Even the most popular sport in the world could stand some tweaks. Overall, I want fewer games decided by chance and referee decisions.
- Two referees: Twenty two people is a lot to keep track of. Too many. Get two referees out there, maybe three. They could split the field similar to NBA referees. They can concentrate more, see more, make better calls. It also reduces the chances that any given game will rely on one single call.
- More substitutions: Fans tell me it is great to have few substitutions, you end the game with the players you start with. That’s fine, but why not take that to its conclusion and have no substitutions then? Three is such an odd number (ha ha). I would bump this to at least six, or ten, or unlimited.
- Penalties for flopping: I mean, c’mon. It’s cheating. You can give it fancy names, you can say it’s part of the game, but it’s cheating, plain and simple. Players who flop should be penalized. If not during the game (it is hard to tell), then after the game on review. Again, the NBA does a good job here. Cheating is cheating.
- Decrease size of box: The less area a goalie can use his hands, the less pass-backs there will be, the more chance of something going wrong. Not only does it result in more goals, it results in more exciting playing, since the frontline can apply more pressure when the other team has the ball.
- Increase penalty shot distance: The shot is too easy. When the goalie is literally guessing which way the ball will go, it has stopped becoming sports. Push the shot back a bit to give the goalie a chance. I do have a concern with this – that the harder this shot gets, the more incentive for the defense to deliberately foul. Not sure what to do about that…
