Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler believes there is a lack of clarity around corner rules and Arsenal are taking full advantage of it.
Corner kicks have been the key to the Gunners' success in the Premier League so far, with both goals in their win over Chelsea on Sunday, March 1, 2026, coming from corner kicks.
Hurzeler, whose side host Arsenal on Thursday, March 5, 2026, believes there are too many grey areas in the law regarding corner kicks. He accused Mikel Arteta's team of using it to buy time.
In fact, Liverpool manager Arne Slot believes that reliance on set-pieces takes the fun out of English League matches.
"I think because it disrupts the rhythm of the game and there's no clear rule about how much time can be spent on corner kicks, how much time can be spent on throw-ins."
"Some blockades or the way the team blocks, I think there is no clear rule. Sometimes the referee blows the whistle and it's a foul, sometimes it's not."
"I think that's why we have this topic today, but for me the main topic is to make clear rules about how much time can be spent on corner kicks, throw-ins and free kicks."
"When Arsenal get a corner and they're ahead, sometimes they spend more than a minute just to take the corner."
"Therefore, I think we just need to make clear rules because in the end we have 50 minutes of match time, not sometimes 65 minutes."
"This game has changed so much. We analyzed it and the difference is huge. I think that every fan who pays a lot of money to go to the stadium and watch our games should see the same match time."
"They want to see a football game and they don't want to see maybe 50 minutes of the ball being in play and 40 minutes of the game not going anywhere," Hurzeler said when asked why he felt there was so much negativity around dead balls.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB), the game's law-making body, will give referees the authority to introduce a five-second countdown for throw-ins and goal kicks if they think a player is taking too long to restart.
However, there are currently no plans to give referees the authority to speed up corner kicks.
IFAB director Ian Maxwell was asked about the wrestling and holding that occurred at the corner at the organization's annual general meeting on Saturday, February 28, 2026, but said it was not something that was specifically discussed.
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