Udinese hit back at Bologna coach Thiago Motta’s complaint at time-wasting in their 1-1 Serie A draw, pointing to statistics and urging him to avoid ‘sensationalism.’
The Italo-Brazilian manager protested following the stalemate at the Stadio Dall’Ara that Udinese were time-wasting throughout the match, meaning that at the end of the over 100 minutes played, “the ball was only moving for 31 minutes.”
This irritated Udinese, who pointed towards the official Lega Serie A statistics covering the game and found that the effective playing time was 56 minutes and 18 seconds.
That is very much within the general average for this season in the Italian top flight, and if anything is slightly more than the usual figure.
Udinese bring the receipts
“The data talked about by the Bologna coach is not real,” noted Udinese director general Franco Collavino.
“Our game was the one with the fourth most effective playing time in this round. Having said all of that, our job now is to remain concentrated on picking up precious points.
“I don’t want to stir up controversy, but there is some real data and everyone should avoid sensationalism that is inopportune and to the detriment of the conduct of our team.”
The issue of ‘effective playing time’ has long been a problem in Serie A, with Milan coach Stefano Pioli repeatedly suggesting there be a minimum number set of minutes in a match with the ball in movement.
Part of the concern is also with referees, who award more free kicks than their counterparts in Europe, slowing down the pace of the game.