The latest phrase to hit the football banter pages is “Long throws are back in fashion”, and it got me thinking about why are things ‘fashionable’ or not, especially in sport.
Fashion often refers to clothing
styles and I’ll never forget my grandad having all the turn-ups on his trousers taken off as they were no longer in vogue…only to see them eventually came back into fashion! However, I’m puzzled as to why a perfectly understandable and effective tactic on the football pitch — namely the long throw in — should go out of fashion.
As we’ve seen with the excellent Nordi Mukiele, a long throw taken almost in line with the edge of the box or corner flag is a very dangerous weapon to have. In fact, it’s almost as good as a corner, so surely it should always be an effective weapon?
One of the most innovative developments in recent years was when Pep Guardiola introduced us to the idea of ‘playing out from the back’.
This wasn’t merely a way of keeping ownership of the football as a team advanced up the pitch. Instead, if done correctly, it would pull opposition players out of position as they tried to win possession and therefore leave gaps further up the pitch for the attacking team to move into — in theory, at least! If you had a team of fine technicians like Manchester City had in those days, it was certainly something for other coaches to take notice of.
It’s interesting, therefore, that it’s almost become a scourge of modern football and where every team in every league — right down to some under-eleven football I’ve watched — seems to think that’s how it should be done!
Some professional coaches (Russell Martin springs to mind) will only use that tactic, no matter what kind of players they have at their disposal. To me, this almost shows a lack of innovational skills or worse still, a lack of confidence in the players to adopt another style of play. Horses for courses, surely? If a coach has players not suited to ‘tiki-taka’, don’t use it, as it may be that a more direct style of football is a better way forward.
There have already been signs this season that some teams are giving up on the idea of playing out from the back, but this is my point: I’m not saying it should go out of fashion but should merely be used when the players at that club can handle that system, and also when it’s been identified that the opposition can be hurt using such tactics.
There almost seems to be an element of snobbishness about playing direct football, and the idea that fans don’t want to see their team punting the ball up the field for their centre forward.
I remember when Sam Allardyce was almost hounded out of St James’ Park because the fans and owners didn’t like his style of play. However, he was very much welcomed at the Stadium of Light and it certainly wasn’t always route one football — again, horses for courses.
Perhaps the demise of the long throw coincided with the rise of playing out from the back? Route one against ‘route twenty five’, as it were, but nothing should go out of fashion as in the dress sense.
A good coach should have many different tactics and ideas at his disposal — depending on the players he’s using, the formation adopted and the opposition — but it makes me wonder how many top coaches are actually lacking in their own conviction to try something new, and how to create an identity for their club.
Similarly, I’ve heard many people saying that “4-4-2 is old fashioned and outdated in the modern game”. Really? Why? If a coach can spring a surprise on his opponent by playing a system that they weren’t expecting, surely that’s a good thing?
If the opposition coach identifies what’s happening during the game and alters his own formation to counteract it, that’s a cue for the home coach to make his next move. It’s like a game of chess in that you need many moves and tactics in your arsenal in order to succeed.
Another good example was when Sir Alf Ramsey famously put his England side out in the 1966 World Cup without any wingers — ‘Alf’s Wingless Wonders’, as they were known, and it certainly worked! Of course, that formation was eventually found out and nullified but it’s nevertheless another string to a coach’s bow and they shouldn’t simply go out of fashion.
When I’ve mentioned some innovations in the past that I’ve thought of, they mostly get laughed at from my mates in the pub, and I think mainly because anything truly new sounds ridiculous.
How smug I felt over the weekend therefore, when I saw a Newcastle player blast the ball out near the opposition’s corner flag directly from kick off. I thought of this years ago, as it immediately allows a team to push up and pin the opposition into a defensive shape. It’s also used in rugby, by punting the ball down the pitch and turning defence into attack. Of course it’s not going to work as a spectacle or as a tactic if used too frequently, but it is an option.
Another innovation I saw from kick off was to ‘Garryowen’ the ball, rugby-style, into the opposition’s box. It caused a bit of panic and dealing with a high ball dropping from the sky can often cause mistakes. Worth a try?
A tactic I think many fans would like to see that seems to have gone out of fashion is leaving a player on the halfway line when defending a corner. It would take at least two players to mark him, would declutter the penalty area and allow for a breakaway if we could get the ball to him quickly. I’m not even sure there’s a reasonable argument against that one, but it’s rarely used.
Another idea I’ve had is that in certain areas, simply don’t use a wall to defend a free kick.
Sounds crazy? How many superb technicians are there who can bend a ball around a wall? They must practice for hours each week.
The goalkeeper sees the ball dipping over the wall, but it’s too late to react. Well, don’t have a wall! There’s nothing to bend around and the keeper can see the kick and ball flight with full vision. Obviously, that does depend on where the free kick is located, but I’m sure as an occasional tactic, it has some merits.
Football is like a game of chess; “You do this, and I’ll do that. You switch to that, and I’ll counteract with this”, but surely the more weapons, ideas, tactics and innovations a coach has that his players can adopt can only be a good thing, and nothing should go out of fashion.
