Dutch legend proposes plans to scrap offside rule

Holland legend Marco van Basten wants to scrap the offside rule from football.

The iconic former striker wants to do away with the rule as it will make the sport ‘more interesting’.

Van Basten, 56, was Fifa’s technical director between 2016 and 2018 and rule improvements were part of his remit.

Legendary Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is FIFA’s head of global development and launched his own offside overhaul to end VAR controversy last month.

It would see a player being deemed onside if any part of the body which can legitimately score a goal is level or behind the last defender — even if other parts are in front.

But Van Basten wants to go one step further and get rid of offsides altogether.

read also:Van Nistelrooy: Player should be mentally tough to play at Man Utd centre

The Dutchman told Sky Sports: “I am still very curious about the offside rule because I am convinced that it is not a good rule.

“At least I would like to trial it to show that football is also possible without the offside rule. I am convinced that football would be better without it.

“Football is a fantastic game but I still think that we have to do much more to make it better, more spectacular, more interesting, more exciting. We have to work on that.”

Van Basten’s ideas would drastically change the way the sport is played but the former AC Milan star has thought it all through.

He added: “If you do away with the offside line then the defence will drop deeper. They will say that you cannot get behind us because they will be afraid of the opponents getting in behind.

“But if you go too far back then the 18-yard box is going to become a melee and the goalkeeper will not be able to see anything, so teams will know it is not the solution.

“As a result, the goalkeeper will want everybody out and that is exactly the point at which it would become so interesting.

“If the attackers can move behind the defenders there are much more possibilities for goals. It will make the defending more difficult.

“On the other hand, when you are defending, if there is no offside, you can always have one or two players far away so that when you get the ball you can put it to your forwards in the other half.

“The attacking team will have to be much more aware than they are now because the field is being made bigger.

“When the field is made bigger there are much more options for the players in possession and for the trainers to come up with the best way to exploit that.

“The problem now is that we do have offside and how often are we talking about the offside decisions? A lot.

“If you do not have offside you have a lot less problems and the teams will still find other solutions to have a good game that will be just as spectacular as it is now but without this bad rule.

“I am still very interested in it. It would just be nice to test it. I am sure football would find a way to become even more interesting.”