I want to preface this by saying that I absolutely love soccer. It is a great sport, and I eat up these big international tournaments. I'm not one of these people who thinks that the game is boring because it's too slow, or whatever. I love it.
That said, I do think I would tweak a couple of things.
First, I would play with unlimited substitutions. I don't like the fact that if you have a player that gets hurt you have only three options: (1) he plays hurt, (2) he comes out for a little while and you play a man down, or (3) you take him out and he's done for the day. Plenty of times in sports athletes get banged up and need to come out for a few minutes but aren't done for the day, but international soccer rules, anyway, require that if he comes out, he's finished. I don't like that in soccer. I'm fine with it in baseball, but not in soccer.
It would also have the added advantage of speeding up the game. I'm re-watching Italy-England from the other day. The pace was pretty slow, due to the weather conditions, I guess. Well, players just can't maintain a fast pace if they have to play all 90+ minutes. If they could get a few minutes' of a breather here and there it could change all that. We'd see more runs, more action, because you could bring in subs without ending starters' days.
In fact, I can't really see a downside to this idea. Imagine a pro basketball game where if a player came out, he couldn't go back in. The pace would slow considerably. It would be less exciting. And yet, there are still various differences in styles and tactics. That wouldn't change. In soccer, even with unlimited subbing, you'd still have teams that play fast and other teams that play more deliberately. But now teams with very deep 20-man squads could use the Pitino wear-you-down-with-our-pace-and-depth style.
It might even have the added benefit of improving US soccer. Many people don't like the sport, or don't play the sport, because it's too slow for them (interesting that baseball remains popular). If the sport stayed very fast, it might be more exciting to the average American, and thus it could potentially change the American soccer culture for the better.
Second, I would never have the knockout round of a major tournament have penalty kicks to determine a game. Ever. I would keep playing 15-minute overtime periods until someone scored a goal. With unlimited substitutions, fatigue shouldn't be a problem.
Any other rule changes you all would make? Or is the game perfect the way it is?
That said, I do think I would tweak a couple of things.
First, I would play with unlimited substitutions. I don't like the fact that if you have a player that gets hurt you have only three options: (1) he plays hurt, (2) he comes out for a little while and you play a man down, or (3) you take him out and he's done for the day. Plenty of times in sports athletes get banged up and need to come out for a few minutes but aren't done for the day, but international soccer rules, anyway, require that if he comes out, he's finished. I don't like that in soccer. I'm fine with it in baseball, but not in soccer.
It would also have the added advantage of speeding up the game. I'm re-watching Italy-England from the other day. The pace was pretty slow, due to the weather conditions, I guess. Well, players just can't maintain a fast pace if they have to play all 90+ minutes. If they could get a few minutes' of a breather here and there it could change all that. We'd see more runs, more action, because you could bring in subs without ending starters' days.
In fact, I can't really see a downside to this idea. Imagine a pro basketball game where if a player came out, he couldn't go back in. The pace would slow considerably. It would be less exciting. And yet, there are still various differences in styles and tactics. That wouldn't change. In soccer, even with unlimited subbing, you'd still have teams that play fast and other teams that play more deliberately. But now teams with very deep 20-man squads could use the Pitino wear-you-down-with-our-pace-and-depth style.
It might even have the added benefit of improving US soccer. Many people don't like the sport, or don't play the sport, because it's too slow for them (interesting that baseball remains popular). If the sport stayed very fast, it might be more exciting to the average American, and thus it could potentially change the American soccer culture for the better.
Second, I would never have the knockout round of a major tournament have penalty kicks to determine a game. Ever. I would keep playing 15-minute overtime periods until someone scored a goal. With unlimited substitutions, fatigue shouldn't be a problem.
Any other rule changes you all would make? Or is the game perfect the way it is?