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The amount of football played in the Premier League has dropped dramatically.
The league considered to be the best competition in the world’s top flight is seeing more time lost to slow restarts, delaying tactics and time-consuming injuries, and officials struggling to keep up with time.
The Premier League’s new chief referee Howard Webb believes it is the most discussed issue in the game outside of VAR – but is reluctant to follow last month’s World Cup lead in tackling what has become a long-term problem.
In the average Premier League game this season, the ball has been in play less than 56 percent of the time. These figures have continued to decline over the past 10 years and with 2022/23 the lowest on record.
Frustration had existed before the slide, to the extent that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson suggested that the referee’s hand should not be used until 2012.
Although they guarded their own interests, the sentiment was and remains shared. Several managers and executives have complained to the media this season, as well as to the Premier League’s refereeing body (PGMOL).
Sky Sports analysis has found that in 23 games this season, Premier League fans have sat through matches where the ball is out of play for more than half of the playing time.
Crystal Palace against Leeds in October had the least amount of football, with less than 44 minutes of football played out of nearly 101 minutes of the match.
In the first half of the game, a goal at Istana prompted a VAR review that lasted almost two minutes, and then a clash of heads led to a stoppage of five minutes and 45 seconds. Only five minutes were added by the referee before half time.
Leeds managing director Angus Kinnear called the match “an unacceptable spread for players and spectators” and said he would raise the matter with PGMOL.
Three months later, nothing has changed. In Wolves vs Manchester United on New Year’s Eve, three injuries in the second half stopped more than seven minutes, with another minute delay for a VAR review on a disallowed goal. Once again, five minutes were added.
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In Wolves vs Man Utd on New Year’s Eve, three second-half injuries stopped more than seven minutes at Molineux, while another minute was lost to a VAR review. Five additional minutes were signaled
The World Cup has shown how it can improve. FIFA chief referee Pierluigi Collina’s initiative to detail injury time more accurately resulted in the average match during last month’s tournament exceeding 101 minutes.
“People want to watch football, more football,” was the reason. And it worked. Injury time dropped by more than a quarter as teams gave up more turnovers, with nearly five percent more balls in play at the end of the tournament.
An average game, excluding extra-time, features more than 58 minutes of football. That’s more than the top five leagues in Europe this season.
Jamie Carragher is one of the admirers of Collina’s thinking. “[I’m] enjoying the amount of time added to the World Cup,” he tweeted. “There’s a lot of time-wasting in football!”
PGMOL boss Webb has thrown cold water on the Premier League over what he called the “unusual” method used in Qatar and insisted referees have added “credible” time.
“I am a big supporter of making sure that referees can take action against players who delay the restart, and those who stand immediately in front of a free kick to avoid it being taken,” he said. Sky Sports before the Premier League restarts on Boxing Day.
However, during last week’s series between Arsenal and Newcastle there were more than 10 minutes of stoppages due to injuries, substitutions and caution to waste time just after half time. It was another occasion when five minutes of injury time were added.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was furious with the decision, while team-mates Jesse Marsch and Jurgen Klopp were also furious at what they described as a disruptive tactic that went unpunished by the referee.
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Howard Webb has told Sky Sports that he wants to see a trial of the new stoppage time interpretation before it is implemented in the Premier League.
“This is an entertainment business and I hope the referees can handle it better,” Marsch said Sky Sports after the game against Everton just five games into the season. “The referee has the opportunity to influence the game and he didn’t take advantage of it.”
Officials have tried several new approaches. Forty yellow cards have been handed out for time-wasting this season, a figure which would be a Premier League high by some margin, but it is no different.
The return of the multi-ball system at the start of 2022/23 is also intended to restart play faster, and it cannot hold back the decline either.
The real change may come from the top of Webb and PGMOL. The IFAB, the international body that acts as football’s law maker, has discussed the issue of playing time this season and will have to address it again when it meets next week.
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Jesse Marsch felt Everton were slowing down and complained about the referee’s approach to tactics when the two sides met in August.
Wasting time is not a British-only problem. In fact, three of Europe’s top five leagues see fewer balls in play than the Premier League and in the Scottish Premier League less than 51 minutes of football are played during an average game – four minutes less than the Premier League.
The IFAB will review the success of a stricter approach to World Cup withdrawals, and address how the existing laws of the game – such as the maximum six seconds for goalkeepers to hold the ball – can be applied consistently.
It will also discuss whether Ferguson’s long-held desire, to add external timekeepers to the game, is a real possibility.
Sky Sports has been observed repeatedly abusing the six-second rule by goalkeepers in the most stoppage-affected Premier League games of the season, disrupting the flow of the game even when the ball remains in play.
In one game, the match referee did not intervene even though the same goalkeeper held the ball for more than 15 seconds on six separate occasions.
The push to take additional time-out responsibilities out of the hands of referees has been a long-term campaign by former Arsenal chairman David Dein, who has spoken to PGMOL and FIFA about his proposals and has had a significant impact on his role as the FA. and Premier League ambassador.
“I have become a champion because referees are the busiest people on the pitch,” he said TalkSPORT earlier this month. “If you ask the referee, he will say that he does not need and does not want to keep time anymore. He manages the football game. He has a lot to do.
“When we talk about pure time, I do not recommend that one minute of time is wasted on a throw or a corner kick. .
If you ask the referee, he will tell you that he doesn’t need and doesn’t want to keep time anymore. He organizes football games. He has a lot to do.
“Goal celebrations, injuries, substitutions, VAR checks and penalties. Now, if you add everything, one and a half minutes here, one minute there and another minute there, it adds up to eight, nine or 10 minutes. during the course of the game.
“I was at the World Cup and spoke to FIFA officials. I made a presentation to them and slowly but surely, I will get the agenda.”
The World Cup has helped make the case faster than expected to bring the topic of time wasting to the table, and show how effectively it can be tackled with a consistent approach.
But when Premier League fans will see more of the football they’ve paid to watch, without external intervention from the IFAB, remains to be seen.
Sky Sports has contacted the Premier League and PGMOL for comment.
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