In past editions of the blog we discussed the offside law in detail and proposed removing it all together. Even your humble author admits that the idea is an extreme change, but it does seem like a natural destination in the evolution of the law. Recently former Dutch international – and one of the best attackers of all time– Marco Van Basten came out and endorsed the idea. Here is what he had to say.
The idea itself is great but the best part about him saying this is that it shows a willingness to experiment from a top footballer. Of course, he can not know the result of the change, but why not try something different, we can all agree there is some issue with the offside law. To me, football is a game that is supposed to flow, unimpeded by the officials and laws as much as possible, and right now that seems like the only thing that offside is doing. Perhaps even just excluding offside from VAR would do that trick, but we will never know until we try.
For those as annoyed about the recent offside VAR decisions as I here are some highlights from one of the all-time greats Marco van Basten to soothe your eyes.