Arsenal called out over complaints after trying to get long throws BANNED

Long throws have become a big talking point in the Premier League this season but it isn’t the first time the competition has seen people pass comment on that particular trend

Arsenal have used set-plays to their advantage this season, be that corners, free-kicks or long throws, but there was a time when the Gunners took a different outlook. According to former Stoke star Rory Delap, himself a long throw specialist, the London club once went as far as trying to ban the practice.

“You cannot say it is football anymore,” Arsenal’s then-manager Arsene Wenger said when Tony Pulis’ Stoke benefited from long throws – with Delap the main architect. “It is more rugby on the goalkeepers than football.”

Now, former Ireland international Delap has reflected on the objections to his own team’s approach, suggesting things have gone full circle. “This thing around the set-piece coach has been around for a couple of years now, and people say it’s new to the game, but it’s not new at all – the only thing different about it is that it’s now one person’s dedicated job, whereas before it was something the manager or one of his coaches would take on,” Delap told Ladbrokes at the launch of Ladisfaction.

On Arsenal specifically, he added: “So many people used to complain about the way we played; it’s funny that Arsenal are now known for their set-pieces, because they were probably the worst for complaining about how we played the game during that period. You know, with them it went as far as them wanting to ban throw-ins and replace them with kick-ins!

“That would have probably made it worse for them, to be honest, because we’d have been putting it into the box from everywhere on the pitch! It was part and parcel of our team back then, and I always say that no one would have talked about my throw-ins if we weren’t as successful as we were when it came to getting on the end of them and scoring goals.”

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Earlier this season, former Liverpool coach Thomas Gronnemark called out the long throw trend in the Premier League. Arsenal haven’t been the only proponents, and indeed have yet to score from a long throw despite leading the league in set-piece goals, whereas Brentford and Crystal Palace have each scored three times from long throws this term.

“You can say there are many more long throw-ins in the Premier League. You can say ‘isn’t that good?’ No, not necessarily!” Gronnemark told Mirror Football in September. “There are far too many teams taking low-quality long throw-ins. Some of the throw-ins are just not long enough, so they’re not dangerous, and sometimes it’s about the strategy.”

Delap also stressed the significance of set pieces, be that long throws or other deliveries, on the basis of how long the ball is out of play during a match. “You’ve got to move with it, though,” he said.

“You know, set-play analysts are such a huge part of the game because the ball is out of play a lot in 90 minutes, so if you don’t work on what you do from set-plays, then you’re going to get punished. And you’d be daft not to utilise what you’ve got, especially when seasons can be successful or unsuccessful because of set-plays. That’s just a fact.”

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