Watching the Premier League this season, it has been difficult not to come away with the conclusion that time-wasting has been on the rise. It seems that a huge proportion of fixtures are plagued by at least one team attempting to win down the clock, often to the detriment of the quality of the spectacle on show.
While there is plenty to be said for the games 'dark arts', the prevalence of the practice in the division this season has been a cause for concern. It is likely that the authorities will look to clamp down on it in the off-season, which could result in a similar approach to last year's World Cup where huge amount of added time were tacked on at the end of games.
Some have claimed that the issue is being overblown, but some stats released today showed that it is a very real concern.
In an interesting article from Opta, they confirmed that this Premier League season had the lowest amount of 'in play' time since records began. The ball was in play for an average of just 53:41 in each fixture.
Unsurprisingly considering the complaints from opposition managers, Newcastle United are the worst offenders. Not only is do their games feature the lowest ball in play time, but they also take the most time to resume the game from goal kicks.
However, a certain Irishman produced a very eye-catching number in this stat recently.
Gavin Bazunu time-wasting against Arsenal summed up by stats
Southampton came close to pulling off a huge shock in their game against Arsenal last week, taking a 2-0 lead early on at The Emirates. They would also find themselves 3-1 up in the dying moments of the game, only for the home team to score two goals to secure a 3-3 draw.
Considering the way the fixture played out, it did not come as a surprise to see Southampton employ some 'game management' skills in order to drain the clock. Gavin Bazunu was particularly active in that area, with Arsenal fans growing increasingly irate as the game went on as he took plenty of time over his goal kicks.
In fairness, it seems like they had good reason to be annoyed.
According to Opta, Bazunu managed to take over 13 minutes off the clock with his goal kicks alone. This was only one of three occasions this season where a goalkeeper has used up over ten minutes. Here's what they had to say on it:
The home crowd were audibly frustrated at the length of time Gavin Bazunu was taking over his goal kicks. The Irish ‘stopper received multiple warnings for time-wasting but was not booked.
Bazunu took an average of 43.7 seconds before taking each of his 18 goal kicks at the Emirates. Add that together and Southampton were able to burn 13 minutes and 6 seconds of time while taking goal kicks.
It was the second highest mark recorded in the division this season, with only Brentford's David Raya surpassing it in his club's win over West Ham.
The article went on to say that Arsenal were getting a taste of their own medicine in one way. Earlier this month, Aaron Ramsdale took an average of 57 seconds over each goal kick in his team's draw against Liverpool at Anfield.
It will be interesting to see if this issue can be addressed next season.
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