What one thing about modern football annoys you most?

[windermereROYAL]

I`ll start, fucking added time subs, even Ince did it last week, I mean for 30 seconds?, most don`t even get a kick, refs are obliged to add 30 seconds for every sub, nowhere near enough, watched a game last week when this happened and the ref added 10 seconds.
Saw a stat today where Chelsea made a double sub that took a minute and twenty seconds, in the same game it was total game time at 110 minutes but the ball was in play for a little under 52 minutes, (47%) looking like the punters are getting plenty of value for money there.
Get the fukk rid of added time subs, with 5 allowed now 30 seconds for each player.
27 substitution in the PL last weekend after the 85th minute last weekend FFS do away with added time subs, how on earth is that so difficult to get your head around?

Rant mode off.

[Mr Optimist]

Pundits who say “look” at the beginning of every sentence. What exactly am I looking for you thick twat?

[URZZZZ]

The dearth of wingers and pace to harm the opposition

Game is now full of “technical” players - full of side to side robotic passing

On a side note and fairly linked, teams just don’t seem to throw the kitchen sink anymore when chasing games

[Jinx]

The fact that the entire game is now based on cheating. Diving, feigning injury, time wasting etc.

[Hendo]

Social media.

[Loafer]

Sly sports

[Royal Rother]

Supporters.

[ReadingGlasses]

The degree to which sponsorship pervades everything. Shirts have corporate logos splattered across them, stadiums have ridiculous names, every pitch is surrounded by advertising boards, players are interviewed after games in front of big boards of product logos, even the competitions themselves are renamed to become advertising opportunities.

[Sanguine]

Yeah have to admit that time-wasting subs at the end of a game has always got my goat. Would do no harm to stipulate a fixed one minute of additional time for every substitution made, or something like that.

VAR has, for all its faults, really improved things like simulation and some of the more niggly fouls like shirt-pulling.

Fans are generally arseholes. I'd like to see a fixed life ban from all grounds for anyone found guilty of a prescribed list of offences like racism, or anything involving violence. Or running on the pitch.

[paultheroyal]

Players, including our very own who go down "fake" injured. We had one on Saturday, towards end of game, in a heap. Nothing wrong with him. Just get back on that pitch, defend and run the clock down. All you are doing is adding more time on to the game, just dont get it.

Or worse, players go down in a heap, they look up and see their team still attacking, and by all mother of gods, they are fit and sprinting in the box. Grinds my gears.

[Sanguine]

Players, including our very own who go down "fake" injured. We had one on Saturday, towards end of game, in a heap. Nothing wrong with him. Just get back on that pitch, defend and run the clock down. All you are doing is adding more time on to the game, just dont get it.

Or worse, players go down in a heap, they look up and see their team still attacking, and by all mother of gods, they are fit and sprinting in the box. Grinds my gears.

As a ref paul, how do you find managing additional time for that kind of thing? Always feels like an advantage is gained, and that the actual time wasted is rarely fully made up.

[Dirk Gently]

Endless speculation, statistics and "analysis" - mindless, pointless babble using the game to fill broadcast time, websites and newspapers.

In short, the whole "football industry" - let's just have football matches we can watch, without the whole world trying to microanalyse everything about it.

[Hendo]

Endless speculation, statistics and "analysis" - mindless, pointless babble using the game to fill broadcast time, websites and newspapers.

In short, the whole "football industry" - let's just have football matches we can watch, without the whole world trying to microanalyse everything about it.

I do miss Sunday Supplement on Sky though, something which has been lost which I enjoyed watching.

[paultheroyal]

Players, including our very own who go down "fake" injured. We had one on Saturday, towards end of game, in a heap. Nothing wrong with him. Just get back on that pitch, defend and run the clock down. All you are doing is adding more time on to the game, just dont get it.

Or worse, players go down in a heap, they look up and see their team still attacking, and by all mother of gods, they are fit and sprinting in the box. Grinds my gears.

As a ref paul, how do you find managing additional time for that kind of thing? Always feels like an advantage is gained, and that the actual time wasted is rarely fully made up.

I genuinely add it on and make it clear with players around me that i am adding on or would say "him being down makes no difference to time to play, watch is stopped".

[RG30]

Endless speculation, statistics and "analysis" - mindless, pointless babble using the game to fill broadcast time, websites and newspapers.

In short, the whole "football industry" - let's just have football matches we can watch, without the whole world trying to microanalyse everything about it.

I do miss Sunday Supplement on Sky though, something which has been lost which I enjoyed watching.

Yes huge void for me.

[URZZZZ]

Endless speculation, statistics and "analysis" - mindless, pointless babble using the game to fill broadcast time, websites and newspapers.

In short, the whole "football industry" - let's just have football matches we can watch, without the whole world trying to microanalyse everything about it.

Agreed - game has become far too tactical and less spur of the moment. Stats like successful passing % really doesn't mean a lot

Arguable that the quality of the game has increased, which I guess can be seen as a positive, but far less enjoyable for a neutral

[paultheroyal]

XG was the final straw!

[paultheroyal]

Having said that - they could produce far better regular stats. Who ran the most, who reached a top speed of X mph etc.

[Dirk Gently]

Endless speculation, statistics and "analysis" - mindless, pointless babble using the game to fill broadcast time, websites and newspapers.

In short, the whole "football industry" - let's just have football matches we can watch, without the whole world trying to microanalyse everything about it.

Agreed - game has become far too tactical and less spur of the moment. Stats like successful passing % really doesn't mean a lot

Arguable that the quality of the game has increased, which I guess can be seen as a positive, but far less enjoyable for a neutral

Just last week it was all the "Team A has won X of their last Y opening-day fixtures..." So? That's a stat that's absolutely pointless.

Also "they've not beaten so and so since 1904...." Maybe because they've been in different leagues for the vast majority of that time?

It's all a complete waste of ink, broadcast time or bandwidth.

[Dirk Gently]

Here's a stat that will make you think (it's from Soccernomics so it's a few years old, but it's probably even truer now).

The total value of people using football as a tool (to get people to watch them, to visit their websites, to read their papers, to see their adverts, to sell their tat etc etc etc) is worth more, globally, than the total value of football itself.