Former Holland striker Marco Van Basten has called for the abandonment of the offside rule in an effort to make the game more attractive.

The current assistant coach of the national side also advocated the use of video match officials and even stricter refereeing of time wasting. 

He also compared the game to handball, lamenting the fact that teams now approach matches with an ultra-defensive mind set.

"There is so much time wasting in football. We need new rules to do something against it. Give players a red card if they are wasting time following a substitution. The pace of the game should remain high," Van Basten told Algemeen Dagblad.

"Football should be tense, fair and attractive. I think it's a major challenge to bear that in mind when it comes to deciding what rules we need."

"Just look at how football has developed. Modern football is like handball. You see 11 players defending on the edge of their own area.

"We might as well get rid of the offside rule. The rule is quite complicated and always leads to a lot of discussion. The players will get used to it quite quickly.

Van basten in action against Ireland in the European Championships in 1988.

"Football has changed just like life in general has changed. Football was just a bit of fun 50 years ago, but it is big business now. A lot of money is involved.

"I also hope the video referee will be introduced before the 2018 World Cup. The video ref should focus on the key things, situations ahead of goals, penalties and red cards. There will always be small mistakes, but there is a lot of room for improvement."