Former Man City and West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini has stunned fans by calling for a brand new rule that would ban teams from passing backwards.
The Chilean coach made the shock suggestion after his Real Betis side beat Lyon 2-0 in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Asked about possible changes to the offside law, the 70-year-old said he wasn’t a fan, but he had a much more radical idea.
Pellegrini claimed football would be far more exciting if teams were banned from sending the ball back into their own half once they’d crossed the halfway line.
He said: “A rule that would improve football would be that the ball cannot return to the defensive half after crossing the midfield.”
“It would make the game more dynamic and closer to the opponent’s goal.”
The idea is inspired by basketball’s backcourt rule, which means a team loses possession if they move the ball back over halfway once they’ve entered the attacking zone.
Fans were left stunned by the idea, with some calling it genius, and others saying it would “ruin” football as we know it.
Pellegrini, nicknamed ‘The Engineer’, is no stranger to big ideas.
He’s one of the game’s most respected coaches, having managed Real Madrid, Manchester City, and West Ham, as well as clubs in Spain and South America.
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During his time at City, he famously guided the club to the Premier League title in 2014, introducing a stylish attacking brand of football.
Now at Betis, Pellegrini is continuing to experiment with ways to make the sport more entertaining and less predictable.
The offside law has been a major talking point this season, with VAR decisions often decided by just centimetres.
A proposed rule change would mean players are only offside if their entire body is ahead of the second-to-last defender, instead of just a toe or shoulder.
But Pellegrini dismissed that tweak as meaningless, saying: “It wouldn’t change much. We’d still have the same decisions being decided by centimetres.”
Whether football’s lawmakers will ever take him up on his basketball-style idea remains to be seen, but it’s definitely got fans talking.
