in some sort of play where his lines and moves are all directed at the ref. Both bad behaviours should be discouraged with cards.

6. Instead of extra time and penalties, what about a diminishing number of entirely substitutable players every ten minutes, e.g. 9, 7, 5, 3, in a sudden death format? It could end with a three shot penalty shootout ice hockey style with a player starting from the centre spot, and after this sudden death again - anything to avoid penalties.

7. Defo no yellow card for taking off the shirt. It's probably good for viewing numbers with the female fans, dare I say, and is entirely harmless.

8. Head clashes. These are really dangerous, e.g. Carragher's injury where he had the full 'fencing sign'. Big changes would be necessary. Another day's work.

Curiously, I agree with all of these. Except you'd need some limits on video reffing

pinksoir

Once the keeper dribbles with the ball he can't pick it up, essentially invoking the pass back rule. Too often keepers will collect the ball from an opposition wayward pass/hoofball, dribble with it, and then when opposition players put pressure on him he'll pick it up. Sometimes he'll even dribble it into the box so he can pick it up. Obviously done to waste time.

Fr Tod Umptious

Might have been mentioned here before but will people stop with the "like in rugby bla bla bla....."

Its not rugby, its a different game so stop suggesting rules that suit rugby would suit soccer.

PhlegmyMoses

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Might have been mentioned here before but will people stop with the "like in rugby bla bla bla....."

Its not rugby, its a different game so stop suggesting rules that suit rugby would suit soccer.

I get why this annoys people, but each suggestion should be taken on its own merits imo. Rugby has some aspects that would benefit soccer. They're miles ahead on the use of technology front for a start. I also think that they are way better with how they deal with aerial collisions or how players are protected when they go up for a high ball.

There is no shame in looking to other sports for innovation, and cherry picking some of the best aspects.

McDave

keano_afc wrote: »

The rule is already in place for this, its obstruction. For some reason referees have allowed this ridiculous practice to creep in to the game and its been accepted.

M'kay. That means I get a second go, which is:

Automatic yellow for interfering with ball after ref blows for a free, incl. walking away with it. Current practice is a direct incentive to break up attacking play.

enzo roco

inforfun wrote: »

Automatic disqualification if a team doesnt win a single match from 5 in 90 mins and still are in the semi finals.

Or just go back to a tournament were only number 1 & 2 progress from the groups.

Cant end up with a team winning a tournament while they won less matches than Turkey who went home after the group stages.

Why?
Ireland did something similar in the 90 world cup. And they came back heros somehow.

Omackeral

pinksoir wrote: »

Once the keeper dribbles with the ball he can't pick it up, essentially invoking the pass back rule. Too often keepers will collect the ball from an opposition wayward pass/hoofball, dribble with it, and then when opposition players put pressure on him he'll pick it up. Sometimes he'll even dribble it into the box so he can pick it up. Obviously done to waste time.

It's up to the attackers to put pressure on him and get the game going again. The 6 second rule should be enforced though from the moment he picks it up, this includes catching it and going to ground.

The Lost Sheep

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Might have been mentioned here before but will people stop with the "like in rugby bla bla bla....."

Its not rugby, its a different game so stop suggesting rules that suit rugby would suit soccer.

There is no shame in looking at how other sports deal with certain issues and looking at them for improvements. Yes its a different game but that doesn't at all mean there wont be rules that suit both

inforfun

enzo roco wrote: »

Why?
Ireland did something similar in the 90 world cup. And they came back heros somehow.

Was a bit tongue in cheek comment after being bored to death 2 matches in a row by Portugal.
But then again, would you say Portugal deserve to win it if they get 2 more draws in 90 mins and somehow win it?
Or deserve.... when you win you deserve it i guess. Would you be impressed/happy with it?

Ireland is/was different. They are the underdogs.

But if anything, get rid of the 24 team format so it will not be possible anymore to get a winner who didnt win a match.

Ardillaun

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Might have been mentioned here before but will people stop with the "like in rugby bla bla bla....."

Its not rugby, its a different game so stop suggesting rules that suit rugby would suit soccer.

There is no shame in looking at how other sports deal with certain issues and looking at them for improvements. Yes its a different game but that doesn't at all mean there wont be rules that suit both

Timekeeping in most other sports, including rugby, is more transparent, and the current yellow card system, where you can plough into their star player once and suffer no significant punishment, is just wrong.

More video reffing is good for all sports as long as it can be kept quick. It would be excellent for subtle jersey pulls.

The penalty shootout is cruel and arbitrary. Negative teams can play for it. Far better to have some jazzed up format of soccer where a goal will be more likely.

I hate all the backchat to the ref in soccer. They should not have to put up with that. That would be very easy to remedy with a few penalties and yellow cards.

One more thing on the magic paint - a great idea but it should be enforced. Players should not be allowed to put their boots on it and move across it before a kick is taken.

Richard Hillman

10 Minute Sin Bin for any foul that is deemed intentional.

Wiping out Cynical fouls would make the game immensely better to watch and play. There should never be a case of where the infringing team are better off after committing a foul

Gbear

On the sin bin thing, there's a big difference between a fast game with plenty of back and forward movement across the pitch that's played with 11 men and very few points scored vs a slower paced, mostly horizontal game played with 15, with a much larger opportunity to get points.

All I think you'd get from sin bins is worse football matches.

Being a man down is a huge disadvantage in football. Either it would disproportionately punish the offending team or, at the very least it would make large periods of every game much cagier.

In rugby you can get a sin bin and then bounce back with a few scores easily enough when you get back to a full compliment, or even before, such is the ease in scoring points in rugby.
In football, there is already a huge degree of variability in matches caused by the very small number of points scored. This makes such a punishment far more dangerous because it is far more likely to result in a game-winning score.

It would attach a larger risk to playing the game with any hint of physicality, leading to a decline in that part of the game, which most seem to already believe has been diminished too much.

You couldn't possibly expect football to remain even remotely the same and have a sin-bin for every yellow. Games would routinely become a farce with as many as a third of the players off the pitch at any given time.
Either yellows would not result in automatic sin bins, the rules would have to be completely changed and made less stringent (which would lose the granularity in punishing relatively minor fouls that yellow cards currently permit) or the game would effectively become a completely non-contact sport.

Simply put, adding sin binning to football is an absolutely atrocious idea that would result in something barely recognisable as the game we presumably all currently enjoy.

Fr Tod Umptious

Ardillaun wrote: »

Timekeeping in most other sports, including rugby, is more transparent, and the current yellow card system, where you can plough into their star player once and suffer no significant punishment, is just wrong.

More video reffing is good for all sports as long as it can be kept quick. It would be excellent for subtle jersey pulls.

The penalty shootout is cruel and arbitrary. Negative teams can play for it. Far better to have some jazzed up format of soccer where a goal will be more likely.

I hate all the backchat to the ref in soccer. They should not have to put up with that. That would be very easy to remedy with a few penalties and yellow cards.

One more thing on the magic paint - a great idea but it should be enforced. Players should not be allowed to put their boots on it and move across it before a kick is taken.

Sorry but its neither cruel nor arbitrary.

Anyone who thinks otherwise does not know what they ate talking about.

keeponhurling

pinksoir wrote: »

Once the keeper dribbles with the ball he can't pick it up, essentially invoking the pass back rule. Too often keepers will collect the ball from an opposition wayward pass/hoofball, dribble with it, and then when opposition players put pressure on him he'll pick it up. Sometimes he'll even dribble it into the box so he can pick it up. Obviously done to waste time.

Even if they just enforced the 6-second rule, it would improve this.

Goalie regularly hold the ball in their hands for 20+ seconds and refs do nothing

dundalkfc10

Refs having balls and booking players for surrounding them! If all refs start doing this, it will be done away in a month worldwide!

I refed a game last week, young lad screaming at me after a free was awarded against him, yellow card. Same lad runs over to me 10 mins later giving out about another free I had given against his team. 2nd yellow and he was off after 15 mins. Nobody opened there mouth to me again! (I booked 2 others in between the first fellas two yellows for the same thing)

Omackeral

dundalkfc10 wrote: »

Refs having balls and booking players for surrounding them! If all refs start doing this, it will be done away in a month worldwide!

This guy gets it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxxdV7UlMUQ