7 Main Problems with Football that You Should Know
Football is one of the most popular sports on the planet. Millions upon millions of people watch it every single week, and it’s not just in countries like Brazil or England where it’s traditionally enjoyed the most; it’s also huge in many other parts of the world as well. And because so many people enjoy watching football — and playing it as well — there are many who have noticed that there is a lot that we don’t like about the game as well. The following will look at some of these problems, and why we feel that making changes to them would benefit everyone involved.
The game is too long
There is no doubt about it, a football match, once half-time and added time are counted, runs close to two hours. Many people say that the game is too long, with some suggesting that it’s actually the case that it’s way too short. But really, though, it’s neither of these things. The game is the length that it is just because it’s set out to be that way, and it’s not that either.
There are other sports that run longer than football (the average MLB game took 2:40 in 2025) but are also played at a high level. Rugby union, for example, runs 80 minutes, shorter than the 90 minutes of football, but it’s also a sport that isn’t played by many people. The length of the game is something that can be changed at any time.
There’s not enough defense in football
One thing that has become apparent to many people is that there isn’t nearly enough defense in football. In other sports, there is a higher focus on defense than in football does. This is something that can be changed, too. It’s not a difficult thing to do, and it could be used to add more excitement and interest to the game. There’s no real reason why defense shouldn’t be as important in football as it is in rugby or hockey or baseball.
It’s too hard to score goals
Another reason that football has some people annoyed is that it is too hard to score goals. This is something that can be changed quite easily, too. Making scoring easier would mean changing the goal, not the penalty area, and today’s goal is 7.32 metres wide and 2.44 metres high. It’s not the end of the world if there’s a goal that stays at its traditional size, and a wider one doesn’t need to be done.
Goals per Match, Top Five Leagues
There are way too many stoppages in play
It’s clear that too many stoppages are taking place in football games, with the ball in play for only 55 minutes 23 seconds of the average Premier League match in 2025-26 (Opta). Many people would like this one to change as well, and it’s easy to see why. If a referee is stopping the game for every single thing that happens on the pitch, it’s not going to be very exciting for the people watching. It could be a simple thing, for example, like a player getting their studs on the ball. If referees focus on stopping these kinds of things happening during games, there would be a massive improvement.
Ball in Play per Premier League Match
Coaches don’t use their substitutions wisely
Another thing that some people don’t like about football is that coaches don’t use their substitutions wisely, and they don’t make good use of the ones that they do make. This one is something that can be changed, and it’s not going to take too long to do so. Coaches need to think that they need to make sure that they substitute players when they need to. They shouldn’t just wait until they are halfway through a team before doing so.
Players aren’t well trained before games start
Another thing that some people don’t like about football is that the players aren’t well trained before games start. This is something that could be changed relatively easily. Coaches need to work harder at making sure that players are prepared for every single game. If they don’t do this, then this problem could be fixed very quickly.
Too much focus on money and fame
Too much attention, in the minds of many, should be paid to money and fame when it comes to football. People watch the game all over the world, and they don’t all do it because they love it and want to play it. Many people watch it because they love the characters that play it, and not because they are able to earn so much money and fame from it. This is something that could be changed at any time, but it’s not something that many seem to care enough about to do so.
There are many things that people don’t like about football, and these are a few of them. They could be easily changed, and it’s not something that many people seem to care about enough to fix. This article was a tongue-in-cheek view of the problems with football that is reality to those who don’t exist. Anything, missed?
Vince Douglas Gregory is the ‘petulant puppet master’ of a sports media landscape addicted to scripted rage and performance art. As the architect of VDG Sports, he bypasses the corporate talking heads to expose the unfiltered truth behind the narratives.
An unstable thinker and astute scholar, Vince thrives on dismantling the mediocre click-bait addicts who trade reality for engagement. If you want boring stats, go elsewhere. If you want the raw reality of the game, you’re in the right place. Consider yourself warned.