“Obviously, ultimately every team is going to take their time and deal with it, but I think there has to be a limit.”
After Bukayo Saka gave his team an early lead at Amex Stadium, the Seagulls could not find a way back despite controlling most of the match.
This leaves Mikel Arteta’s side eight games away from clinching their first league title in 22 years, but the looks of their recent wins suggest that, while they don’t care, many in the neutrals are unimpressed with their stylistic approach to glory, not least the disgruntled Seagulls manager.
Ahead of the meeting on the south coast, Haseler accused the Gunners of tactics that appeared to be a waste of time, particularly broadsides in corners.
The Brighton manager told TNT Sport: “I have one question: Have you ever seen a goalkeeper go down three times in a Premier League game? No?”
“I think the Premier League has to find the rules, but that’s not my job. I make my case before the game and I stick to it.
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Hürzeler: Premier League needs to ‘find rules’ to eradicate ‘waste of time’
Video credit: TNT Sports
“In the Premier League, it’s difficult when the referee allows everything and the referee makes his own rules.
“At the moment it feels like Arsenal are making their own rules, regardless of how they’re playing. So I think it’s difficult to judge.”
But does Mr. Haseler’s criticism actually add up? Are Arsenal really masters of the so-called ‘dark arts’ of interruptions and delays in the Premier League, potentially disrupting the flow of their opponents?
According to Opta, Arteta’s side took an average of 31.4 seconds to put the ball back into play against Brighton from corners, goal kicks, throw-ins and free-kicks.
The home team’s average restart time was 21.5 seconds. This was to be expected considering the situation they found themselves in, chasing an equalizer from the 8th minute.
Despite the clear difference in approach between the two sides on the night, Arteta’s team’s attitude was not the worst when it comes to delays this season.
Despite Hürzeler’s protests, the game was not even in the top 10 for delays, with Opta also reporting that there have been 195 instances of teams being delayed in Premier League matches this season.
In Chelsea’s 3-1 win away to Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Blues averaged 45 seconds per restart, the most of any team this season.
Date Team (opponent) Average delay time (seconds) February 2, 2026 Chelsea (vs Wolves) 3745.0 February 28, 2026 Brentford (v Burnley) 4643.7 December 1, 2026 Wolves (v Everton)3843.312 November 12, 2025 Spurs (vs Liverpool) 3743.211 November 29, 2025 Sunderland (v Bournemouth)4542.0
Arsenal’s total of match delays was 59, which is the eighth highest delay for a single league match this season.
Again, this is not to suggest that they are the only offenders or even the worst in this regard.
Liverpool’s home loss to Manchester United in October left the reigning champions a total of 68 games behind, making them top of the Premier League table this season.
The total delay for the Gunners in this match was 30 minutes, 51 seconds, which is also outside the top 10 longest delays in Premier League matches this season, and is significantly lower than Newcastle United’s 37 minutes, 05 seconds of delay in a dramatic 3-2 defeat to Liverpool in August.
Haseler has a point about the Gunners’ tactics: their overall average delay time this season is 30.2 seconds, the sixth-longest in the division.
Brighton are much faster at resuming games, with an average delay of 26.5 seconds, only Liverpool faster.
Premier League 2025/26 Average Latency (sec) – via Opta
Sunderland 33.1 Brentford 32.3 Crystal Palace 31.2 Newcastle 30.8 Leeds 30.4 Arsenal 30.2 Burnley 30.0 Aston Villa 29.8 Tottenham Hotspur 29.8 Chelsea 29.6 West Ham 29.6 Everton 29.4 Wolves 28.9 Manchester United 28.0 Nottingham Forest 27.7 Bournemouth 27.6 Fulham 26.7 Manchester City 26.6 Brighton 26.5 Liverpool 25.8
Hürzeler continued his tirade in a press conference, adding: “The limits have to be set by the Premier League, the limits have to be set by the referees. At the moment they (Arsenal) can only do what they want.”
“Ultimately we have to create the limits, or the Premier League has to create the limits. Where does this go in the future? That’s my question: Where does this go?”
“At some point, if you play 60 minutes in a game and you play 50 minutes against Arsenal, the difference is 10 minutes. So are the supporters paying for this? You know what I mean?”
The German manager’s ‘point out’ about the delay in playing time being a factor is valid, but again, blaming Arsenal in the heat of the moment after the defeat misses the point as it is a broader problem in the Premier League.
This season, the average restart time across the division is 29.2 seconds, a slight but year-over-year increase compared to last season (28.7 seconds).
The ball has been in play for 55 minutes and 32 seconds so far this season, representing 55.3% of games and the lowest since the 2009/10 season (55.2%).
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Arteta: Arsenal’s away win was an ‘astronomical’ effort
Video credit: TNT Sports
As for his point about Arsenal’s games being shorter than others, Arteta’s side’s average time in play was 55:59 (55.6%), which is slightly above the league average with only six teams, including Brighton, having a better time.
In light of his team’s defeat, manager Hürzeler chose to direct his anger at Arsenal, but the data suggests that Arteta and his team are not the only, or even the main, culprits when it comes to delayed matches and obvious wasting of time.
Due to their high status and relentless pursuit of titles, attention and scrutiny will be focused on the leading players.
But if the winners’ reaction to Saka’s criticism is anything to go by, they are unlikely to care too much about how others perceive their style of play in the remaining games as long as they have three points.
“This match was pretty ugly,” he admitted. “I didn’t play to my best, but sometimes it’s important to get a result.”
