Howard Webb reveals Premier League is trialling corner rule change, how it would impact Manchester United

PGMOL chief refereeing officer Howard Webb has revealed that the Premier League is trialling a new corner kick rule change that could impact Manchester United.

It feels like you never really know what the rules are in the Premier League in the new VAR era, especially as a Manchester United fan.

Something that was a handball one week might not be one the next. Red cards change on a game-by-game basis. All while semi-automated offsides still aren’t in use.

One thing that isn’t usually spoken about, however, is how goalkeepers are holding on to the ball for too long.

Currently, the rules state that an indirect free-kick will be given if a goalkeeper holds the ball for over six seconds. When was the last time you saw that rule be implemented in a Premier League game? I can’t remember either.

Howard Webb explains potential corner change

Howard Webb has addressed how the Premier League could introduce a rule change to encourage goalkeepers to get the ball in play quicker during his interview on The Overlap.

The PGMOL’s chief refereeing officer has explained that they are currently trialling the new rule in the Under-21s PL2 division, where goalkeepers now have eight seconds to release the ball.

Now, however, a countdown will occur after three seconds, and if they do not release the ball in time, a corner kick will be given to the opposition team – instead of an indirect free-kick.

“In Premier League 2, they’re trialing something around the goalkeeper holding the ball for more than six seconds,” said Webb. “If they hold it for eight, and don’t release it, it goes to a corner to the other team.

“After three seconds, the referee counts down, and if the goalkeeper is daft enough to hold onto it, it’ll be a corner. That avoids the ridiculous situation where you have an indirect free kick in the six-yard box, and players are chasing out.”

How could Man United be impacted by this change?

Should this rule change come into the Premier League, it would largely impact the goalkeepers who waste time more than others.

Manchester United goalkeeper André Onana has received six bookings since he joined United and seen yellow 30 times in his career so far. Most of these have been through time-wasting.

In comparison, former Reds goalkeeper David de Gea received six bookings in 415 Premier League appearances.

However, Onana’s time-wasting has usually come from goal-kicks, rather than when the ball is in his hands. The Cameroon shot-stopper normally prefers to drop the ball when he does not release it quickly.

United are also not one of the main ‘time-wasters’ in the Premier League, with a recent Opta report showing Ten Hag’s team averaging 27.6 seconds wasted per game – the 12th-most in the division.

Ultimately, this rule change would be an interesting one, but may not impact United too much. They also may not benefit a lot either unless they improve their set-piece routines.

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