I guess it’s just human nature - not just in sport - but in all walks of life, to see just how far rules can be stretched. And stretched they will be, unless there are punishments or direct consequences to those rules being over-stretched.
Time wasting is one of the scourges of modern football. Even I was astonished to see that in many games, the ball isn’t even in play for over 50% of the game time. Despite watching a wonderful performance by the lads against Arsenal, I was yet again amazed (I don’t know why I still get surprised) to see how much time wasting went on by the top of the league side. If there were direct rules to counteract various situations, these offences could slowly be wiped out. Sometimes, the powers that be are very slow to implement adjustments that could be made to make watching a game more enjoyable for the fans.
Quite a few years ago now, the pass back to the keeper was altered so that a goalkeeper couldn’t pick the ball up from a pass by a teammate. This was because teams started to play ‘to you to me’ between the keeper and a defender, to run the clock down, and waste time. Easily solved - the keeper was stopped from picking the ball up from a pass back. This season, the keepers have been told that they can’t hold the ball for more than 8 seconds; otherwise, a corner will be awarded to the opposition. I welcome such an introduction, as long as, of course, the referees are consistent and implement the rule.
SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 08: Referee Craig Pawson speaks with Granit Xhaka of Sunderland during the Premier League match between Sunderland and Arsenal at the Stadium of Light on November 08, 2025 in Sunderland, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 08: Referee Craig Pawson speaks with Granit Xhaka of Sunderland during the Premier League match between Sunderland and Arsenal at the Stadium of Light on November 08, 2025 in Sunderland, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
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There is also a lot of time wasted by teams taking a throw-in. Interestingly enough, there is already a rule in place whereby if a team performs a foul throw, it can be awarded to the opposition. This is all well and good - except that most referees no longer whistle for a foul throw! I’d hazard a guess that many players don’t even know how to throw a ball in correctly! But it should be easy enough to introduce a rule, similar to the keepers one, that if you take longer than (say) 10 seconds to take a throw-in, then it goes to the opposition.
The biggest problem for me personally is players feigning injury and going down easily to either con the referee into giving them a free kick, or just as often these days, to ease the pressure on their team and force a break in play so that the impetus is lost for the attacking team. This is easily achieved with recent rule changes - a player simply has to hold his head, and the referee is almost duty-bound to stop play in case it is a serious injury.
The problem here is that there doesn’t seem to be an obvious counteraction that can be taken to stop this play-acting and ‘gamesmanship.’ Many times when I think about improving our wonderful game, the answer is often in the two rugby codes - League and Union.
In rugby, a physio or trainer is allowed to come onto the field of play (with a quick indication from the ref that it is ok to do so) to see to an ‘injury’, whilst play continues. If the referee deems that the player is indeed seriously injured, then play will be stopped. The point being, that this would cut down a lot of play acting, if the perpetrator thought that he wasn’t indeed stopping the game, and all he was actually doing was taking himself out of the action. Of course, this solution isn’t perfect, and there will be many reading this with some reasons as to why it might not work, but it is a possible answer. Every fan knows, and I suspect most referees know, when a player is trying to ‘cheat’ to put it bluntly, if there were some action that could be taken, then I’m all for trying it.
CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND - APRIL 25: Luke Metcalf of the Warriors receives pickle juice from the physio as remedy for muscle cramps during the round eight NRL match between New Zealand Warriors and Newcastle Knights at Apollo Projects Stadium, on April 25, 2025, in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)
CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND - APRIL 25: Luke Metcalf of the Warriors receives pickle juice from the physio as remedy for muscle cramps during the round eight NRL match between New Zealand Warriors and Newcastle Knights at Apollo Projects Stadium, on April 25, 2025, in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)
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The problem is that in many cases, certain actions have become embedded in the football culture. I don’t know any other sport where a player takes off their shirt in celebration. Even with a yellow card being a certainty - what the heck - I’m taking my shirt off! Ridiculous when you think about it.
Substitutions can often take an age. Eze took a casual walk to the sidelines on Saturday when he was subbed. Despite the referee holding his wrist in the air to indicate the time was all going to be added on (therefore no advantage gained at all by slowly leaving the field of play), it seems to me that that’s just what footballers do! Rugby players usually run off, and their replacements are often running onto the pitch at the same time. The football pitch itself is sometimes too sacrosanct. A little more fluidity wouldn’t go amiss.
Of course, ancient habits can’t be changed overnight, but we can start. I watch under-16 and under-11 football on a weekly basis and it is very sad to see youngsters copying what they see on TV. Kids lying flat and still on the pitch as though they’ve been shot, only to get up again when their coach has ruffled their hair and told them to get up. Arguing with the ref. Walking off if substituted. Holding their hand in the air before taking a corner. Why?! All these traits come from the top.
These things can’t be changed overnight, but they will never change unless something is tried. Any other ideas, especially re: feigning injury, would be gladly read.