Joey Barton has risked the wrath of senior figures from women's football after claiming their product will always be 'inferior' unless serious changes are made.
The former Manchester City and Newcastle midfielder, who is now manager of League One Fleetwood, believes the women's game should introduce smaller balls, pitches and goals to improve the quality of football on show.
Chelsea women's manager, Emma Hayes, controversially suggested that the size of the goals should be reduced earlier this year to help make up for the 'physical differences' between men and women.
Her comments were criticised by England goalkeeper Karen Bardsley, who argued that the move would harm the fight for equality, but Barton has taken things a step further by calling for more extreme alterations to the women's game.
Speaking to podcast Football, Feminism & Everything in Between, Barton said: 'It's a different sport though really, in essence - women's football should be adjusted for women, physiologically, biologically.
'The goal sizes and the weight of the ball should be [changed].
If we're going to make women's football better, as a spectator sport, to stand on its own in the marketplace, if you keep playing on the same size of pitches as men with the same size of football as men and men's rules, you're always going to have an inferior product - because men are bigger, stronger and faster than women.
'If you tailor it, women's football could take a lot of strides tactically and technically - way beyond its current limitations.
'Let's be realistic about it. The size of a football for men's a size five, say we moved the size of a women's football down to a size four, would anybody really notice the difference?
'No, but I guarantee you in terms of the physicality and the output, level of passes and the range of passes players some of the women players would then be able to do because the ball's a bit smaller and the ball's more suited to their physiological state.'
Barton, who grew up as an Everton fan, also revealed that he would 'love' to replace Marco Silva at Goodison Park as the club continue their search for a new boss.
'I'd love to do it [be Everton manager] because I think I'd be brilliant at it,' he added.
ruecept
0
small stadium？