Throw Ins

Dear Mr Ismael and dozens of well paid staff,
Is it really so hard to devise tactics for our own throw ins?

 

Jamal Lewis’s pathetic, lazy, throws drive me mad - everyone is borderline a foul throw - sums him up as not bothered

 

But he does sometimes throw them forwards, unlike any of his passes.

 

My favourite part of games currently is when we get a throw in near the oppositions area and 5 seconds later it’s back in our own half with Hoedt passing it sideways as the crowd shout ‘Hoot’ like a gaggle of loud clapping owls.

 

Don't get me started. It's been pi**ing me off for 20+ years how bl**dy awful we are at such basic things.

 

Don't forget the bit where he takes 20 seconds looking up and down the line, decides that throwing it to a man in space would be a bad idea, so then gives the opposition another 10 seconds to mark the free man so Jamal can then limply throw the ball into a gaggle of players

 

We haven't taken a good throw in since Spring's goal v palace in the PO Semi in 2006.

 

Yes, you'd think it needn't be coached, wouldn't you. But I once stopped a secondary school football match and spent 5 minutes showing them how to do it - not one of them had been getting it right.
You can, by the way also put your feet on the line.

 

It’s frustrating watching numerous Watford players take longer to rake a thrown in than the average person takes to fill in a self assessment tax form. I think you notice more when teams like a Huddersfield and Swansea seem able to just get it done effectively.

not sure if it’s our infective application of the throw in as an offensive move Or our ineptitude squaring up to defend an opponents throw ins. Either way it’s very noticeable how crap we are at it.

 

By all accounts raj has an incredible throw in (was it Paul mayo that had one of those bionic throws)

as he’s useless anywhere else on the pitch why not just deploy him to take every throw

 

Unfortunately that would mean he would have to be on the pitch which is a worry

 

The nearest player usually takes the throw -in looking for a quick forward throw
If this is not on then it is left for the designated thrower usually the full back
So , either the forward is not doing his job by showing for the ball or we don't trust the forward with a quick restart . Then the full back throws it to Hoedt who is in space and we complete a set of passes between the back 4 .

 

For one throw in during the Swansea game, I'm sure Lewis went to give the ball to someone else but did it in a "throw in style". Therefore starting the game whilst nobody anticipated he'd thrown it in, they broke away and had a chance.

 

I see Lewis is being made the scapegoat here but the complete lack of movement does not help

 

I'm convinced many players at many clubs forget you can't be offside from a throw-in. With a bit of imagination and preparation I think you could really catch teams out with a quick throw to someone standing in what was an offside position before the ball went out. The longer you can throw it, the better the chances of getting somebody in to a really promising position. I don't watch much other football now but from memory I can't recall anyone taking advantage of this so maybe for once it isn't just something we totally ignore.

 

Arsenal have started to exploit this with a lovely little routine. Couple of players rotate their movements and create space, throw in to the line where they try and cut it back towards the penalty spot

 

Thanks for that, very interesting. Why we (or other clubs) don't look to exploit this more I 'll never understand considering defences are drilled to hold their line. Seems like such an easy way to gain an advantage and cause confusion.

 

Raj in goal must be worth a shot

 

On the subject, another thing that winds me up no ends is teams stealing yards on throw ins. I get it, it’s never going to be taken from exactly where the ball went out of play but sometimes a player ends up 20 yards further up the pitch.