A common thing in the Premier League this season has been players pretending to be injured, just so the managers can have a five-minute talk with the team.
Recently, in the Leeds United v Brentford game, Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher went down in the 70th minute.
Keith Andrews was spotted giving tactical instructions to his players during the stoppage time, with Leeds feeling frustrated with their opponent’s strategy, writes Rant Sport’s Tyler Cooke.
Hackett’s thoughts on the controversy
Keith Hackett feels like it is an increasing problem and has called out FIFA to deal with this problem.
Hackett said: “Somehow, football has got to find a way of dealing with these tactical stoppages, where the goalkeeper goes down feigning injury, and the manager calls his players to the side of the pitch, and starts to apply different tactics to the game.”
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Keith Hackett goes on and calls out the governing bodies asking what are they going to do.
“What are FIFA and IFAB going to do? They have got to find a way of dealing with this problem for sure, it is stopping the flow of the game, it is unnecessary stoppages, and I don’t see any real gain coming from it,” he added in a story on MOT Leeds News.
Does it call for a change?
Agreeing with what Hackett is saying, these unnecessary stoppages are frustrating, and as a fan, it’s not something you want to see.
Fans watch football to be entertained. We want to see our teams push for the win, chasing that last-minute goal. Those are the moments that define the game and keep fans coming back.
If time wasting continues to creep in, supporters may begin to lose interest and question the value of what they’re watching.
Fans pay their money to see football played, not to watch players lying on the pitch for extended periods.
Could it be fixed soon?
Not anytime soon, however, it’s certainly something the Premier League and FIFA may need to take a closer look at, moving forward.
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