Hockey vector: in Russia skeptical about the experiments of the Netherlands with the rules of football

"It will make football faster, sportier, fairer and more attractive"

Football is a fairly conservative sport.

Despite regular innovations like the golden goal, VAR, or an increase in the number of substitutions, most of the rules have remained unchanged for many decades.

At the same time, attempts are regularly made to seriously change them in order to increase the attractiveness and attract the audience to stadiums and screens.

So, in the USA in the last century, a series of 11-meters was temporarily replaced with an analogue of football shootouts.

And in Italy they introduced a green card, which is shown for observing the principles of fair play.

The most serious experiment in recent years has been decided in the Netherlands.

Starting from the 2023/24 season, the rules in the second division of the country will change dramatically.

First, the duration of the half will be reduced to 30 minutes of pure time.

Accordingly, at all pauses the timer will stop.

The Royal Football Union (KNVB) explained this by the fact that in 2020 the Champions League match, taking into account numerous delays, on average lasted just about an hour.

Secondly, an unlimited number of substitutions will be introduced in the championship.

According to the KNVB, they will increase the pace of the game and spectacle.

They promise to make the castlings "volatile" and produce them right in the course of the meetings.

Thirdly, each mustard plaster will be punished by a five-minute removal.

Finally, the real revolution will take place when set pieces are played.

During the outs, the players will have the opportunity to enter the ball from behind the side with their feet and go into dribbling.

It will also be possible to go into dribbling without striking and without passing to a partner when taking free kicks.

The organization believes that the changes will make the game "faster, sportier, fairer and more attractive."

At the same time, the KNVB statement says that there are enough football romantics in FIFA and UEFA who are prone to nostalgia and who are hostile towards any initiatives.

In the Netherlands, these rules have been actively tested in amateur and children's competitions since 2017.

For example, last year a youth tournament was held in the country with the participation of PSV, AZ, Leipzig and Brugge, where they also tested all the bold ideas in practice.

It is curious that one of the main reformers in FIFA is the former Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger.

The Frenchman heads the federation's global football development department and sits on IFAB's rule-changing committees.

In particular, he suggested playing outs with legs and mitigating offside requirements so that players would not fall into an offside position due to a few centimeters.

However, most of the bold proposals were rejected.

“They are doing everything to increase entertainment, and it pays off”

To figure out how such serious experiments would benefit football, RT spoke with well-known coach Igor Kolyvanov and former striker of the Russian national team Dmitry Bulykin.

They reacted to the reforms of the KNVB in different ways.

The specialist criticized the changes in the rules.

For example, he questioned whether introducing an unlimited number of substitutions would make life easier for mentors.

In his opinion, this will only add confusion to their work.

“A complete mess.

Just imagine what would happen if there was a replacement every three to five minutes.

Constant castling will negatively affect the pace of the game.

Do not forget that the replacement takes an average of 30-40 seconds.

With these stops, the players will lose all courage.

I think 45 minutes is the optimal half time, plus a few judges always add.

And these half-hours run the risk of stretching indefinitely.

I don’t believe that we will see this on a serious level, ”Kolyvanov emphasized.

Temporary removals, the coach believes, will also not help his colleagues discipline the wards, because in the heat of the fight they do not think about the sanctions that threaten them.

“Spending five minutes in the minority is not so scary.

When the players are turned on and charged for the fight, no changes in the rules will stop them.

This is psychology.

On the field, before going into tough combat, no one will even remember about it.

Here, they entered VAR.

Are you playing smarter?

Nothing!

On the contrary, there are more fouls, ”Kolyvanov explained.

But he found the idea of ​​​​playing outs with his feet curious.

According to the specialist, the players will have the opportunity to cut through the opponent's defense with one long pass and bring their partner one on one with the goalkeeper.

In turn, this will lead to increased performance and speed up the pace of the game.

Bulykin, who played for three years in the Netherlands, on the contrary, called the KNVB idea interesting.

He recalled that the country is not afraid to try out new products.

In particular, it was there that one of the first in Europe introduced the playoff system after the end of the regular season.

“They are doing everything to increase entertainment, and it pays off.

The cost of TV rights to the Premier Division has increased significantly.

I think that in this way they are trying to draw attention to the second league and at the same time try out something new at this level, since the introduction of such rules on a professional level is still unlikely, ”the former forward of the Russian national team emphasized.

Like Kolyvanov, he found the idea of ​​throwouts interesting and noted that it would help the attackers score a lot more, since the pitcher is even better positioned when playing the ball from the side than from the corner.

In his opinion, there is also a sense in temporary deletions for mustard plasters.

“To spend five minutes in the minority is not as scary as it seems, yet this is not hockey.

I don't think the players will stop breaking the rules and getting cards.

On the other hand, people will start thinking before talking to the judge in a raised voice.

This is definitely a plus, ”the striker explained.

It also makes sense to reduce the half-time to half an hour of pure time, Bulykin believes.

It is difficult for today's youth to watch the game for 90 minutes, and this innovation will make matches more watchable for them.

“We can have a football where there is no room for time delays.

And it will add intensity and entertainment to the game.

Now there are already talks that an hour and a half to watch the game is too much.

It is more interesting for the modern generation to watch matches if they do not drag on too long, ”summed up Dmitry.

"I'm sure FIFA and UEFA will never accept this"

According to former FIFA referee Yuri Baskakov, such experiments do not make any sense, and the likelihood that they will be tested at a high level is zero.

“What is the idea of ​​reinventing the wheel if the stadiums are still full houses?

I'm sure FIFA and UEFA will never accept this.

I give 100%: The International Football Association Board (IFAB), which is responsible for changing the rules, will never go for such serious reforms.

Previously, a youth tournament was regularly held in Toulon, where such innovations were just tested.

And kick-outs were introduced, and two judges were released to work in the field.

None of this stuck.

Well, let's, like in the yard, give a penalty for three corners, ”Baskakov criticized the ideas of the KNVB.

Attempts to reduce the duration of the meetings, he said, can only have the opposite effect.

Unlimited substitutions, injuries and pauses to watch replays will drag them out indefinitely, as the referee will be forced to constantly stop the timer.

“Let's not forget that the coaches will have the opportunity to constantly refresh the composition.

This is generally some kind of nonsense.

I won’t be surprised if they make reverse substitutions, as in futsal.

Plus, there is VAR.

And then there are injuries.

In my opinion, the game is still quite dynamic, ”the ex-referee emphasized.

The specialist also believes that the idea of ​​temporary deletions is absolutely unviable and has not proven itself for a long time.

“Such an experiment was carried out.

Within its framework, they just showed the blue card to the players and temporarily removed them from the field.

But at a high level, we have not seen this.

Here it remains to add once again: the current rules work, and there is no point in changing them.

Otherwise, it will no longer be football, but hockey, handball or basketball, ”Baskakov said.