My friends and I were discussing this idea. The subbing in of a U23 homegrown player didn't count as sub along with an Italian style bench, would change the way youth development work in England. We also thought it would be best if homegrown actually meant grown at your home as in the club they are playing for.
If it collapsed on top of Sepp Blatter, I'd be all for it. Part of the beauty of soccer is that the game is played the same way all over the world. The NFL can make 15 rule changes a year because nobody else gives a sh*t. I'm not really sure how you address this issue without FIFA taking the lead. For that to happen, FIFA needs to be run by a leader, not Sepp Blatter.
Does anyone else think that any changes in rules to address head injuries would also mean that we'd see (a lot) more "phantom" injuries on the pitch that can be used for tactical advantages (stoppage in play for several minutes, tactical subs, etc.)? As it is, it's somewhat hard to address head injuries - so couldn't a player fake an injury and no one be the wiser?
I would say keep 3 subs, but allow a head injury sub to occur without counting into the 3 subs. This will make it so no one hesitates to pull them.
This is why you require reports to be sent to an independent premier league doctor. Faking an injury = 3+ game ban for the player and subbed on player. Who would try it then? It's also why I think you have to have the player leave the field, and then you get 10 minutes to decide whether to let him come back or use up a sub. If the doctor disagrees, you get fined plus the doctor has to clear the player to return.
Coaches value their three substitutions as ways to potentially change the rhythm of the game, so they are hesitant to take off players that may have been concussed. The solution is to allow free substitutions for concussions and neck injuries verified by a doctor. These injuries are fundamentally different from other injuries on the pitch, because they are potentially life threatening and should be treated differently from other injuries. It would allow coaches to keep their tactical options open and it would allow teams to replace a concussed player after they had already used their three substitutions.
Player misses one game minimum a reasonable precaution for a concussion and depending on symptoms additional games. I think this would mitigate against faking a concussion.
I can appreciate the difficulty of borderline cases and rule abuse, but in this WC there were at least 3 cases where the player should have been subbed off immediately. Kramer, Mascherano, and Pereira were all close to unconscious, and it was obvious that they shouldn't continue. I'd rather err on the side of caution and have incidents like Higuain's "injury" on the Neuer collision and Dempsey's broken face be controversial. Kramer risked serious long-term repercussions, and FIFA has no policy in place to deal with that.
allowing a free substitution or even a temporary substitution could potentially be unfair on the other team though. even if a player has a legitimate head injury concern, his team would be allowed to bring on a completely fresh pair of legs. there are loads of scenarios when having a player take a blow to the head could be advantageous for his team...
I'm so conflicted about this. I like 3 subs as a number of subs. Of course, there's no reason that 3 is better than 2 or 4, and increasing subs in the past was probably greeted with horror. Regardless, head injuries need to be addressed.
They've expanded the bench, why not the number of subs? Would it make any real difference in the game? I doubt it. But it could make spending a sub on a potential head injury less costly.
Even if you have four subs, you may have a player get a head injury late in a game and as a manager be reticent to take them out because you've already used 2 or 3 subs. Having some kind of exemption for head injuries (a la MLB's 7-day concussion DL) makes a lot of sense.
I like this idea as it would provide a deterrent against faking. I'm still for the head injury sub. As I said before though, it will take someone dieing I think to force a rule change.