8 changes Van Basten proposes to revolutionise football

8 changes Van Basten proposes to revolutionise football

The former Dutch international is looking to develop the game and has a lot of ideas

Dutch legend Marco van Basten, technical director at FIFA, has proposed a series of modifications to football, published in Bild, which could revolutionies the game. 

There are, in his own words, some of the dieas he's looking at.

1. Scrap offsides

"I think it can be very interesting watching a game without offside. Football now is already looking a lot like handball with nine or ten defenders in front of the goal. It's difficult for the opposition to score a goal as it's very difficult to create something in the small pieces of space they give you. So if you play without offside you get more possibilities to score a goal."

2. Sinbins

"The idea would be an orange card could be shown that sees a player go out of the game for 10 minutes for incidents that are not heavy enough for a red card." 

3. Penalties not extra-time

"I think everybody is pretty tired after 120 minutes. Maybe the player should start 25 meters from goal and then you can dribble the goalkeeper or shoot early. But you have to make a goal within eight seconds. It's more skill and less luck. It's maybe a bit more spectacular. It's more football but it's still nervous for the player."

4. Last 10 minutes with a stopped clock 

The match clock stops everytime the ball goes out of play or there is a foul, as in other sport. It's one way to stop time wasting.

5. Captain only speaks

Using rugby as an example, Van Basten proposes that only the captain can speak to the referee. This would avoid ugly group protests.

6. Maximum number of fouls

Limit the number of fouls per player, as in basketball. It would avoid, the former Dutch international says, players spending 90 minutes giving away little fouls.

7. Less games 

Van Basten feels the current calendar is too busy: "We have to promote quality instead of quantity. We are playing too much football now. We have to defend players because they have to play so much and are not fresh or fit anymore.

"That's bad for the quality of the game. Even in June when the big tournaments are played players cannot perform to their maximum because now if players are really successful they can play up to 75 official games in the year. I think that's a bit too much and maybe they should stop at 55 or 60."

8. 8 vs. 8

"In professional football is should be 11 vs. 11. However, for kids or those over 45, 8 vs. 8 would be perfect because it's a smaller space."