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Ian Evatt has backed Arsene Wenger’s plan to reduce timewasting in football after revealing a startling statistic about his side’s League One clash with Burton Albion.
The Bolton boss claims that of 100 minutes of football played in Tuesday night’s game, the ball spent just 49 MINUTES in play.
After watching Dino Maarmia’s Brewers attempt every trick in the book to slow down play, Wanderers’ analysts set to work on Wednesday morning to see exactly how much time was lost during the match.
FIFA’s head of global development, ex-Arsenal boss Wenger, has proposed some radical rule changes, including kick-ins rather than throw-ins, countdown clocks and automated offsides.
Evatt would like to see officials crack down on timewasting earlier, rather than leave it to the second half, and though his side was able to snatch a victory in stoppage time on Tuesday night he believes timewasting ruins the game as a spectacle.
“There is no better way to win football matches than that – but the game was frustrating, no doubt about it,” he said of Jon Dadi Bodvarsson’s late winner. “We looked at the data this morning and from nearly 100 minutes of football the ball was in play for 49 of them, which is crazy really.
“I don’t know if that is a record. I have seen a few things that Arsene Wenger wants to change in football, having the clock stopped when the ball is out of play and having a guaranteed 60 minutes. Last night is a case in point for that, really, it was frustrating.”
Wenger’s proposals, discussed with rule-making agency the International Football Association Board, are likely to be trialled in the coming months and years.
Evatt believes the game owes it to supporters to keep the ball in play for as long as possible.
“You couldn’t have it like basketball where you have 20 seconds to shoot, it would be carnage, chaos, and some of the more direct teams would like it, I’m sure. I wouldn’t!” he said of suggestions for a shot-clock.
“I am not saying it has to be a stopped clock but it is something you have to look at.
“Strip everything back, football is an entertainment business and people pay loads of money to come to the football and be entertained, watch the ball actually be in play. Last night neither set of supporters saw that and it is something we have to look at.
“In the world we live in, the financial situation in the UK, it is difficult for people to find the money to come to football clubs. The least they deserve is to be entertained.
“If, for instance, you could guarantee 60 minutes of football then you are not going to get the issues of last night.”
The Premier League record for the shortest amount of time the ball has spent in-play was set in 2010 when Stoke City faced Blackburn Rovers (39 mins and one second), the longest was a game between Manchester United and Fulham from 2012 (71 mins, 51 seconds).
The top flight last season saw an average of 56 mins and 54 seconds – or 52.9 per cent of a whole game.
Data is not available for League One but Evatt feels referees can reduce timewasting by tackling the problem earlier in games.
“I am not here to criticise officials and referees because I have said this a lot – until they are made professional and they are given the best possible chance they can, I have real empathy with them,” he added.
“For me, these things need to be dealt with first half and it is kind of an old adage that time wasting can only take place second half because that is towards the end of the game.
“Well no actually, it can be from minute two or three as we saw last night. Providing the referee is consistent and just deals with it early, I think it just nips it in the bud and it stops it.
“Maybe there is a bigger picture here as I have said before about there being a ‘minimum game time’ with the ball in play. Maybe that is the way forward and how we develop the game further.”
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