Time wasting is becoming an increasingly big problem in football.
In the Premier League, it seems many teams do everything they can to milk the clock for as long as they can in certain fixtures. While there is a logic to this approach in some cases, there is no denying that it lessen the attractiveness of the spectacle on show.
A number of solutions have been suggested to the issue, including the shortening of games to 60 minutes and stopping the clock whenever the ball goes out of play.
Of course, there are also methods used to waste time while the ball is in play. The most common is bringing the ball to the corner, something that often occurs in the final minutes of matches as a team attempts to hold onto a lead.
Philipp Lahm suggests solution to time wasting
The final of the Women's European Championship provided a prime example recently, with England spending a huge chunk of extra time with the ball in the corner after taking the lead against Germany. Understandably, the opposition players became rather frustrated.
Is this something the authorities could look to clamp down on?
Writing in The Guardian, former Germany star Philipp Lahm said that the rule makers should consider limiting the amount of times a team can bring the ball to the corner during the course of a game. He also compared the potential move to the introduction of the backpass rule in the 1990s.
In the final at Wembley, England defended their 2-1 win over Germany at the corner flag, where they practically trapped the ball for almost 10 minutes. They were clearly the deserving European champions, scoring 22 goals in six games. But this was time-wasting; it immediately annoyed many fans...
The play at the corner flag was professional. I know from my own experience in the World Cup final in Rio 2014 that the time until the final whistle can drag. The minutes between the winning goal and the end were the longest of my life.
Now the game starts all over again. Rule-makers always have to be attentive. They can ask themselves whether they will curb the amount of time teams are allowed to play at the corner flag in future. They have to decide when it is still accepted as a tactical tool and when the spectators will turn away when the end again justifies the means.
It also depends on how the players behave on the pitch, whether they feel it is unfair. In the final at Wembley, I noticed that the Germany players complained about the England players with looks and gestures. Similar to the strikers who once waved their arms, telling the goalkeeper: “Release the ball!” They were not helpless at all. They demanded new rules and were partly responsible for the new backpass rule. Their protest was successful.
Considering that the ball is in play and the other team have an opportunity to win possession, this would be a rather large alteration.
It is more likely that something will be done about the time teams take over dead ball situations, as well as players going down claiming cramp and injuries in an effort to drain seconds off the clock.
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