‘Shouldn’t be allowed’ – Bompastor wants keeper rule change

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor believes a new rule “should be implemented” regarding in-game tactical tweaks made when goalkeepers receive treatment.

The issue was highlighted in January by Arsenal counterpart Renee Slegers who said time-wasting in such instances harmed the “attractiveness” of the game.

Bompastor went further before Sunday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie with Manchester United (13:30 GMT), saying any player who receives tactical instruction in these moments should “get a yellow card”.

“It could be an easy fix,” she said. “Most of the time when a team does this, it’s because they want to make tactical changes.

Bompastor, 45, had a stellar first year in charge of Chelsea, winning a domestic treble and going through the Women’s Super League season unbeaten.

This year has been more of a struggle, with the Blues nine points behind leaders Manchester City and facing a first season since 2018-19 without being crowned champions.

“We aim to always be front-footed and play with intensity,” she added. “Sometimes, as much as we want to do that, some things don’t allow us to.

“If a goalkeeper goes to ground, you have to tell every player to stay on the pitch and not allow them to talk to the coach. It should be simple.”

On Sunday, Manchester United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce went down with no-one around her in the 25th minute when her side trailed London City Lionesses and came under sustained pressure.

While she was attended to for about two minutes, many of the United players went to the sidelines for a drink and to receive instructions from the coaching staff

Inside three minutes later, Jess Park levelled the scores.

In fairness to United, their boss Marc Skinner has also suggested the practice needs to be addressed, saying previously: “From my perspective, I’d happily explore it because we regularly face it ourselves.”

Such incidences are common in the WSL – and Bompastor agreed with Slegers that they harm the appeal of the competition.

“We need to understand that fans are coming to watch us on the pitch,” she added. “They want to see a lot of rhythm, a lot of playing time as that is part of the entertainment as well.”

Dale Johnson, Football issues correspondent

Ifab has been wrestling with the issue of the goalkeeper tactical timeout for the past couple of years.

The problem is no-one can agree what to do about it.

One idea was getting a decent amount of traction. That required an outfield player to leave the field for 30 seconds if a goalkeeper has treatment.

In effect, it would mirror what happens when the physio comes on for any player.

There are concerns, though, that this assumes every goalkeeper is feigning injury.

And would a keeper with a genuine problem be less likely to go down in fear of hampering their own team?

The Ifab will meet on 28 February to discuss potential law changes for next season.

There will be modifications for some areas of time-wasting, on substitutions and goal-kicks.