Man City and Arsenal saw obvious alternative to more added time

On a pretty strange day at Wembley, the new refereeing protocols jarred for everyone in the ground.

Arsenal were incensed that while regulation fouls by Manchester City - and particularly Rodri - were not punished with yellow cards they quickly received three bookings for dissent under new attempts to keep the authority of the officials. Pep Guardiola meanwhile, having warned on Friday that more injury time would not be the solution to timewasting that the authorities think it is, was not the only one bemused at eight extra minutes in a half that had seen one goal and no injuries.

Just because they clashed against the sense of what everyone is used to does not automatically make the new changes to the game bad. From changes to the offside rule to handball interpretations to VAR pitchside reviews, there have regularly been tinkering with the rules.

As long as it is applied consistently, taking a tougher stance on dissent should be good for everyone. Referees have a tough enough job without having to deal with football players and coaches screaming at them for decisions that go against them regardless of whether they are correct or not.

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It may take time for everyone to adjust, but however angry Arsenal were at their cards they quickly adapted. If teams do not, they will have to deal with the consequences of a red card.

However, if that change of approach is an example of not tolerating an issue within the game the strategy with timewasting seems to be the opposite. Adding time on for all stoppages may seem logical, but it goes against the reality of football.

Some time has to be taken between goal kicks and throw-ins naturally, but taking