As a new season looms large, will the Premier League changes to injury time lengths add to Manchester City’s already packed fixture list?
To combat time wasting, and to add more time with the ball in play, the Premier League has adopted the injury time rules seen at the recent FIFA World Cup.
The new rule changes also now add an extra issue, especially for the champions with games going longer than previous seasons. Sunday’s FA Community Shield against Arsenal had 8 minutes of injury time added. It’s a sign of things to come this season as the new season begins this weekend.
With the European Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup on the Manchester City’s fixture list, this season will see the champions play more often then than previous seasons’ busy fixture lists.
City boss Pep Guardiola has aired his concerns over the changes post the Community Shield loss to Arsenal. Speaking post-game he said: “Now, every game we’re going to play for 100 minutes. Wasting time, from my point of view, is not going to be solved by extending 10 more minutes. It’s more tiring for the players. It’s too much.”
Kevin De Bruyne also voiced his concerns post-game. When asked on the matter City’s midfield maestro said: “Assuming we’re going to play about 15 minutes extra every game now, that says it all. We spoke to the Arsenal players and even the referees. They don’t even want to do it, but it’s the new rule and it is what it is. You can only guess what’s going to happen if you play a lower team who keep time- wasting all the time. I’m thinking if we play Sevilla on Wednesday and have 15 to 20 extra minutes, and then play on Saturday again, it’s like two times extra time. We’ll see how it goes but it doesn’t make any sense.”
With Pep and De Bruyne voicing their concerns before the new season begins, it’s a story to watch for as the season develops.
