Proposed law change for next season would have dumped Manchester United out of FA Cup

Manchester United would have been dumped out of the FA Cup if Arsene Wenger's radical solution to Video Assistant Referee controversy was already in operation. Erik ten Hag's side booked themselves a place in the final against Manchester City after defeating Coventry City in a penalty shootout on Sunday afternoon.

The Championship outfit were also denied a winning goal in the dying embers of extra-time after Haji Wright was controversially adjudged to be offside by VAR. Callum O'Hare clipped the 26-year-old striker in behind an unorganised Manchester United backline.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka appeared to play Wright onside, but the move continued. The Coventry City frontman found Victor Torp unmarked in the six-yard box and guided the ball beyond Andre Onana into the far corner.

READ MORE: Ian Wright left confused by two Erik ten Hag decisions during Manchester United FA Cup win

READ MORE: Gary Neville fires clear message to Manchester United players after Coventry City scare

While Mark Robbins' side wheeled away in celebration, Michael Salisbury, alongside Peter Bankes and Nick Greenhalgh, reviewed the goal at Stockley Park. VAR eventually deemed Wright to be offside when unleashed by O'Hare in the build-up, ruling out Coventry City's late winner.

Fortunately for Manchester United, Wenger's controversial proposal to change the offside rule was shot down in flames otherwise they would've been eliminated from the FA Cup. Last year, the former Arsenal manager, who's now the chief of global football development at FIFA, suggested an amendment to the law which would give forwards more leeway and reduce the number of goals being disallowed due to the smallest of margins.

According to Spanish publication Marca, as quoted by the Daily Record, Wenger wants the offside rule rewritten so that the attacker's entire body must be ahead of the last defender. The current IFAB law on offside states: "A player is in an offside position if any part of the head, body or feet is in the opponents’ half (excluding the halfway line) and any part of the head, body or feet is nearer to the opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent.

"The hands and arms of all players, including the goalkeepers, are not considered. For the purposes of determining offside, the upper boundary of the arm is in line with the bottom of the armpit. A player is not in an offside position if level with the second-last opponent or last two opponents."

While Wenger's suggestion was quickly shut down by fans across the world, the Frenchman did have some supporters – one of which being Alexi Lalas. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, the ex-United States international wrote: "Yes, it simply moves the line that we will argue about.

"But it does create a new and distinct advantage to the attacker, which I like. It will force the defenders to adjust (drop) in order to truly be goal-side and rely less on the offside trap"

In November 2023, the Daily Record claimed that if Wenger's proposal was approved by IFAB then the law change could come into effect for the start of the 2024/25 season. It currently remains to be seen whether or not that will be the case although, at its AGM in March, IFAB approved further trials following some successful ones at U-18 level in Italy.

Though had it been implemented any sooner then Manchester United would have been knocked out of the FA Cup semi-final to Coventry City.