The game we all love - what would you change?

CalamariFritti · 10-09-2025 11:34AM

Bull of the highest order, sorry to be so blunt. We'd have 10 minute VAR after every free/corner.

used AI for half of them

should have stopped reading right there…

KaiserGunner · 10-09-2025 12:06PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123802400#Comment_123802400

So you going to use these rules for free kicks in the attacking half as well?

randd1 · 10-09-2025 02:29PM

Change how VAR operates completely.

Mandatory introduction of Semi-Automated Offside Technology. This should, at the very least, clear up any offside within 30-40 seconds, reducing the need for VAR intervention.
Each team is given 4 VAR challenges per game, max 3 per half. It would then be up to the team managers to issue the challenge to the referee by calling in a review of the play.
When a VAR challenge is called, the ref goes to the VAR screen. There he hits a play button which starts a 45 second timer to view the footage and come to his conclusion.
At no point does the VAR official recommend anything to the referee, the decision is up to the referee at all times, the VAR official is there to solely to provide the referee with footage.
All handball incidents to be viewed in real time and not slow motion to allow the referee to judge more accurately the speed of the reaction of the player prior to the ball hitting the arm in a natural movement.
In term of goal scored, a handball, a red (or potential red) card, or penalty call, any VAR challenge would be limited to the immediate 10 seconds before the actual incident, anything prior to that is discounted.
If no VAR challenge is issued, the on-field decision stands.

jacool · 10-09-2025 02:44PM

You go down holding your head, like half the Hungarians last weekend, you go off for a HIA assessment, for your own safety!

No sub allowed and the game continues. You can be re-introduced if declared healthy.

Genuinely injured players will get looked after, and it will cut down on all the spoofers, who are actually making it harder for refs to recognise a genuine head injury, and who are panicked into stopping the game, usually unnecessarily.

8-10 · 10-09-2025 03:19PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123803187#Comment_123803187

Mandatory semi automated VAR for what games? All FIFA games? All UEFA games? All top flight leagues?

Or only selected leagues? How do you select? Is it mandatory for some but not others?

Because this doesn't seem cheap to implement

Nalz · 10-09-2025 03:55PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123802576#Comment_123802576

Yeah I confess a lot of them are messy and or silly. I did post most of them for the craic. No need to apologize for being blunt, it was deserved.

The one I like the most is keeping the 6 yard box free until the ball is kicked or the ball enters the area.

I know it would bring VAR in more but the corners right now are a joke.

scottser · 10-09-2025 04:01PM

Make offside simple again.

Make handball simple again.

VAR for clear and obvious errors only.

Diving and shithousing generally to be instant yellow cards.

Tragedy chanting to be penalised by forfeiting the game to the opposition.

The Rooster · 11-09-2025 07:55AM

Someone mentioned earlier about making penalties harder, which i dont agree with, the penalty-taker should have a big advantage. But to reduce diving / going down really easy, i”d love to see that the person fouled has to take the penalty. Okay, it’s not going to stop your Bruno, Mo, Saka, Kane etc going down, but it will make many others think twice if the pressure is on them.

It’s very rare that a person fouled for a peno has to go off injured, but if he does then it’s his direct replacment that has to take it rather than the specialist taker. Plus it would have the added benefit of making the leading goalscorer charts slightly fairer.

Hyzepher · 14-09-2025 09:21AM

I would change VAR so it is passive.

Give each team a number of challenges. If you are wrong your count goes down by one. VAR doesn't look at game until a challenge is made and they are not told what the onfield decision was or who has made the VAR challenge. They review the footage and come to a decision. That decision is final.

No challenge no VAR.

pjohnson · 14-09-2025 11:58AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123805303#Comment_123805303

Would that not possibly leave a "Hack-a-Shaq" situation arising.

Pauliedragon · 14-09-2025 12:17PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123814567#Comment_123814567

I thought of that before but you'd probably get a scenario where a team are getting battered and look like conceding so the manager makes a frivilous challenge just to break up the play and give his players a breather. Obviously he'd lose a challenge but he might think it's worth it.

Dogsdodogsstuff · 14-09-2025 12:30PM

I would change goal celebration rules. Booking players for taking off jersey is absurd. Need to get back to days of allowing and encouraging passion. VAR is already changing how fans celebrate goals, that instant check for VAR really takes the joy of a goal that used to be relatively instant , away.

VAR in its current use is ruining the game and there’s a boiling frog feel to it where fans aren’t really realising how much it’s fundamentally changing things. Part of what made the sport so dramatic and enjoyable was human error.

This drive for subjective perfectionism is a joke. There’s still so many things that can be debated and it’s just making the VAR hysteria more dramatic then the sanitised upper levels of the sport.

NIMAN · 14-09-2025 01:25PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123815041#Comment_123815041

I may be misremembering here, but didnt they introduce the yellow for taking your shirt off because people were displaying messages on shirts underneath?

Also think it's a daft yellow. Then again, just after scoring a goal, why would you get the urge to start stripping?

Dogsdodogsstuff · 14-09-2025 01:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123815219#Comment_123815219

They could of just banned crap on a top under jersey. I think the silly celebrations are more contrived and weird then somebody instinctively taking off a jersey in elation.

jacool · 15-09-2025 09:11AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123815219#Comment_123815219

I'd say they introduced it because it took Diego Forlan about 2 minutes to get his jersey back on back in the early 2000s!

randd1 · 17-09-2025 11:55AM

Given absolute power?

A club salary cap of €175m to limit the powers of the big clubs, but still allow star players to make large salaries.

Every team has to start a match with 4 players from that country to promote domestic player development.

Internal transfers max of 15m, external transfers max 20m, annual max of 100m. To prevent clubs going bust.

European prize money to be split 30/35/40% for the club, 70/65/60% for the remaining clubs in their domestic league depending on the number of teams in it, to prevent monopolies in leagues.

I reckon you'd see a more even sport across the board then.

Dogsdodogsstuff · 17-09-2025 12:09PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123824535#Comment_123824535

Absolute power , I’d cap salary’s to a basic level and make add ons more important. So either have basic salary cap and add ons as much as you want or basic salary could only be a total percentage of the full salary. In short have salary’s motivate players to do their f**king job even if they aren’t loving where they are , like the rest of us.

I don’t mind players getting stupid money once they can’t decide on a whim when they will work for it. It’s weird that there’s no consideration given to fans when their team is stuck with a player on stupid money and they are whining on twitter or faking injury or just not arsed or worse still unsettling the whole culture at the club.

I can’t get over how “well he’s entitled to sit on his arse and get stupid money” is seen as a defence of a player when a fan of that team wants them out. Yes , there was a deal done and contracts signed, but one party of that contract is absolutely abusing their position of power and its fans literally paying the price.

rob316 · 17-09-2025 03:07PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123824535#Comment_123824535

What you would see is a guaranteed super league happen.

rob316 · 17-09-2025 03:09PM

I can't understand how VAR calls take so long, I'm watching it on TV and can make the correct decision in 10 seconds. Ref goes over to the monitor and watches it for a few mins before deciding.

randd1 · 17-09-2025 03:19PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123825151#Comment_123825151

Not sure it would. Teams in Spain, Italy, England and Germany would have a better chance at affording players, so it would likely make those leagues more competitive. France probably too. Less transfer fees would see other clubs around the smaller leagues being able to afford players, and club salary caps and season transfer limits would mean clubs couldn't hoover up players. It also means superstar players on massive wages could still be a thing, but clubs would have to balance the books to afford them meaning they probably couldn't afford too many, which would see them go to other clubs.

More competitive domestic leagues means there's less likely a chance for a super league to happen. One of the big pushes for the super league came from Real Madrid and Barcelona, and was that they play better sides every week. If that happened in Spain, they'd have no need for a super league.

pjohnson · 17-09-2025 03:22PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123825194#Comment_123825194

Would their be any relegations in this plan?

randd1 · 17-09-2025 03:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123825206#Comment_123825206

Yeah, these rules would apply in their domestic leagues, I would presume so.

It's basically a limit to what a club can spend. I think we can all agree that a club with a wage bill of €300m and €250m of a transfer kitty has a distinct advantage over one with a €50m wage bill and €65m transfer kitty.

Put limits on the bigger clubs, it gives other teams a chance to compete against them.

As for the money for the rest of the league idea, success in Europe would see the whole league prosper, not just one club.

As I said, it's purely based on given absolute power over the sport. It's not anything based in reality, just spit-balling. I just think a more egalitarian financial policy and structure in soccer, I'm sure the sport would prosper more and become more competitive.

GreeBo · 17-09-2025 03:38PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123825158#Comment_123825158

Your TV is probably a lot larger than the crappy screen the refs get to see. Should do it like rugby, get it up on the big screen for everyone to "enjoy".

GreeBo · 17-09-2025 03:39PM

Deffo sinbin for yellow cards, if you want to hack someone down to save a goal, then you should pay more of a price than just a free kick and a yellow card.

The Nal · 17-09-2025 03:55PM

Dont watch footie anymore. VAR has ruined it completely.

So yeah, get rid of it.

rob316 · 17-09-2025 06:00PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123825194#Comment_123825194

All you would be doing is putting money in owners pockets. Id rather see players paid eye watering salaries than a billionaire adding to the pile.

The purpose of the super league was driven by laporta and Perez wanting to level the playing field with the PL, Spanish clubs can not compete.

Isthisthingon? · 18-09-2025 11:12AM

Get rid of the post match interviews with players. They are so predictable and formulaic at this stage.

Players are coached on what to say and not in front of the cameras you may as well get a press release.

Granted 1 in 1000 may be entertaining but otherwise drop them.

Manager interviews are marginally better and you get the odd memorable one ..

The Nal · 18-09-2025 02:13PM

If they're going to continue with VAR, cut the half lenghts to 40 minutes. Games are far too long.

8-10 · 18-09-2025 02:46PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123828084#Comment_123828084

But most games don't have VAR so you're shortening them....why?

Or do you mean games will reduce by 10mins only if VAR is used?

The latter seems mad, the former seems excessive

The Nal · 18-09-2025 02:48PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123828200#Comment_123828200

The ones that do I mean. Because they go on for an extra 10-15 mins now.

The game we all love - what would you change?

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