"My teammates will be cursing me for this": BVB star calls for controversial rule change

"My fellow defenders will curse me for this, but I’d get rid of the offside rule – purely from a selfish point of view," he said, explaining: "There’d probably be more goals, and the game would become a bit more dynamic as a result. But I do like winning games to nil, so it’s not like that!"

The offside rule has been around almost as long as organised football itself. The first rules date back to 1863. In 1925, the rule was updated so that only two opponents (including the goalkeeper) needed to be between the attacker and the goal line. In 1990, the rule was relaxed so that players level with the ball were no longer offside. Passive offside, meanwhile, was introduced in 2005.

Beier also spoke highly of a teammate who is unlikely to be too pleased with his proposed rule change: Waldemar Anton, who, unlike Beier, has been included in national team manager Julian Nagelsmann’s March squad for the friendlies against Switzerland and Ghana later this month. In the same breath, he mentioned Grischa Prömel from his former club TSG Hoffenheim, who was also left out. In his opinion, both players would “get a bit lost in the shuffle and not receive the recognition they actually deserve.”

Beier’s omission had recently caused some surprise, as the attacking player has been in excellent form for BVB for several weeks. In the past 13 Bundesliga matches, he has recorded five goals and five assists in each, and also shone as a goalscorer in the first leg of the Champions League play-off against Atalanta Bergamo. His omission from Nagelsmann’s squad was therefore “incomprehensible” to Dortmund’s goalkeeping icon Roman Weidenfeller. Didi Hamann also showed little understanding for the decision and would, in particular, not have nominated Leroy Sané instead.

Meanwhile, Beier looks up to Fernando Torres in his position. “He was an incredible player,” said the 23-year-old, emphasising: “He really had everything you need as a top striker: finishing, ball control, understanding of the game, instinct.” He added that Bayern icon Arjen Robben was once one of his role models.

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