September 5 – Europe’s elite club coaches have called on UEFA to review the use of the away-goals rule in continental competitions since scoring away from home is not as tough as it used to be. They also want the transfer window to close at the same time in all the region’s major leagues.
Following the annual coaches forum at UEFA headquarters in Switzerland, UEFA’s deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti confirmed that UEFA would “open a discussion” on the use of the away goals rule.
Among those present at the forum were Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, Massimiliano Allegri (Juventus), Carlo Ancelotti (Napoli), Unai Emery (Arsenal), Paulo Fonseca (Shakhtar Donetsk), Julen Lopetegui (Real Madrid), Thomas Tuchel (Paris Saint-Germain) and former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger.
“The coaches think that scoring goals away is not as difficult as it was in the past… so they think the rule should be reviewed and that’s what we will do,” Marchetti told reporters.
“They consider the situation in football has changed and the weight of the away goals is not the same as many years ago when the rule was introduced.”
The rule was first introduced in the former European Cup Winners’ Cup competition in 1965 as an alternative to tossing a coin or staging a replay on a neutral ground.
But Marchetti said the coaches now felt the rule was also counter-productive and induced home teams to defend to avoid conceding a costly goal. “This is one of the points that needs to be looked at,” he said.
On the transfer window, England and Italy decided to close theirs before the start of their respective seasons to make it easier for managers to plan. But in the likes of Spain, Germany and France, they continued until the end of August as before.
“The coaches are of an opinion that there should be a unified window and the window should close before the competition starts,” said Marchetti. “The idea would be to try and bring them into line.”
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