The International Football Association Board (IFAB) announced on Friday that it will be implementing a blue card system as part of trials to introduce sin bins in professional football. However, Premier League managers, including Mauricio Pochettino, Ange Postecoglou, and Jurgen Klopp, came out against the plan, and that has put the idea in jeopardy.
The goal of the trial is to determine whether player behavior can be improved and officials’ respect can be increased by temporarily dismissing players for dissent and certain tactical offenses, such as “professional” fouls, which occur when a player intentionally takes out an opponent in an attacking situation which does not warrant a red card.
However, the idea has not sat well with a number of Premier League managers. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has asked for changes that makes officiating easier. “These kinds of things just make it more complicated,” Klopp told a news conference. “[It] doesn’t sound like a fantastic idea in first moment. But I can’t remember when the last fantastic idea came from these guys [IFAB] if they ever had one.
Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou questioned the idea behind the trial. “I struggle to understand why this urgency suddenly to bring in new things. I don’t know if there’s that much wrong with the game,” Postecoglou said.
Mauricio Pochettino, the manager of Chelsea, expressed his curiosity about the application of the blue card in various match scenarios. He also mentioned that he would have been shown “a lot” of Blue cards if they had been introduced when he was still playing.
“It’s going to be more complicated. Because the interpretation of the referee [of] when to apply the red, the yellow or the blue [is important],” Pochettino said.
“What happens with the goalkeeper? Do you play without the goalkeeper for 10 minutes or can you change? We will see,” Pochettino added.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said the idea would not help the sport in short term. “We’ve got a lot going on now with decisions, with technology, with what has come in. I don’t know if we’re ready for that yet. Hopefully it’s going to be tested very well before we introduce it at this level,” Arteta said.
With so many questions, will the blue card be worth implementing anytime soon? We’ll have to wait and see.
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