- Former Arsenal boss spoke for the first time about changing the offside rule in 2020
- Wenger is reportedly keen for the change to be implemented as soon as possible.
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Jamie Carragher believes Arsene Wenger’s proposed amendment to the offside rule would be “terrible for the game”.
It was reported on Wednesday that the former Arsenal manager, now FIFA’s head of global football development, was willing to press ahead with his idea of introducing the “daylight” offside principle following positive tests.
The change, which Wenger first discussed in 2020, would mean that a player is in play if any part of his body that can score a goal is behind or at the level of the corresponding defender.
But Carragher believes the alteration would lead to a seismic shift in the way teams are forced to defend and result in coaches deciding to set up their teams in a more negative way.
“This will be terrible for the game as teams will defend completely differently to how we see it now.” He wrote the former Liverpool defender on X, formerly Twitter. ‘A lot of low blocks and negative teams.
Arsene Wenger is said to be pushing ahead with his plans to introduce the ‘daylight’ offside principle.
Jamie Carragher believes the change will be terrible for the game and will lead to more defensive teams.
The former Liverpool defender criticized the proposal on social media, insisting that football does not have to offer more advantages to attackers.
‘How would you defend a set piece!! We don’t need more advantage for the attacker, the game is seeing more goals scored than ever!!!!’
According to The TimesWenger was convinced of the idea after the good results of the trials carried out in Sweden, Italy and the Netherlands.
Their bid has the backing of former Gunners and FA vice-president David Dein, who told the outlet that the current rules are “too contentious and problematic.”
Wenger is reportedly keen to adopt the new law just as quickly but is likely to face pressure for trials at higher levels.
Strict offside calls have continued to infuriate football fans this season, perhaps more so than Coventry’s disallowed goal in the final minutes of their FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester United.
A FIFA spokesperson told the Times: “The discussion around changing the offside law is not new and is not something we will see introduced at higher levels imminently.”
“The idea was first discussed in 2020 because we felt it was something worth exploring and testing to see the effect it could have on the game. FIFA committed to testing the amended offside law, which favors the attacker, and which has been applied in selected youth competitions throughout Europe.
“We will continue these trials, evaluate the results and discuss them with all relevant stakeholders.”
Coventry’s extra-time goal in the FA Cup semi-final against Man United last month was ruled marginally offside by VAR and a source close to the PGMOL confirmed to Mail Sport that the decision was correct.
Last month, Premier League clubs voted unanimously to introduce semi-automatic offside, which has been successfully implemented in the World Cup, Champions League and other major domestic leagues.
Wenger defended the use of the system in the 2022 World Cup, where it debuted with great success.
