Time-Wasting or Smart Game Management? Arsenal’s Delays Explained

Fabian Hürzeler knew exactly what he was doing when, ahead of Wednesday’s Premier League clash with Arsenal, he chose not to praise the Gunners’ set-piece effectiveness but instead focused on the time they take from them.

Hürzeler was likely trying to increase pressure on the referee to be mindful of how long Arsenal were taking and, at the same time, giving Brighton fans something to latch onto going into the game.

The Pre-Match Accusations

“There are no clear rules anymore around how much time you can spend taking a corner or a throw-in,” the German said in his pre-match press conference. “When Arsenal have a corner and they are leading, sometimes they spend over one minute just to take a corner. Every supporter pays a lot of money to watch our games and should see the same game time.”

His wider point was arguably fair, and Arsenal do take longer than any other team at corners, though the debate ended up giving him a nice excuse after Brighton lost. But was Hürzeler right?

The Statistical Reality

Arsenal’s total delay time at the Amex Stadium was 1,851 seconds (30 minutes 51 seconds), the 22nd longest for a team in a single match this season out of 580 possible games. It was also Arsenal’s longest in a league match this term.

Arsenal’s Delay Statistics vs Brighton

Arsenal’s delays accounted for 30.6 percent of overall match time, the 11th greatest proportion of any team in 2025-26. However, there’s much more to it than meets the eye.

Context Matters

There were a lot of delays attributed to Arsenal because of how the match went. Brighton had more shots (11), committed more fouls (14), and received four yellow cards compared to Arsenal’s one. Given Arsenal would restart play after these events, the delays go against them.

Arsenal’s 59 delays was the eighth most for a team in a Premier League game in 2025-26, but many were simply due to match flow. Their 12 goal-kicks was their most this term—there’s not much they could’ve done about that.

The 31.4-second average per restart means 195 instances of teams taking longer have occurred in 2025-26. Of those 195, Brighton actually account for three occasions themselves.

Arsenal’s Season-Long Patterns

In fairness to Hürzeler, his complaints about Arsenal’s delays aren’t completely unfounded. Among all Premier League teams, only five take longer on average to restart play after a delay than they do (30.2 seconds).

They are the joint-fifth slowest side at getting the ball back into play from throw-ins (19.6 seconds). And they take by far the longest over corners, with their 44.5 seconds being 3.2 seconds longer than anyone else, and a whopping 13.6 seconds longer than Chelsea, who restart the quickest at corners.

Premier League Average Delay Times

Clearly, the time Arsenal take over corners drags their average up, because when you exclude delays before corners, there are as many as seven Premier League teams who’ve taken longer to restart play this season. But considering the Gunners’ prowess, can you blame them for taking their time?

The Corner Kick Factor

They’ve found an area in which they excel to a greater degree than any other team, with their 16 goals from corners being three more than anyone else. Whether they score lots because of the time delay or the delay reflects their meticulousness isn’t easy to say, but the two are likely linked.

Arsenal, as league leaders, spend 45 percent of match time ahead. As a team with title aspirations, it’s their prerogative to grind out wins—why rush the ball back into play when winning?

Brighton’s Role

Brighton played an important role in framing Arsenal’s supposed time-wasting. Brighton resume play quicker than all but one Premier League team, which accentuated any perceived Arsenal delays. Hürzeler’s pre-match comments may have had a similar effect.

Only against Bournemouth (1,516.9 seconds per game) have teams seen higher average delay time than against Brighton (1,483.5 seconds). Brighton commit 351 fouls this season, second-most in the league. More fouls mean opponents eat up more time restarting play.

The Regulatory Response

IFAB last week announced measures to improve match flow, including countdowns for goal-kicks and throw-ins. However, IFAB didn’t make similar commitments regarding corners.

“Every team will manage and waste time but there has to be a limit,” Hürzeler said after the game. “At the moment, Arsenal just do what they want.”

Perhaps there’s scope for stricter officiating, but Arsenal aren’t breaking any rules and are doing everything to win the Premier League title.

Arsenal’s Transformation

It wasn’t long ago that Arsenal were highly appreciated by neutrals but mocked for being fragile and winning nothing. Maybe they aren’t pretty anymore, but they’re much tougher to rattle. Arteta seems to have discovered a winning formula.

If it ends their 22-year title drought, neither he nor Arsenal fans will care about others’ perceptions.

Read More: 40 Points Already: Sunderland’s Survival Mission Is Almost Complete

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