Gary Neville believes that Takehiro Tomiyasu's red card for Arsenal will do more to stop players wasting time than the increased amount of added minutes we've been seeing this season.
Referees have been instructed by lawmakers to be more observant of time-wasting in matches at all levels and play more additional minutes at the end of halves in order to compensate for the lack of actual football. A debate has raged throughout the first few weeks of the campaign regarding the rule charge, but Monday saw perhaps the most high-profile indication of how officials are aiming to stamp down on time-wasting tactics.
Arsenal defender Tomiyasu was sent off after receiving two contentious yellow cards during the Gunners' hard-fought 1-0 win away to Crystal Palace on Monday, the first of which was for time-wasting. At a throw-in, the 24-year-old Japan international held the ball for eight seconds after team-mate Kai Havertz had taken considerably longer to give it to him, symptomatic of Arsenal's slow pace whenever the ball was out of play in the second half.
Left-back Tomiyasu then committed a foul seven minutes later, prompting referee David Coote to show him a second yellow and send him off. After 10-man Arsenal held on to claim all three points at Selhurst Park and maintain their perfect start to the new Premier League season, Neville explained why he thinks that Tomiyasu's dismissal will do more to prevent time-wasting than adding more minutes on.
"What I would say of the first yellow is I went to see [chief refereeing officer] Howard Webb a couple of weeks ago and we said the existing laws within the game cater to be able to stop time wasting and that's called a yellow card and would lead to a red card," the former Manchester United captain told Sky Sports.
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Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu received two yellow cards against Crystal Palace (Getty Images)Have your say! Do you agree with Gary Neville? Join the debate in the comments section.
"I think if players are starting to get sent off, this one [Tomiyasu's second yellow] is always going to be a yellow card. But if you've got defenders or other players on the pitch that are wasting time – you're going to get booked. This will have a bigger impact tonight, this sending off, on time wasting for players than it will be adding 15 minutes on at the end."
Ex-Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher echoed Neville's stance on the two bookings, adding: "The rule is there, we know what it is. I said I felt a little bit unfortunate for Tomiyasu because he took one for the team. It was almost [Thomas] Partey then Havertz, it was almost a yellow card for the team's time-wasting, and they had to give it to someone. [Tomiyasu] got it.
"You almost feel its an injustice when you've had a man sent off, a little bit of a siege mentality. But it was the right decision to send him off. He took one initially, the pull back when you're on a yellow card. Yeah, he had to go for that.
"It seemed a bit soft, because it wasn't the biggest pull but once you’re on a yellow card, he has to go off for that. I don't think you can look at the referee and say that he got it wrong."
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