The Future of Football Cup, a friendly tournament that brings together the youth teams of AZ Alkmaar, RB Leipzig, Brugge and PSV, is being contested with some rules that FIFA is testing. It is an experimental, evaluation process, so do not think that tomorrow you will see them in the highest demand football.
The modifications that are in the experimental phase are the following:
- Two halves of thirty minutes effective. Instead of the two forty-five minute halves that we all know, the idea is to play two half-hour parts of pure active time. The clock stops every time there is an infraction, change, medical assistance or for any other circumstance. It would be, then, sixty minutes of net time. No more strategic substitutions or simulations that impact effective time.
- Lateral services charged with the foot. The throw-ins, like futsal, are done with the foot. Ball stopped on the grass and to collect. There is the option of searching for the pass, or even having the executor individually drive from that point.
- Individual serves. Every time the game has to be resumed, be it with a free kick, corner kick, throw-in or goal kick, the possibility is opened for the collector / executor to go out individually. You put the ball on the grass and start driving. How much dynamics, intensity and rhythm he could add to the game is being tested.
- Penalty for yellow. If they admonish you, you go five minutes to the freezer. To wait for the bank. As soon as the penalty time passes, you can return to the court. The red card continues to be an immediate expulsion with no chance to return.
- Unlimited changes. As the clock slows down on changes (there will be no loss of time in that sense), each coach can make the changes they want. More options for tactical / strategic adjustments and greater physical freshness.
The duel between RB Leipzig and AZ Alkmaar, which ended 0-6 in favor of the Dutch cast, was held with these rules, and the impact was considerable. For example, in the second half a boy from RB Leipzig was booked and, as the new rule says, had to leave the pitch for 5 minutes. And just in that period, the whole of the Netherlands nailed 2 annotations. From 0-1 to 0-3 for that numerical difference.
To see how the modifications looked, here is the complete transmission + images of each case.
THE 2 TIMES OF 30 MINUTES
The 30-minute countdown of one of the halves in the friendly clash between RB Leipzig and AZ Alkmaar. And every time there was a pause, the clock stopped completely until the restart.
SIDE SERVICES CHARGED WITH THE FOOT
In this action, the RB Leipzig attacker did not completely stop the ball before charging and had to run again. Once with the ball still, now he did throw. And his decision was to find a direct center to the area. If right now (in current football) you can go directly to the area with a throw-in with your hand, this adjustment would open the door for many more lateral services to become a direct center to the pot (more danger, more emotions ).
SINGLE BAND KICK
An individual throw-in: the player put the ball on the grass and did not have the regulation obligation to play with a teammate. He decided to drive on his own and later join forces.
PUNISHMENT FOR YELLOW CARD – 5 MINUTES TO THE FREEZER
The entire sequence of a penalty caution. The referee showed the yellow card and indicated to number 4 that he should leave the field. The youth complied and had to wait for the 5-minute penalty off the field of play. He waited sitting on the bench and then, when his penalty was about to end, he stopped for a while to warm up with the training jacket. In the end, when the 5 minutes were up, he returned to the court as can be seen in the last box. He came out losing 0-1, he came back with a 0-3.
UNLIMITED CHANGES
There was no change limit. AZ took advantage of it and the only player they did not replace was the goalkeeper: Sem Westerveld; Fons Gemmel (Jurre van Aken entered), Joey Jacobs (Finn Stam entered), Tijs Velthuis (Chase Anrie entered), Misha Engel (Maxim Dekker entered); Bram Franken (Twisk entered), Richard Sedláček (Griffith entered), Nick Twisk (Viktor Christiansson entered); Richonell Margaret (Ro-Zangelo Daal entered), Iman Griffith (Yusuf Barasi entered) and Myron van Brederode (Ricuenio Kewal entered). He made 10 changes and none had an impact on the clock.
THE REFLECTIONS OF LEADING PLAYERS
“At first, it took a while to get used to the new rules (…) I like to dribble on a throw-in, because you can continue right away. It made the game a lot more physically difficult. “said Margaret, the AZ Alkmaar forward who scored one of the afternoon’s goals.
“You can see immediately who is proactive and who is not. We briefly trained on that and I have to congratulate the guys on how they handled it (the adjustments). I am also satisfied with how we play. RB Leipzig were dangerous in the substitution, but I think we were the dominant team. We showed it especially in the second half “said AZ Alkmaar coach Maarten Martens.
REMINDER
These THEY ARE NOT NEW OFFICIAL RULES. As we repeat throughout the note: these are settings that are being tested. At this point, the modifications are barely living the experimental phase. In this type of match, FIFA will evaluate if the proposals had a positive effect and if they can be implemented in professional football. There is still a while for this to be seen in an official match or First Division match. Remember that the body that authorizes regulatory changes is The International Football Association Board, better known as the IFAB.