If I could change one rule in football, it would be for a time limit on VAR decisions. I don’t think we should get rid of it, but I think there should be a 90 second rule. If it is not clear and obvious in 90 seconds, it’s not clear and obvious.

VAR: (I’m) fed up of seeing players not celebrating goals. The fans not knowing what’s going on in the stadium, far too many inconsistencies with it as well. 

Goals outside the box count double, however, in the last 10 minutes. So, it’s kind of a final phase system. So, it comes into play and commentators can get involved and say ‘it’s final phase.’

I would abolish the technical area for managers and let managers roam a little bit up and down the touchline.

Change the handball rule. For me, it’s pretty simple: just say is it a deliberate handball or not?

Every corner, the goalie has to go up. And it’s just a bit of carnage, something a bit fun, something different.

I would give each team at least one timeout per half. So, you can use that whenever you want.

With corners, free kicks, and throw-ins, you can pass to yourself. I think it’s your advantage. You’ve got the ball, why do you need to pass it to somebody else? So, you can get the game going quickly.

I quite like the idea of a bonus point for every time you score two goals. Sometimes when you see teams who are at the same sort of level playing against each other, they’re like really tight games. People are more scared of losing. But if there’s always an incentive to always get something from a game, well, if it’s two goals, you’re going to see more attacking football.

You should be able to celebrate. Take your shirt off. Or have … when we saw Maresca running down the touchline … last-minute winner, they shouldn’t be given a red card or yellow card for that. You should be able to just celebrate and have fun.

Thinking outside the box, taking me back to when I played on the streets and we had a rule where, if the ball went out of play, you had 5 seconds to get it back in. Whether that be a throw in, whether that be a corner or a free kick. So, I’m going to suggest that we give them 10 seconds if it’s a free kick, corner, or throw in to get the ball back into play to speed the game up. And it might take away from Arsenal in terms of set pieces and being able to set up. So, it might give Chelsea a little bit of an extra chance to maybe win the league.

To eradicate diving, I would have a 5 minute sin bin for simulation.

Rather than just have a yellow card for simulation, I would have that upgraded to a red card for simulation and a three game ban. I’ve been banging on about this for years. So, let’s ban the cheats. Three game ban.

Anybody caught cheating or diving, automatically the other team get a penalty. And that way we can stop this rolling around and people cheating and diving.
(End)

• A limit (noun): the maximum amount or number of something that is allowed or possible.
• VAR (noun): abbreviation for Video Assistant Referee: an extra referee who uses video replays to help make decisions.
• To get rid of something (phrasal verb): to remove or throw away something not wanted.
• Obvious (adjective): easy to see.
• Fed up (adjective): annoyed, bored, or frustrated by something you don’t like.
• A fan (noun): a person who likes and supports a person, sports team, etc.
• To go on (phrasal verb): to happen.
• An inconsistency (noun): something that isn’t regular, reliable, or not the same each time.
• Outside the box (phrase): not inside the penalty area, outside the area in football where the goalkeeper can pick the ball up.
• A phase (noun): a stage, part, or period in a longer process of things.
• To come into play (idiom): the start to have a use or an effect.
• A commentator (noun): a person who describes a live event, especially a sports match.
• To abolish something (verb): to officially end or stop an activity.
• To roam (verb): to move or travel, especially in a random way without any planning.
• A touchline (noun): one of the two long sidelines on a football pitch.
• Deliberate (adjective): done on purpose or intentionally, not by accident.
• A corner (noun): a kick in football made to start play again from the corner of the pitch.
• A goalie (noun, informal): the goalkeeper, the player who tries to stop another team scoring.
• To go up (phrasal verb): to move to an attacking position.
• Carnage (noun): a crazy situation where there is lots of action, chaos, and mess.
• A timeout (noun): a short pause, rest, or break.
• An advantage (noun): something that helps you or gives you a better chance of success.
• Bonus (adjective): something extra or added that you didn’t expect.
• Tight (adjective): very similar standard, difficult to predict who is going to win.
• An incentive (noun): something that makes you want to do something by giving a reward.
• Last-minute (idiom): the latest possible time to do something, at the final moment.
• To think outside the box (idiom): to think imaginatively using new ideas instead of old ideas.
• To take (someone) back (phrasal verb): to make someone remember the past.
• Out of play (phrase): if the ball is out of play, it has gone off the pitch and play stops.
• To speed (something) up (phrasal verb): to make something faster.
• A set piece (noun): a corner or free kick in football that has been planned and practised.
• To set up (phrasal verb): to organise and prepare for something to happen.
• To eradicate something (verb): to get rid of something, to remove something completely.
• To dive (verb): in football, to fall on the floor on purpose to try to win a free kick or penalty.
• A sin bin (noun): an area off the pitch where a player is sent by the referee as a punishment.
• Simulation (noun): the act of pretending to be fouled to try to win a free kick or penalty.
• To upgrade something (verb): to change something and make it newer or better.
• A ban (noun): a punishment in which one person cannot do something for a period of time.
• To bang on about something (phrasal verb): to talk about in a boring way for a long time.
• A cheat (noun): a person who breaks the rules, who does not play in an honest way.
• Automatically (adverb): as part of the normal system or process.
• To roll around (phrasal verb): to roll and move around on the ground (in a dramatic way).

In this text, there are examples of the zero, first, and second conditional. Conditionals describe the result of a certain condition or situation. The if-/ when clause tells you the condition, the main clause tells you the result. The order of the clauses can be changed, and this doesn’t affect the meaning.

Zero Conditional: used for general truths, laws, or rules – things that are always true.

Structure: if/when + present simple, + present simple:

‘When you play football, you use a ball.’    ‘If you kick the ball in the net, you score a goal.’

First Conditional: used for real or possible future situations: things that are probable/ likely to happen.

Structure: if/when + present simple, + will (or other future form) + infinitive:

‘If we win this game, we’ll win the league.’   ‘We are going to watch the match if we have time.’

Second Conditional: used to imagine unreal, unlikely, or hypothetical (imaginary) situations in the present or future – things that are not likely to happen or impossible.

Structure: if + past simple, + would (‘d) + infinitive:

‘If I could, I would play football every day.’   ‘He’d be a better player if he passed the ball more.’

With the verb ‘to be’, ‘if I/ she/ she/ it + ‘were’ is grammatically correct; but ‘if I/ she/ she/ it + was’  is common in informal speech.

‘If I were/ was you, I’d become a goalkeeper!’    ‘If she were/ was in our team, we’d win more often.’

*Other words and phrases like unless, even if, or in case can replace if/ when in conditional sentences:

‘I’ll play unless I have to work.’   ‘We’d win the match even if the other team had 20 players!’   ‘Here are my boots in case you need them.’

*We can use shortened second conditionals and omit the ‘if-clause’ if it is understood through the context:

‘Where would you live if you could? I’d live in Spain [if I could] because of the weather.’

Examples in the text:

• If it is not clear and obvious in 90 seconds, it’s not clear and obvious: the zero conditional is used here to talk about a rule or fact that is always true.
• If I could change one rule in football, it would be for a time limit on VAR decisions: the second conditional form is used here (if + past simple, would + infinitive) to discuss an imaginary change to football.
• [If I could change one rule in football,] I would abolish the technical area for managers: a shortened second conditional form is used here (using only the main-clause, without the if-clause) as it is obvious that the speaker is talking about an imaginary change.
• … if there’s always an incentive…, you’re going to see more attacking football: the first conditional is used here (if + present simple, future form + infinitive) to talk about a probable future result.
• … if the ball went out of play, you had 5 seconds to get it back in: this sentence functions like the zero conditional (if + present simple, present simple), but instead describes a past fact or rule that was always true, using the past simple in the if-clause and the main clause.

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/b1-b2-grammar/conditionals-zero-first-second

https://www.englishpodcastscollected.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/BBC-Sport-14-bold-ideas-to-make-football-faster-fairer-and-more-fun.pdf

https://www.englishpodcastscollected.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/BBC-Sport-14-bold-ideas-to-make-football-faster-fairer-and-more-fun.docx