The Debate: How new added-time rules will impact United

Arguably the most prominent of those is the fresh added-time measures, which will see more minutes played at the end of every match.

Prior to United's Premier League opener against Wolves at Old Trafford on Monday (20:00 BST), panellists on the latest episode of The Debate discussed the impact - positively and negatively - that such introductions will have on the flow of matches in the league.

A shirt for any occasion - United's 2023/24 third kit is available to buy now!

"You put a lot into the training weeks, your games," started former United defender Danny Simpson. "And even in the game, even like when a sub comes on fresh for the last 15 minutes, you're already thinking then from 75 to 90 [minutes] oh, Jesus. Never mind having another 20 or 30 minutes.

"I think it's a lot and I think you'll see a lot more injuries and a lot more problems. And I'd be absolutely devastated [as a player].”

Fellow ex-Red Danny Webber agreed with Simpson, but also explained that for our fans, the rule change will alter their experience of going to watch United play home and away.

“It changes the complexion of the game completely," he said. "You look at the times where it's touch and go to get the last train back from London, to get back to Manchester. If you add another 25 minutes onto the game or 20 minutes onto the game, you’ve potentially got a lot of fans missing the train.

"I was at the Sunderland and Ipswich game at the weekend and they had six minutes at half-time, 13 minutes at full-time. And it was insane because there was a mentality of people who might just leave slightly before the end and they're sort of leaving 10 minutes before the end to get away. I thought to myself, you've lost 23 minutes in a game just by leaving in the 80th minute.

"So it changes the dynamics for everybody, the way they watch football, the way people some stay to the end, some leave slightly before and from a player's point of view these players are so fit now but you're fit for 90 minutes plus maybe five or six. It's easy to sit and say: ‘Oh, well, you can just add another 15 onto that.' But it's high-octane stuff that they're playing and muscle injuries, fatigue [can happen].

"We've seen it when someone has extra-time midweek and then you all of a sudden have a game at the weekend and they blow up. You know, you're asking the top players now or the top teams to play 60 games of that nature.

"It's just a lot and I think it's, you know, it's consumerism as much as anything else."

Carl Anka, who writes for The Athletic, went into further depth about how the extra added time will impact Erik ten Hag's decision-making for the new season, following the success of his in-game tactical alterations last term.

"United scored a lot of goals from substitutes last season," he said. "You had Garnacho and others coming off the bench and doing this.

"We are now in the era of five subs per Premier League game. Ten Hag has already shown a pretty good aptitude for understanding: 'If I put in a new player now, we might open up a bit of space.' Garnacho was very, very good coming off the bench, so that might be something you see a lot more.

"Yes, there's going to be loads more minutes. You're also probably going to see loads more 75th-minute substitutes, loads more time possibly for Academy players to come in. You're not just coming on for five minutes to close out a game, but you might get an extra 10 minutes in there as well.

"But I mean, I would just prefer it for referees to properly manage time-wasting by handing out more yellow cards than adding on 10 minutes at the end."

The opinions in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Manchester United Football Club.