Lack of quality outside the box.

[malwayne]

I watched the game from the Hawthorns earlier and the game typifying many of those i’ve watched since the restart.The main reason being the poor quality of direct free kicks taken in and around the edge of the box. It is so frustrating to see the same thing week in, week out. The goalie lines up the wall, the kick gets taken , and the ball either hits the wall or gets skied above the bar and into row S.
All week these players are practising with the ball ,especially on set pieces.Come match day ,teams get a good opportunity to do something and they fail miserably to carry out something you learn on a school playing field. I could lift a ball over a wall and force a goalie to make a save. So could many others connected with this message board. Of that I have no doubt whatsoever.
Is it me asking for perfection or should these so called professionals be doing a bit better. Surelty their coaches and managers must be as infuriated as me and many others.At the end of the day what are they paying them to do ?

[The Bedlington Terrier]

They can't all be an Ashley Westwood malwayne.

Attachment 16324

[antifootball]

Not claiming to know anything but wouldn't it make sense that due to the pandemic and unpredicted return that most training would be focused on fitness and less on technical aspects like free kicks?

Usually fitness is retained over a season leaving more room for other training.

[Balanbam00]

I think you do know something,you can't kid ''the boys of the golden age!''

For me its simple,for whatever reason if that is what is happening when a free kick has been taken. Don't take free kicks!(as per example given).Design a plan 'B',and if necessary plan 'C'. Tackle the problem on the training ground,find a solution ,then repeat and repeat. Add the time lost to an extra time for fitness.
Of course the opponents will become wise to what you are doing ,then when SD or the captain says ,take the original free kick,as was before.

I think it was in the 50's Burnley having small forwards,(Jimmy McIlroy 5.09 ft ,etc,)and in those days the Center Half and co, stayed back in their positions ? Against tall forwards it was almost headed away up field ,so Burnley came with a solution of 'the short corner'.Alan Brown,the manager then, introduced short corners and a huge array of free kick routines, which were soon copied across the land.

Adapt ,imitate and improve.

[sinkov]

It's the penalties that get me, only one in a hundred, if that, placed in the top third of the goal will be saved, they take the keeper out of the equation. Any pro footballer is capable of placing the ball into the top third 99.9% of the time, and they've got plenty of tme to practice it, but very few even attempt it. The number who place the ball low to either side of the keeper is astonishing, it's then just 50/50 whether the keeper dives to that side and makes a comfortable save, but that's where the majority are placed.

The best penalty taker I've ever seen was Graham Alexander, nothing fancy, just hit as hard as possible on a rising trajectory, but despite his success rate no other pros seemed inclined to copy his method. Not even Chris Eagles who played with Alexander and must have seen him take, and score, numerous penalties, when Chris took over it was back to trying to send the keeper the wrong way, and I'm fairly sure he missed more than he scored. Maybe most footballers just aren't very intelligent, why would you not want to copy the best ?

[barrie_burn]

Perhaps they don't remember Jimmy Mac.

[Supersub6]

Perhaps they don't remember Jimmy Mac.

You have to remember, barrie, that football used to be crap in those days and there were no good players around at all.
So much worse than today's sterile game!

[sinkov]

Perhaps they don't remember Jimmy Mac.

You'd have to learn to swivel your ankle through 180% to take them like Jimmy Mac. I used to stand behind the goal at the Cricket field end, I knew what he was going to do, for all the world it looked like it was going to the keeper's right, the keeper dived to his right, and the ball would roll fairly gently into the left hand side of the goal. It seemed impossible, to a young lad like me, it was like magic.

[Supersub6]

You'd have to learn to swivel your ankle through 180% to take them like Jimmy Mac. I used to stand behind the goal at the Cricket field end, I knew what he was going to do, for all the world it looked like it was going to the keeper's right, the keeper dived to his right, and the ball would roll fairly gently into the left hand side of the goal. It seemed impossible, to a young lad like me, it was like magic.

sinkov ----it was magic, he was brilliant!

[antifootball]

It's the penalties that get me, only one in a hundred, if that, placed in the top third of the goal will be saved, they take the keeper out of the equation. Any pro footballer is capable of placing the ball into the top third 99.9% of the time, and they've got plenty of tme to practice it, but very few even attempt it. The number who place the ball low to either side of the keeper is astonishing, it's then just 50/50 whether the keeper dives to that side and makes a comfortable save, but that's where the majority are placed.

The best penalty taker I've ever seen was Graham Alexander, nothing fancy, just hit as hard as possible on a rising trajectory, but despite his success rate no other pros seemed inclined to copy his method. Not even Chris Eagles who played with Alexander and must have seen him take, and score, numerous penalties, when Chris took over it was back to trying to send the keeper the wrong way, and I'm fairly sure he missed more than he scored. Maybe most footballers just aren't very intelligent, why would you not want to copy the best ?

Gotta say this post is full of irony. Can you say the same before the next game? Excellent finish from Wood.