The issue of time-wasting has raised its ugly head recently, most notably in two matches at the Emirates Stadium where Arsenal have had to come from behind to win amidst claims that their opponents were deliberately wasting time. First Edwin van der Sar and now Chris Kirkland have come under fire for eating up valuable seconds by moving their goal kicks from one side of the area to the other against the Gunners.
Thierry Henry was booked for taunting Kirkland after Arsenal equalised on Sunday, offering him the ball to see if he wanted to waste even more time, but should it be the time-wasters who are punished rather than those who react to it? Phil Dowd came under fire for his refereeing because of two incidents involving Mathieu Flamini, but his time-keeping has also been questioned after the way he let Wigan run down the clock, but then only added on four minutes of injury time.
Players who are seen to be wasting time are supposed to be booked for it, but this seems to be happening less and less recently, and certainly the ability of goalkeepers to choose which side to take their goal kicks from has allowed them an easy opportunity to waste a few seconds. Should referees be given more power to stop this? What should be done to stop players unfairly denying their opponents the time to win matches?
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