Jose Mourinho wants bits of the NFL to appear in the Premier League.
Mourinho says the game will be improved as a spectacle if FIFA enable coaches to have gaps in the game as they do in the USA, and allow them to change the way teams are set-up.
The Chelsea boss has cited the example of Louis Van Gaal's use of water breaks in Holland's World Cup knock-out game against Mexico, during which the Dutch coach used the stops in play to tactically alter his team – and ultimately win the game.
“Football is very late to change rules,” said Mourinho.
“How many years did we have to wait for goal line technology? How many years did we have to wait for the third substitution? How many years did we have to wait for things?
“I hope I am still in football when they give the coach the chance to stop the game during the first half once, and during the second half another time.
“Because you can make the game much better.”
Mourinho's comments come after Chelsea's 2-0 win Premier League over Leicester City at the weekend, when he says his team was completely wrongly set-up fromt eh start to take on the Foxes.
“Imagine today if I could have stopped the game,” said Mourinho. “I would have stopped the game at 1min 10seconds! I think it will be an interesting thing to see.”
The suggested rule change has been controversial when mentioned in the past, notably in the run-up to the 1994 World Cup in USA – when it was seen as a way of inserting another ad break for bradcasters.
But Mourinho says the idea would be beneficial for football reasons, and that it has worked before.
He said: “(Look at) Van Gaal in the World Cup. He was lucky because the referee stopped the game for the water breaks.
“And during the water breaks he changed the system of his team. And he managed to win that game because he changed the system of his team.
“So, maybe one day I have the chance to stop the game once in the first half, and another time in the second half.”
