The Ref Stop

Marco Van Basten - Scrap offside and yellow cards

JamesL

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Staff member
Level 3 Referee
http://www.skysports.com/football/n...asten-wants-to-scrap-offside-and-yellow-cards

I like the yellow card idea - Sin Bins would prove a much better deterrent. It could also help grass roots by removing fines for yellow cards - increase sin bin length for second sin-binnable offence and 3 sin binnable and you're off. Could really work imo.

Not sure about scrapping offside; would certainly make park football easier, but less work for an assistant referee which would certainly affect the fee they were paid and the numbers willing to be an assistant on the back of that and didnt the Americans attempt the 1v1 shootout - and wasnt it just awful?

What are peoples thought on Van Basten's ideas?
In his position what would you change?
 
The Ref Stop
Football has grown into the world's major sport precisely because it has been very careful to only make small changes in the laws over the years, rather than desperate and confusing re-writings (hey there, rugby!). By all means address the things that need changing (dissent, simulation ) but wholesale scrapping of laws that work, seems to me to be self defeating.

But to take these ideas in detail:

1 The Sin Bin. No problem with this in principal, but imagine the problems at grass-roots level. A single referee, having to keep note of maybe three or four players all in sin bin and make sure they are let out at the right moment. Oh but the coaches might remind you? Yeah,I am sure they will never claim a player has finished his time in the bin when he hasn't... It might work at higher levels with fourth officials, but football has always tried to keep the essence of the game the same from Anfield down to the local park.

2 Scrapping offside. Been tried many many times over the last 150 years, and has never worked. Most recently only last season. May work for hockey, but football brought it in for a good reason. In actual fact, the present offside Law is in my opinion a work of genius, honed and fined tuned over several lifetimes. Is it tough to referee...absolutely...does it work...it sure does....

3 25 yard dribble/shootouts? No real problem with these, by all means give it a try.
 
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Americanisation of the game- not for me thanks. What next, divide it into quarters and have time outs and specialist subs who come on to take a goal kick or penalty. Seems there are a lot of people trying to change the game for the sake of change rather than for the sake of game.
 
It worries me greatly that legendary footballers move into senior football administration and development roles, only to then lose their marbles and start coming out with crazy ideas that would damage the game.

Can you imagine what would happen with no offsides. Central midfielders would be redundant as the ball would be pumped constantly over their heads to the attacker stood in the opposition's penalty area. How is that good for football, when technical gifted players get replaced by long ball experts and 6'8" centre forwards?
 
Not that I agree with all / any of his floated ideas I actually admire someone with some football brain actually putting their head above the parapet to even suggest new ideas. What have we had from the trough swillers in the last 30 years... nothing really!!
The game will evolve, new technology will inevitably come whether we like it or not. Yes some of the ideas sound silly but so did GLT when it was first raised and i'd say it now works brilliantly at the higher level. If you remember FIFA was dead against it initially, look at them now!!
 
Beating the offside trap is a skill. Beating a CAR can be a miracle!!!!!!!!!!! Actualy on the legues I ref most CARs try their best and try to be honest. You do get the odd one though. Sin bins only with a team of three otherwise at GR level it would be a nightmare to keep track of. The dribble not a great idea. But as Sheffield Finest said its nice to hear an expro coming up with new ideas. There are no bad ideas just unworkable ones.
 
Hi
Sin Bins could work. Ref just makes a rough note of the time of binnning that is say 15th minute no 5. Request at 23rd minute tocomeback on, pull out card, nah two more minutes. Simple. I a
So think that yellows no longer work correctly
On offside it needs to change. Itisnow dated and no longer doing what it was supposed to do. I think offside could be amended that once a team clears the ball and pushes out offside should apply to those left in. Once though play has turned around with the AR going to his left that offside need no longer apply or no offside in the penalty area on attacking play has moved back in. For example why should offside apply when say twenty players are in the penalty area at the end of a game at a free kick? Who is off their side?
 
Initially I quite liked the idea of no offside. Then I thought about it.

For a lone ref, no offsides would make the game near impossible under some circumstances. Box to box punts???

I know ref tennis can happen as the lotg are currently, but strikers rooted inside each other's 6 yard box??? Not even with rocket pants mate!! Could be mayhem.

Lol
 
Fair point on offside SM. Even with AR's it would be a challenge - where will they stand if there is a goal camper?
Never thought about that point before.
 
1 The Sin Bin. No problem with this in principal, but imagine the problems at grass-roots level. A single referee, having to keep note of maybe three or four players all in sin bin and make sure they are let out at the right moment. Oh but the coaches might remind you? Yeah,I am sure they will never claim a player has finished his time in the bin when he hasn't... It might work at higher levels with fourth officials, but football has always tried to keep the essence of the game the same from Anfield down to the local park.

I agree with your points re grass roots level. As a grass roots, solo operator I see sin bins causing me more problems that they solve.
 
Van Basten says abolishing the offside rule would mean an end to games which "resemble handball where nine players, plus the goalkeeper, pack the penalty area and [the defence] is like a wall".

Surely he's got that completely backwards. Offside gives an incentive for defences to push higher up the field, in order to catch an opponent offside. Abolishing offside would just give the defenders all the more reason to pack the penalty area.
 
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Make the game 20 aside with rush keepers, no offsides, no side lines and no referee. Used to work brilliantly when I was a kid, lots of goals too.

You could even let the captains pick their own teams from the assembled crowd. Game will continue until it's dark or the player who owns the ball gets called in for tea.
 
Make the game 20 aside with rush keepers, no offsides, no side lines and no referee. Used to work brilliantly when I was a kid, lots of goals too.

You could even let the captains pick their own teams from the assembled crowd. Game will continue until it's dark or the player who owns the ball gets called in for tea.
It would improve goalpost safety as well - you don't get an injury from colliding with a rolled up coat on the floor!
 
Futsal referees have the same problem - not quite a sinbin, but when a player is sent off they can be replaced after 2min.
And at all but the top level, there's no official timekeeper. Just write down in your notebook when the player can return, and keep a close eye on the clock.
 
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