Hello friends, good vibes to all.

Fuente.

This is a question that many of us ask ourselves considering how much this sport has changed from what it was fifty years ago, for example. Throughout history there have been changes in the way the game has been played, dynamics and above all refereeing, with VAR being the most important modification that has been implemented lately. For the purists, soccer was perfect before: without so much technology; there will be others who comment that there will always be a need to innovate for the sake of justice on the field and to minimize errors and there is another group that simply is not watching soccer because it does not call their attention, this must be said that they are the most current generations but it is still a reality.

Apart from the simple fact of questioning things, this question also comes to me because of certain news and/or rumors that have been going around in the last weeks and months. I think the most important of all is the intention of the IFAB, the body in charge of discussing and implementing the rules in soccer, to introduce a blue card. What would it be? - Well, it would be like a red card, a little "lighter" and it would serve to reprimand a player and take him out of the game for 10 minutes in cases of protests or tactical fouls. If you get two blue cards, you would be sent off from the game.

Fuente.

When the river is full of water, it is because it is full of stones. This blue card, which was categorically rejected by FIFA, at some point I think it will end up being used even if it sounds very crazy or anti-futbol. There are other decisions to come as well, such as the fact that only captains will be able to approach the referee to protest, 8 seconds of possession must be the maximum time for goalkeepers when they are going to take a kick and an extra change when there is a concussion. Even, and this is more of a rumor on the way than anything else, they wanted a card to punish for excessive celebration at the time of a goal. Is all this deviating the true essence of soccer?...

All changes that are for the better I think they should be applauded, that help to a fair game, but when there are too many things to be aware of, all the details and rules, that's when soccer becomes tedious. An example is the VAR that came to solve big problems and despite that it has not been free of failures or controversies due to its misuse, in the Premier League and in the Spanish League referees have been dismissed because they are not able to use the tool well, which basically is to see a replay on a screen and know how to interpret the rules.

Fuente.

I think that little by little and as the years go by, soccer as we know it will undergo changes, small and in small steps, but with the intention of making it as less complicated as possible. The more appreciative it is for me the better, there are many actions that can not be decided by the VAR so it is up to the discretion of each referee to make the decision. And I say this not because I trust the referees but because I feel that the human side of the game has to exist, if we let a line or an image dictate a sentence that depends less and less on the refereeing body then I think soccer would lose a lot. VAR is something very positive and necessary but it has to be interpreted correctly.

There will come a time when those games of 30 years ago will remain as something worthy of a museum because the way the game was played will not be recognized. I feel that the game is more restrictive nowadays, I don't know if this is a good or bad thing for the purposes of spectacle and game dynamics but it is a reality that we have to accept because basically it is what we have. Changes are necessary but when there are many it can be overwhelming, in the end people don't like changes. And so much so that there are fans who still do not understand how the change windows work in matches, another of the most recent modifications in soccer.

Fuente.

I hope that the essence of the sport is not lost, that the referees are better trained and that they do not include rules just because they want to innovate or to solve a problem that can be solved in a simpler way. In spite of the desires that I may have, the truth is that I am not clear about the direction of soccer, where it is going is an unknown for me, so we will have to keep watching it to see where it will be in 10 or 20 years. Will there be more changes? - Sure there will. Will it benefit the sport? - That's the million-dollar question. In theory that is the idea, in practice is when we will really know if changing something so many times is really healthy for both the performance and the show.

Well my people that's all for today, I hope you liked it.
¡Hugs to all, see you next time!