SUMMARY
- Erling Haaland admits to being unfamiliar with throw-in rules in soccer.
- Gerard Pique offers advice to Haaland to match the records of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Erling Haaland has established himself as one of the best soccer players in current times. Haaland has been exceptional for Manchester City, especially after winning the treble last season. He also won the European Golden Boot and finished as runners-up in the Ballon d’Or 2023 race behind Lionel Messi. However, even a player as good as Haaland recently admitted that he’s unfamiliar with a rather common rule of soccer.
In a recent interview with Manchester City’s official podcast, Erling Haaland discussed the potential changes that could be introduced in soccer that could benefit the improvement of the game. One of the foremost things Haaland said was that he wanted goal-line technology to be introduced all over the pitch. He stated that the technology will help detect accurately when the ball is out of the pitch.
Erling Haaland on the changes he would make to football: “I want ‘goal-line technology’ over the entire pitch. Also, for throw-ins, just have two hands on the ball. I don’t even know the rules, and I’m probably doing it wrong. It shouldn’t matter if you throw the ball down, up,… pic.twitter.com/XmXwXU4EvX
— Bolarinwa Olajide (@iambolar) March 25, 2024
Moreover, Haaland claimed that the soccer rule that annoys him the most is the throw-ins. He said, “I don’t even know the rules, and if I’m going to make a throw, I’ll probably do it wrong.” He also added that according to him, a throw-in should be considered legal if one throws it simply with both of his hands. In addition to this, Haaland also added that certain changes should be made to modify the throw-in rule.
The Norwegian striker stated that he wants a certain time limit set for players within which they should make the throw-in. Additionally, Haaland insisted that certain players tend to gain a positional advantage by taking a few steps forward when they make the throw-in. Haaland demanded that the rules should be modified to mark a place beyond which the player cannot go while making a throw-in.
Gerard Pique offers Erling Haaland a piece of advice
Meanwhile, former FC Barcelona and Spanish national team defender Erling Haaland recently offered a word of advice to Erling Haaland. Pique recently appeared in an interview where he spoke at length about various subjects. Talking about the City forward, Pique had his say on how Haaland should prepare himself for the future. While Pique expressed his admiration for Haaland, he admitted that the latter has a long way to go.
He said, “I think he has a lot of potential but to arrive at the level of Messi and Cristiano, it’s a long way to go.” The former FC Barcelona star added that Haaland needs to consistently perform at the top level for almost two decades to even think about breaking Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s records. Pique recognized Haaland’s talent and potential but maintained that he was still miles behind Messi and Ronaldo.
Nevertheless, Haaland has already established himself as one of the heirs to Messi and Ronaldo‘s throne in soccer. Besides Haaland, Mbappe has also been touted as the face of soccer in the future. Both Haaland and Mbappe have already broken some of Messi and Ronaldo’s records. However, the two are yet to win the Ballon d’Or, although Haaland came drastically close last year.
5 changes in soccer that we can potentially see from next season
With Erling Haaland voicing his confusion with the throw-in rule of soccer, let’s take a look at five potential changes that can be introduced in the 2024-25 season. According to reports, the concerned authorities of the International FA Board (IFAB) met at the annual general meeting earlier this month where they discussed some of these changes.
The first and foremost change that has reportedly been talked about is improving players’ behavior on the pitch. There have been talks of introducing cooling periods between matches where the referee can temporarily pause the game to let things cool down when players get agitated. The introduction of sin-bins or “blue cards“ for cynical fouls and “anti-soccer” behavior has also been discussed.
🚨 BREAKING: FIFA clarifies the trial of a ‘blue card’ in elite-level football, resulting in a 10-minute sin-bin, is “incorrect and premature.” pic.twitter.com/VZOcNWtI2T
— Managing Barça (@ManagingBarca) February 8, 2024
Players who make cynical fouls or show dissent can be ordered to leave the ground for ten minutes. Additionally, only the captain of a team will have the right to approach the referee in the middle of the game. Two other rules have also been discussed which often create controversy in modern soccer. The first one is that players will be sent off for handling the ball deliberately and that time-wasting from goalkeepers will result in corner for the opposition team.
