Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler fuels “rules” fire in lead up to Arsenal match 

Brighton and Hove Albion have one of their biggest home matches of the season coming up on Wednesday as league leaders Arsenal visit town, and manager Fabian Hurzeler has launched a scathing campaign against Mikel Arteta´s side and their tendency to waste time.

Hurzeler heating up Arsenal clash

Just a day before their midweek match against the top team in the league, Hurzeler has not only questioned the way Arsenal manage the game throughout the 90 minutes. Restarts were one of the problems on the Brighton bosses mind, but another is the way the Gunners approach dead ball scenarios. He warns that there is a lot of contact, and blocking in the area that might be overlooked by the referee due to lack of a clear rule.

“Some of the blockings or the way teams are blocking, there is no clear rule. Sometimes the referee whistles and it’s a foul, sometimes he doesn’t whistle. I think that’s why we have this topic at the moment, but for me the main topic is make a clear rule for how much time you can waste for a corner, for a throw-in, for a free kick,” said Hurzeler

Brighton need no reminder that Arsenal visit town on the verge of breaking the Premier League record for goal scored off corners. Jurrien Timber´s header to give Arsenal a 2-1 win over Chelsea in the London derby over the weekend was the 16th goal scored off a corner, and with one more they would become the Premier League’s all time leader in goals scored off corners.

Set piece kings coming to town

They have made a habit of scoring off the dead-ball set pieces, and nine of those 16 have come to open the scoresheet. The trouble for opposing sides, in the mind of Hurzeler, is when they have a lead and they are trying to protect their lead, they make sure to take as much time as possible when they have a chance.

“No-one recognises it, but when Arsenal have a corner and they are leading, sometimes they spend over a minute just to take a corner. Therefore we just have to make clear rules, because then in the end we have a natural game time of 50 minutes instead of sometimes 65 minutes,” warned the 31 year old German manager.

Brighton come into the match against Arsenal on the heels of back to back wins after a six match winless spell in the league, and look to keep on track while the Gunners aim to stay at arms length over Manchester City who are currently five points back of the North London side, although they have played one match less than Arsenal.

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