Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer News | Tags: Arsène Wenger, Arsenal, long throw, Rory Delap, Stoke, throw-in
Writing recently in my publication Soccer Coach Weekly, I explained the technique for taking long throw-ins and how it should now be an important part of your coaching plan because it was a good opportunity to attack the opposition.
Arsene Wenger, the manager of Arsenal, has gone a step further. He believes the advantage gained by teams with a player who can take long throws is unfair. He says: `’At Stoke, for Rory Delap it is like kicking the ball. It is a little bit of an unfair advantage. He is using a strength that is usually not a strength in football”
This response came on his club’s website where he was asked if there was one rule change he would like to make. He says: “Maybe to play throw-ins by foot. Why not? I think it would make the game quicker.”
He believes the current rules are at odds with the general prohibition on the use of hands apart from the goalkeeper and suggested that the throw-in should be abolished altogether and replaced with a kick-in.
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Ridiculous comments all round from Arsene. For a start, the arguments of “unfair advantage” don’t carry when he has some of the hottest young talent in his club, as well as the resources to consistently be a top 4 team. Stoke don’t have those resources. Who has the unfair advantage there. Extend this to goalkeeper heights, speed of forwards, etc., and Le Professeur becomes an absurdist. Regarding kick-ins; if Delap having a long throw is an unfair advantage and if using the hands is against the spirit of the game, then think about how kick-ins will affect the sport – teams will lump it long to gain territory, deliberately kick the ball of a defender to gain a throw, and the game will be reduced to a series of free kicks from the sideline. No thanks.
Comment by Eric McGrath December 29, 2009 @ 4:16 pm