"Imaginary" - Sheffield United: Chris Wilder calls for rule change ahead of Blackburn | OneFootball

The Blades are going to be without a key player against Blackburn because of this rule.

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has called for a re-think of the yellow-card suspension rule.

There are more and more ways in which a player's name can get put into a referee's book nowadays. Things like delaying restarts have been made punishable by a yellow card, and, therefore, increased the likelihood of bookings being handed out.

In the EFL, if a player receives five yellow cards within the first 23 games of the season (the halfway point), then they receive a one-game suspension because of the accumulation of bookings. The rule is similar in the Premier League, except the games threshold is set at 19 instead of 23.

Already this season, the Blades have had two players suspended from matches due to them picking up five yellow cards, and we're just 12 games in to the season. Vinicius Souza missed United's game against Middlesbrough, and Gus Hamer wasn't allowed to be involved against Stoke City.

They now have a third squad member who is set to miss a fixture due to the number of yellow cards they've received: Anel Ahmedhodzic. The Bosnian defender got booked in the 2-0 home victory against Stoke, and will now miss the Blades' upcoming league game against fellow promotion hopefuls Blackburn Rovers.

Amid this number of disciplinaries, Ahmedhodzic's boss has made a statement on the suitability of the rule in today's game.

Chris Wilder speaks out on five yellow card suspension rule

Wilder believes that the rule which his side has fallen foul of three times already this season should be looked at again, and potentially changed to make it more befitting of the modern game.

30% of the players in the Championship this season who have been booked five or more times are part of the Blades. Bristol City are the only other team to have multiple players reach this number of bookings at this stage of the season.

"Everyone wants it to be a physical game," said Wilder, via The Star. "Everybody wants it to be competitive. Stoke City fans want it to be competitive, our fans want us to put tackles in and I just think the threshold is a poor one.

"It’s too early. The threshold hasn’t changed for a long time and the game’s changed, in terms of imaginary yellow cards or delaying restarts or just contact as well. Some of the bookings would go down as pretty soft. But we all want to see that contact game and aggressive game."

Chris Wilder can't really blame anyone for yellow card accumulation

There will almost certainly never be a day in this sport when everyone agrees on the rules and the practical application of them. The letter of the law is what officials are supposed to go by, but there is often the counterargument of 'If you've played the game, you know that's not a foul.'

Of course, referees are sometimes culpable for making bad decisions when it comes to enforcing the laws of the game, but, from Wilder's perspective, it really should be as simple as this: United players are getting booked too often, so stop doing things that will get you booked.

That may be a reductive way to look at things, but it's not like this is something that is completely out of the control of the Blades' boss and his players. They can do something about it, but doing something about it doesn't require a change in the rules, though.