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'Doesn’t make any sense' - Kevin De Bruyne hits out at new stoppage time rules after Man City's Community shield loss to Arsenal

Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne has criticised the new stoppage time rules, deeming them illogical and detrimental to the game's flow.

De Bruyne questions the new added time approach
Believes up to 25 minutes could be added
Man Utd's Varane also questioned the move

WHAT HAPPENED? The Belgian voiced strong reservations about the newly implemented rules regarding added time. Referees are now required to consider additional time for various stoppages, which has already contributed to extended matches. During the FA Community Shield final, Arsenal found the equaliser in the 11th minute of the 13 stoppage time minutes added on against Manchester City before clinching the silverware on penalties. De Bruyne emphasised that this change could result in matches dragging on for up to 25 minutes beyond the typical duration.

WHAT THEY SAID: “We spoke to the Arsenal players and even the referees [about it] – they don’t even want to do it, but it’s the new rule and it’s what it is," the City midfielder said after the Wembley defeat. "A game like today, even the first half with three minutes extra, you can only guess what’s going to happen if you play a lower team who keep time-wasting all the time.

“Today we played 12 to 13 minutes. I can see games going for 20-25 minutes [extra]. I think this will change in one to two months, but this is the first game. I’m thinking if we play Sevilla in Olympiakos [in the Uefa Super Cup] on Wednesday [16 August] and have 15-20 extra minutes and then play on Saturday again [against Newcastle] it’s like two times extra time. We’ll see how it goes, but it doesn’t make any sense.”

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THE BIGGER PICTURE: Players from the two Manchester clubs met the Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive, Maheta Molango, last week and voiced their grievances over the newly penned added time rule. Manchester United's Raphael Varane criticised the FA publicly and put out a tweet voicing his concerns for the players' physical and mental well-being.

IN TWO PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? The FA must stick to the new additional time rules in the 2023-24 season and can only amend them, if they want to do so, at the start of the 2024-25 campaign.