Why doesn’t soccer just use stop time rather than this strange added time thing?

I’m a long time sports fan but have just recently starting watching soccer. I can’t quite understand this extra time thing they do at the end of the half and the game. I mean I understand it but I don’t really understand the purpose when there’s a much easier and efficient way of doing it.

Maybe some of you big fans can help me out with the benefit of running the clock this way rather than just stopping the clock during stoppages.

I feel stopping it would not only be easier but also would make the game better. I mean isn’t it important to know EXACTLY how much time is remaining in the game? If you’re down by one, or up by one for that matter and there’s 10 minutes left your strategy would be much different than if there’s 1 minute left.

I also can’t get over how when they add time it’s not exact. That dude with the card will hold up let’s say 9 minutes but the ref lets them play until something like 9 minutes and 12 seconds sometimes.

Just makes no sense to me and hoping someone can explain the benefit of this clock system.