Dutch legend Marco van Basten wants football to scrap the offside rule entirely to make the game 'more spectacular' for fans.
Van Basten first proposed changes in 2017 during his time as FIFA's technical director to try and keep football as the world's most popular sport.
He believes the game would be a bigger spectacle if the offside law was removed entirely.
Advert
The 56-year-old has spoken to Sky Sports and doubled down on his claims the offside rule is 'not a good rule'.
"I am still very curious about the offside rule because I am convinced that it is not a good rule," he begun.
"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.
Advert
"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."
Offside stops attackers occupying space behind the last defender and make it harder.
Despite the drastic changes, former AC Milan star van Basten is convinced teams would adapt tactically.
He continued: "Teams would find a way of playing without it.
Advert
"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.
"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 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.
Advert
"I am sure football would find a way to become even more interesting."
The current offside rule's flaws have been magnified in recent years thanks to the introduction of VAR.
Intense focus on the offside law has seen fans debate if the law needs a change down the line.
Arsene Wenger has also proposed new offside rules that could change the sport forever.
Featured Image Credit: PA Images & Sky SportsTopics: Football
