Fabian Hurzeler gets his wish with new law to affect Arsenal 'time-wasting'

It has been a common sight in recent years, to the point we all know exactly what’s going on as soon as it happens.

A goalkeeper goes down with a supposed injury, the medics come on to deal with it, and the ten outfielders all trot over to have an impromptu team talk in front of dugout.

That ploy exploits a loophole in the rules that says that while outfielders have to stand on the sidelines for 30 seconds after receiving treatment on the pitch, no such rule applies to goalkeepers – although let’s be honest, it would be quite fun if it did.

Arsenal keeper David Raya is just the latest to come under scrutiny for it after Brighton boss Fabian Huerzeler complained about the Spaniard receiving treatment three times during Arsenal’s 1-0 win over the Seagulls on Wednesday night.

But to be fair to Raya, as someone who has watched timewasting master Lee Nicholls in action for Huddersfield in the Championship and League One week in, week out for the better part of five years, I can tell you…they all do it.

As such, lawmakers IFAB are keen to clamp down on it by closing off the loophole and are set to trial a new measure in the WSL next season, according to The Times.

A trial is set to be held next season on new measures to tackle the issue of goalkeepers going down with spurious injuries to allow sides to take an impromptu team talk.

The proposed solution is to close off the loophole by forcing a side to send an outfielder to the sidelines in place of the goalkeeper in the event that a keeper receives treatment on the pitch.

It is not yet clear how the outfield player will be picked, but it could be that the manager or captain gets to pick.

Hurzeler and his countryman Daniel Farke have both called for a change in the rules this season to address the issue in the Premier League.

The Brighton boss said on Wednesday night: “In the end it’s about the rules, so if the Premier League [and] the referee [allow] everything, then it’s difficult. Then [the teams] make their own rules, so at the moment I have the feeling they are doing their own rules, no matter how they are playing.”

Farke had similar sentiments after his Leeds side lost to Manchester City earlier this season in a game that featured Gianluigi Donnarumma going down and his teammates going to get instructions from Pep Guardiola.

He said: “If you just try to bend the rules and do a fake injury to do an additional team talk it is not something I like but it’s within the rules. We should think about how we deal with it…we have to change the rules a bit.”