That free kick

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crucialkneeligaman

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Anticipating in advance what most of the replies are going to be but; genuine question, could Mark Howard have done better ?. The reason I ask, is that watching it back on tv, he was positioned quite a way over to the right, and Leroy Rosenior also asked questions of Howard. I don't take anything away from Eriksen, it was a beauty, but could/should the keeper have made more of an attempt ?.
 



crucialkneeligaman said:
Anticipating in advance what most of the replies are going to be but; genuine question, could Mark Howard have done better ?. The reason I ask, is that watching it back on tv, he was positioned quite a way over to the right, and Leroy Rosenior also asked questions of Howard. I don't take anything away from Eriksen, it was a beauty, but could/should the keeper have made more of an attempt ?.
Click to expand...

He would only have been covering half the goal, a larger wall with more than two players would have protected him more and made the taker have to think more about what he was going to do with the ball instead of being presented with a clear shot on goal.
 
crucialkneeligaman said:
Anticipating in advance what most of the replies are going to be but; genuine question, could Mark Howard have done better ?. The reason I ask, is that watching it back on tv, he was positioned quite a way over to the right, and Leroy Rosenior also asked questions of Howard. I don't take anything away from Eriksen, it was a beauty, but could/should the keeper have made more of an attempt ?.
Click to expand...


I'm not sure many keepers in the world would have got to that, let alone a league one keeper.
 
Henry Winter gives a good description in the Telegraph.."
The free-kick was slightly right of centre and United built a two-man wall protecting Howard’s left-hand post. Howard prepared himself on the line.
Nothing could prepare him for what happened next. As Eriksen ran in, the Dane shaped to play the ball to the near-post, prompting Howard to take two steps to the left. Eriksen continued his run, connecting with the ball, lifting it high and seemingly flying wide to Howard’s right.
The keeper watched its journey, believing it was heading harmlessly out. Yet it dipped, dropping under the bar, kissing the post and landing in the net. It was a magnificent right-footed strike, echoing a David Beckham special against Everton in 2003. "
 
The wall seems to be a natural thing to do for free kicks in range of a shot at goal. But it only really works in the event of a bad free kick being taken.
How many times would a player score from 30 yards if the wall wasn't there at all ?
What if the defenders just packed the penalty area and gave the goalie a clear site of the ball. I bet not many would go in.
These expert free kick takers plus the technology in the ball itself is starting to mean that the wall is starting to work to the advantage of the free kick taker and not the defence. The goalie can't see the ball until it's over the wall, he has no idea which corner it's going towards and by which time if it's hit accurately enough it's too late.
Unless the free kick taker hits a bad one straight at the wall which probably wouldn't result in a goal anyway I'm starting to wonder what good they're doing. Maybe for free kicks that are closer to the edge of the penalty area where it's more difficult for the striker to get it up and over the wall they are still viable but from 30 yards out I'm starting to wonder.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if some defences just said "No, were not having a wall, just have a shot" Were all gonna pack the penalty area instead and do our marking jobs. I bet the attacking players would make a wall themselves to give the free kick taker the advantage.
 
JJBlade said:
The wall seems to be a natural thing to do for free kicks in range of a shot at goal. But it only really works in the event of a bad free kick being taken.
How many times would a player score from 30 yards if the wall wasn't there at all ?
What if the defenders just packed the penalty area and gave the goalie a clear site of the ball. I bet not many would go in.
These expert free kick takers plus the technology in the ball itself is starting to mean that the wall is starting to work to the advantage of the free kick taker and not the defence. The goalie can't see the ball until it's over the wall, he has no idea which corner it's going towards and by which time if it's hit accurately enough it's too late.
Unless the free kick taker hits a bad one straight at the wall which probably wouldn't result in a goal anyway I'm starting to wonder what good they're doing. Maybe for free kicks that are closer to the edge of the penalty area where it's more difficult for the striker to get it up and over the wall they are still viable but from 30 yards out I'm starting to wonder.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if some defences just said "No, were not having a wall, just have a shot" Were all gonna pack the penalty area instead and do our marking jobs. I bet the attacking players would make a wall themselves to give the free kick taker the advantage.
Click to expand...

It's an interesting point which has been raised before, but I remember an interview with Brad Friedel on one of the Weekend Morning football shows (Something like Goals on Sunday) explaining that he had experimented with it in training for a good while, and realised it was much less effective. I would have thought by now, if it was a more effective method, the top sides would be doing it, but obviously not. Also, I think if there was only Eriksen and Howard on that pitch, it would have made little difference. No keeper in the world can save that. Sometimes, when you're against that sort of quality, you can only take your hat off and congratulate someone on a truly exceptional effort!
 
Howard takes two slight steps to the left and the ball goes over him and hits the right hand post.I think even had he taken two steps to the right, where the ball struck the post would have made it neigh on impossible for any keeper to save. It was simply a brilliant free-kick, shown to be by his two more central efforts that went straight into the wall. I doubt even Courtois or Neuer would have saved it.
 
at the time i said we need a bigger wall. having now seen the replays, no wall or keeper was stopping that, IF Howard got a touch then he would have collided with the bar or post and probably injured himself, that was a premier league quality free kick.
 
JJBlade said:
The wall seems to be a natural thing to do for free kicks in range of a shot at goal. But it only really works in the event of a bad free kick being taken.
How many times would a player score from 30 yards if the wall wasn't there at all ?
What if the defenders just packed the penalty area and gave the goalie a clear site of the ball. I bet not many would go in.
These expert free kick takers plus the technology in the ball itself is starting to mean that the wall is starting to work to the advantage of the free kick taker and not the defence. The goalie can't see the ball until it's over the wall, he has no idea which corner it's going towards and by which time if it's hit accurately enough it's too late.
Unless the free kick taker hits a bad one straight at the wall which probably wouldn't result in a goal anyway I'm starting to wonder what good they're doing. Maybe for free kicks that are closer to the edge of the penalty area where it's more difficult for the striker to get it up and over the wall they are still viable but from 30 yards out I'm starting to wonder.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if some defences just said "No, were not having a wall, just have a shot" Were all gonna pack the penalty area instead and do our marking jobs. I bet the attacking players would make a wall themselves to give the free kick taker the advantage.
Click to expand...

There are two main different types of free kicks, one is a powerful straight shot and the other is a curling shot. The wall helps to lessen the chance of a powerful straight shot getting into the net
 
Silent Blade said:
There are two main different types of free kicks, one is a powerful straight shot and the other is a curling shot. The wall helps to lessen the chance of a powerful straight shot getting into the net
Click to expand...
spurs had at least 3 free kicks around our box a player of eriksons ability will land one given that type of opportunity the key is not to dive in around the box(clough is very strong on this but easier said than done with the quality on show last night) i might be a bit nieve here but why not have players on each post to put pressure on the taker i accept players will be played on side initially but the amount of goals scored directly from free kicks is growing all the time as the modern ball is lighter and easier to manipulate deadball specialists are increasingly becoming match winners and it will be interesting to see who comes up with some kind of answer the evolution in football is facinating
 
Yes, the overwhelming opinion is that it was unstoppable and a brilliant free kick, maybe Howard thought it was going to sail wide, anyway no matter what, its done now. Maybe we should have done what the Nice B team did the other day according to something I read on the BBC gossip column, and put 10 men across the goal line behind the keeper, novel........, never said whether it worked or not:)
 
From where we were sitting in the Kop end of the South Stand we all thought the ball was missing by miles till it ended up in the net. We were as surprised as Howard was. In fact there was a moment of shocked silence before it dawned on everyone that the net had just bulged.

Sometimes we just have to accept that an opponent has produced something so exceptional that there was nothing we could have done about it. It was horrifying, but brilliant.
 



Absolute pearler of s free quick keeperx far post and curling away from keep. In my eyes virtually unstoppable.

Onr of the best free kicks ive seen live. Beckham v Greece springs to mind but only for the importance.
 
crucialkneeligaman said:
Yes, the overwhelming opinion is that it was unstoppable and a brilliant free kick, maybe Howard thought it was going to sail wide, anyway no matter what, its done now. Maybe we should have done what the Nice B team did the other day according to something I read on the BBC gossip column, and put 10 men across the goal line behind the keeper, novel........, never said whether it worked or not:)
Click to expand...

You could put 10 across the goal line behind Howard but the shot only needs to be 4 ft under the bar if it beats him to be a goal.

:(
 
Not watched it back but my impression from the TV was that it cleared the wall by some distance, and dipped very late.
A really tall keeper might have got close, but it was pretty much unsaveable.
 
blader said:
It's an interesting point which has been raised before, but I remember an interview with Brad Friedel on one of the Weekend Morning football shows (Something like Goals on Sunday) explaining that he had experimented with it in training for a good while, and realised it was much less effective. I would have thought by now, if it was a more effective method, the top sides would be doing it, but obviously not. Also, I think if there was only Eriksen and Howard on that pitch, it would have made little difference. No keeper in the world can save that. Sometimes, when you're against that sort of quality, you can only take your hat off and congratulate someone on a truly exceptional effort!
Click to expand...




I'm sure that coaching professionals are up to speed with the tactics of the game and I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel. But I do feel that by giving someone a shot at goal from 30 yards out from a dead ball position that they can only score with power in almost all cases, anything floated and bent towards the corner and the goalkeeper would have all day to pluck it out of the air without a wall being in the way.
 
I see it when I close my eyes. I also woke up in a sweat picturing the cross-goal finish from the Dane in question. As far as I'm aware, Howard could have done no more (regardless of the beard). Hard luck on our end.
 
BerksBlade said:
Not watched it back but my impression from the TV was that it cleared the wall by some distance, and dipped very late.
A really tall keeper might have got close, but it was pretty much unsaveable.
Click to expand...

It was unsalable but more men in the wall 'might' have made him think differently about what he was going to do instead of a free shot.

Madness to let a pro have a free shot, remember Wembley?
 
GRUMPY BLADE said:
It was unsalable but more men in the wall 'might' have made him think differently about what he was going to do instead of a free shot.

Madness to let a pro have a free shot, remember Wembley?
Click to expand...

If you look at the video posted earlier in this thread, most of the walls have 5 players and he still scores. Also, if that ball had struck the post an inch to the left of where it did hit then it would have bounced back in to play.
 
That's one of the best free kicks I have ever seen, its curling away and hits the inside of the top corner of the net at blistering pace..... oh and it must have dipped 4 feet while were at it..

Unsaveable.... that would win the champions league final that one...

I have no complaints about that free kick, or the result, we did ourselves and the city proud, were turning up in the big games now......
 
It's amazing how players that take free kicks regularly and practice them a lot get luckier the more they practice. :rolleyes:
Some clown near me said that Eriksen's free kick was lucky. Luck had nothing to do with it, it was sheer quality.
 
BornOnShoreham said:
If you look at the video posted earlier in this thread, most of the walls have 5 players and he still scores. Also, if that ball had struck the post an inch to the left of where it did hit then it would have bounced back in to play.
Click to expand...

Look it was a fantastic free kick but it still riles me that some guy who gets probably the best part of £60K/week to kick a ball gets a free shot.

It's like letting Hamilton have the Lamborghini and you have the Fiesta in a car race and then wonder why he won.
At least chose the Lamborghini and make him work for it.
 
Being a bit barmy, HB Jnr is a half decent keeper. We viewed that free kick from the right-hand side of the Kop and watched it's heart-breaking trajectory to goal. My boy turned to me and said "Unstoppable". The movement and speed of the ball made it nigh-on impossible for Howard to make the distance and height from pretty much anywhere but that back end of the goal. Ifs and buts. Quality goal.
 
Excellent vid. here.

​


Obviously 'one off the training ground'. Lamela (11) did a bit of a dummy run and Dier (No. 15 - just over 6' 2") was stood next to Scougs (5' 7") in the wall. Also, Kane etc. were waiting to pounce at the far post if the kick hadn't been so 'lofted'.

Doesn't really matter, I think there's far too much analysing in the game today. You can plan all you want, but goals like that make it irrelevant.
 



JJBlade said:
It would be interesting to see what would happen if some defences just said "No, were not having a wall, just have a shot" Were all gonna pack the penalty area instead and do our marking jobs. I bet the attacking players would make a wall themselves to give the free kick taker the advantage.
Click to expand...

Interesting, but what about free kicks like Bob's v. Soton? (at 0.30)

 
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