There is a fundamental conflict at the heart of soccer. This product sold to the masses at an extortionate price as an entertainment industry is carried out by players and managers paid to simply win games—often by any means possible.
“If you have a Ferrari and I have a small car,” the two-time Premier League winner José Mourinho once mused, “to beat you in a race I have to break your wheel or put sugar in your tank.”
Time-wasting has been the dark art with a spotlight shone on it most consistently in recent years. FIFA are so hell-bent on removing this nefarious aspect of the game that they are set to introduce a series of drastic new rules at this summer’s World Cup.
The Premier League has tried to combat this seedy underside to the sport by extending the time tacked on to the end of each half. Yet, some clubs have been able to consistently while away however many minutes are put on the clock.
The Times have conducted an in-depth analysis of how much time each club spends during each different type of restart, looking specifically at when a team is winning—a crucial marker in terms of the most deliberately sinister reasons for winding down the clock.
How Every Premier League Team Wastes Time While Leading
Fourth official holding up a board.
The time added at the end of each half has grown in recent years. | Marc Atkins/Getty Images
Team Corners Direct Free-Kicks Indirect Free-Kicks Goal Kicks Throw-Ins Average Rank
Leeds 11th 1st 4th 8th 3rd 5.4
Arsenal 2nd 6th 9th 4th 8th 5.8
Burnley 1st 16th 7th 1st 6th 6.2
Brentford 6th 12th 5th 9th 2nd 6.8
Aston Villa 5th 5th 16th 6th 4th 7.2
Sunderland 8th 16th 3rd 11th 1st 7.8
Tottenham 4th 4th 6th 20th 10th 8.8
Newcastle 13th 3rd 10th 3rd 20th 9.8
Crystal Palace 3rd 16th 8th 15th 9th 10.2
Wolves 20th 13th 2nd 2nd 17th 10.8
Everton 7th 14th 12th 17th 5th 11
West Ham 16th 16th 1st 16th 7th 11.2
Man Utd 12th 11th 14th 7th 16th 12
Nottingham Forest 14th 8th 15th 13th 11th 12.2
Bournemouth 9th 7th 19th 19th 12th 13.2
Man City 17th 2nd 20th 10th 18th 13.4
Chelsea 18th 15th 11th 5th 19th 13.6
Liverpool 10th 10th 17th 18th 14th 13.8
Brighton 15th 9th 18th 14th 15th 14.2
Fulham 19th 16th 13th 12th 13th 14.6
When looking across corners, free kicks, goal kicks and throw-ins, it’s Leeds United who boast the longest average time to get the game going again while defending a lead. Daniel Farke has ironically spent a great deal of energy complaining about time-wasting from opponents, most notably taking aim after both games against Manchester City.
However, the numbers tell a different story. The Yorkshire outfit are particularly ponderous over throw-ins, sending Ethan Ampadu across for long launches into the box at any restart in the final third, as well as direct free-kicks. And for good reason: Anton Stach has already rattled in three set-piece goals this season.
Fellow promoted side Burnley have also dawdled over restarts while desperately trying to cling onto a rare lead, underscoring an understandable sense of inferiority among clubs that spent last season in the Championship. How Arsenal, the top-flight leaders and serial title challengers, find themselves in this same category is rather more eyebrow raising.
Arsenal Break Top-Six Trend With Tactics
Mikel Arteta throwing his arms forward.
Mikel Arteta has come under fire for his tactics. | Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
The Gunners have been repeatedly accused of dark arts this season. Brighton & Hove Albion manager Fabian Hürzeler captured a widely held sentiment with a frazzled rant in March after losing 1–0 to Arsenal in a horribly bitty affair on the south coast. “Only one team tried to play football,” the young German coach sighed.
“I ask you one question,” Hürzeler posed to assembled media. “Did you see in a Premier League game a goalkeeper going down three times? You can’t control these kind of things ... therefore the Premier League has to find a rule.”
Arsenal are the only Premier League team that rank among the top half of the division for time wasted across all five types of restart. As Hürzeler pointed out, there is a particular delay when the north London outfit take corners, with only Burnley needing more time to prepare for such deliveries while they are winning.
Arteta could justifiably argue that this preparation is well spent—Arsenal comfortably lead the league for corners scored and Nicolas Jover can’t instantaneously appear on the edge of the technical area—but the club’s rivals aren’t impressed.
“No one recognizes it,” Hürzeler seethed, “but when Arsenal have a corner and they are leading, sometimes they spend over a minute just to take a corner.” Now people are noticing.
Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola has a contract until 2027. | Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Time Wasted While Winning over Type of Restart Arsenal Premier League Rank Man City Premier League Rank
Corner 2nd 17th
Direct Free-Kick 6th 2nd
Indirect Free-Kick 9th 20th
Goal Kick 4th 10th
Throw-In 8th 18th
Intriguingly, Arsenal break the trend of elite teams when it comes to time-wasting. Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all rank among the five clubs who are quickest at getting the ball back in play (along with Hürzeler’s Brighton themselves).
City serve as a telling counterpoint to Arsenal as their closest title rivals. Pep Guardiola is not entirely opposed to dead-ball tactics, recognizing it’s importance in the modern game, but is adamant that his team has other priorities.
“Of course you have to be concerned and prepared,” Guardiola mused earlier this season, “but at the same time always there are a lot of things you prepare for the game so be focused with that and you as a manager have to decide what you like to work with. And there are other things I prefer to work with.”
This balance of values is abundantly apparent on the pitch. While Arsenal have struggled for consistent fluency beyond corner kicks—a problem only heightened as title race tensions heat up—City remain the most prolific side from open play, boasting an unrivaled 52 Premier League goals from such scenarios. No team is within 10 of that lofty figure.
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