Zamora , goal kicks and rugby
Must-read piece by Steve at Cottagers Confidential. Hadn’t considered the goal kick angle, and part of it might be Roger Johnson, but still. (also, what happens to second balls off these goal kicks?) Question: why don’t we build from the back with every goal kick? Field position, no doubt, but you don’t find players lamping the ball to the corner flag like in rugby, which would make more sense as a ploy.
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The boards don’t show who the unsuccessful passers are to, but hoofing it to AJ and his massive 4’12″ frame isn’t helpful either.
Hughes apparently was a fan of the direct ball up to Johnson despite his height as he felt it gave the likes of Etuhu an opportunity to win a second ball, often in the air.
Ah, thanks a lot Rich.
I almost wonder if Wolves were pressing forward fairly aggressively yesterday, forcing Schwarzer to hoof it up field to players who weren’t likely to win the ball. Hard to remember some of the tactical particulars from such an ultimately forgettable game.
Doing some guesstimating, but Opta has Wolves having 11 shots off target… so you could possibly assume that of the 28 kicks that went halfway or further, 17 weren’t from goal kicks… either shots or crosses that Schwarzer snagged or passes back from under siege players.
Perhaps Wolves knew how much the squad liked to build up from the back and how generally awful they are away and tried to press aggressively to exploit it after seeing AJ was the lone forward. Outside of Dempsey occasionally, no one could really give their backline problems on 50/50s.