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Message: [QUOTE="JoePgh, post: 4022097, member: 1131"] Not that it will ever happen, or even that it should happen, but I think soccer would be a much more fan-friendly game if it basically followed the rules of ice hockey, but on turf rather than ice and using feet to propel the ball rather than sticks to propel the puck. Specifically: [LIST=1] [*]A fixed offside line rather than a variable one based on where the defense positions itself. [*]Free substitution during play, which would allow a faster game because players could then play in shifts and go at a faster pace while they are in the game and then recover on the bench while they are temporarily replaced. This might require larger rosters that go three-deep at each position, but everyone would play. [*]I'm not sure if an "icing" rule (maybe it could be called "pitching") would be needed to prevent defenses from just kicking the ball down the field to break up an attack. (I'm not entirely sure why defenses in today's soccer game don't do that more often.) [*]Penalties enforced through a "penalty box", where the offending player must go out of the game for a fixed time, and his/her team would be required to play short-handed for that time. [/LIST] Obviously that would be a very different game, perhaps requiring different skills, and certainly with records that would be completely non-comparable with today's soccer game. [/QUOTE]