Do free kicks annoy you as much as they do me....

[vagrant]

At International level and in the Premier League especially, whenever a team get a free kick just inside the oppositions half, have you noticed they pass it short, backwards or sideways..Why!!!!!???

How many times do they do this, and when the defenders get closed down, the ball ends up with the goalkeeper who lumps in downfield to anywhere and anyone. Two minutes wasted, thinking about ball possession etc etc, when it gets booted upfield in the end anyway.

There was a time when that free kick was banged into the penalty area, and maybe, just maybe, you might even score, which you bloody won't do when you're passing sideways in your own half.

Maybe I'm getting to old to understand these modern tactics....

[MasterHaynes]

Your right, I always wonder why they don't even line up to punt the ball into the area so the other team has to fall back to their own 18 yard line anyway even if the ball is going to be played short. Strange thing is you can guarantee when a team is chasing the game in the last 10-15 minutes then the ball is launched into the area in an attempt to score , if they think they have more chance of scoring why not do it more often?

[dannyboi-ffc]

I need to know how much they annoy you before I can answer your question. Do they make you wanna smash the tv with an axe whilst screaming your head off burning pictures of the free kick taker?

If thats the case then they definitely annoy you more... im quite positive about that. I just find it a little frustrating

[F(f)CUK]

I have no problem with a quickly taken sideways looking free kick to exploit space, but I agree that taking your time to set up a free kick only to pass it sideways is so annoying.  It is not just international level either.

[fulhamben]

short corners really grind my gears, especially when the center backs go up, they never know whether to stay or retreat. just whoop it in man

[nose]

we all seem agreed for once? Wow the question that united us!

I hate the obsession with the short sideways pass that seems to put your own players into more pressure than would seem sensible from a set position.  I agree a clever, crafty kick taken quickly releasing a player can be brilliant, but that isn't what the OP is referring too. The OP isn't too old for modern tactics, but rather lots of modern tactics are stupid!

[Nero]

Your right, I always wonder why they don't even line up to punt the ball into the area so the other team has to fall back to their own 18 yard line anyway even if the ball is going to be played short. Strange thing is you can guarantee when a team is chasing the game in the last 10-15 minutes then the ball is launched into the area in an attempt to score , if they think they have more chance of scoring why not do it more often?

Because you get labeled a long ball ball team

[fulhamben]

we all seem agreed for once? Wow the question that united us!

I hate the obsession with the short sideways pass that seems to put your own players into more pressure than would seem sensible from a set position.  I agree a clever, crafty kick taken quickly releasing a player can be brilliant, but that isn't what the OP is referring too. The OP isn't too old for modern tactics, but rather lots of modern tactics are stupid!

nah nothing to do with tactics. its the parker effect. he leads by exampkle and everyone follows suit with the 5 yard backwards and sideways passing. its how you get good ratings from opta. just you wait till we get a penalty it will make the second one in this clip look class  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3UCKco-5to

[dannyboi-ffc]

we all seem agreed for once? Wow the question that united us!

I hate the obsession with the short sideways pass that seems to put your own players into more pressure than would seem sensible from a set position.  I agree a clever, crafty kick taken quickly releasing a player can be brilliant, but that isn't what the OP is referring too. The OP isn't too old for modern tactics, but rather lots of modern tactics are stupid!

nah nothing to do with tactics. its the parker effect. he leads by exampkle and everyone follows suit with the 5 yard backwards and sideways passing. its how you get good ratings from opta. just you wait till we get a penalty it will make the second one in this clip look class  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3UCKco-5to

You even criticise parker in a post about short freekicks that wasnt even referring to fulham. The OP referred to the prem and international. You need too stop this obsessive hate for scotty. Its not healthy.

Thank god rooney doesnt take freekicks from deep lol

[fulhamben]

we all seem agreed for once? Wow the question that united us!

I hate the obsession with the short sideways pass that seems to put your own players into more pressure than would seem sensible from a set position.  I agree a clever, crafty kick taken quickly releasing a player can be brilliant, but that isn't what the OP is referring too. The OP isn't too old for modern tactics, but rather lots of modern tactics are stupid!

nah nothing to do with tactics. its the parker effect. he leads by exampkle and everyone follows suit with the 5 yard backwards and sideways passing. its how you get good ratings from opta. just you wait till we get a penalty it will make the second one in this clip look class  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3UCKco-5to

You even criticise parker in a post about short freekicks that wasnt even referring to fulham. The OP referred to the prem and international. You need too stop this obsessive hate for scotty. Its not healthy.

Thank god rooney doesnt take freekicks from deep lol

i dont hate parker. i just hate that he some how gets in our starting 11, when we have so much better in the squad

[callumc513]

To be honest I completely disagree, it annoys me when teams slow the game down and hoof every free kick they get into the penalty area; especially when the most likely outcome is a defensive clearance for an easy catch for the goalkeeper.

[eloc]

I have no problem with a quickly taken sideways looking free kick to exploit space, but I agree that taking your time to set up a free kick only to pass it sideways is so annoying.  It is not just international level either.

It makes sense to me. Those kind of 40yd kicks have a lot of halftime, giving the defending team a lot of time to react. Plus having the kind of accuracy needed to place a ball properly is a skill that is held by a very small group of people. Passing it off sideways after setting up is a smart move if you don't have someone who can kick that far accurately, or defenders who aren't that good in the air. Playing it off to the side means disrupting the defensive shape of the other team, potentially creating space to drop passes into. Its a lot easier to put a ball in a 6yard area that hit a player's head.

[vagrant]

I have no problem with a quickly taken sideways looking free kick to exploit space, but I agree that taking your time to set up a free kick only to pass it sideways is so annoying.  It is not just international level either.

It makes sense to me. Those kind of 40yd kicks have a lot of halftime, giving the defending team a lot of time to react. Plus having the kind of accuracy needed to place a ball properly is a skill that is held by a very small group of people. Passing it off sideways after setting up is a smart move if you don't have someone who can kick that far accurately, or defenders who aren't that good in the air. Playing it off to the side means disrupting the defensive shape of the other team, potentially creating space to drop passes into. Its a lot easier to put a ball in a 6yard area that hit a player's head.

How do you disrupt the defensive shape of the other team by either passing backwards or sideways, eventually ending up with the goalkeeper hoofing it upfield anyway, where it usually reaches the same spot the free kick started in the first place....

[nose]

I have no problem with a quickly taken sideways looking free kick to exploit space, but I agree that taking your time to set up a free kick only to pass it sideways is so annoying.  It is not just international level either.

It makes sense to me. Those kind of 40yd kicks have a lot of halftime, giving the defending team a lot of time to react. Plus having the kind of accuracy needed to place a ball properly is a skill that is held by a very small group of people. Passing it off sideways after setting up is a smart move if you don't have someone who can kick that far accurately, or defenders who aren't that good in the air. Playing it off to the side means disrupting the defensive shape of the other team, potentially creating space to drop passes into. Its a lot easier to put a ball in a 6yard area that hit a player's head.

How do you disrupt the defensive shape of the other team by either passing backwards or sideways, eventually ending up with the goalkeeper hoofing it upfield anyway, where it usually reaches the same spot the free kick started in the first place....

you  don't 'have to' aimlessly hoof it up the field but a long ball in the air coming towards the defence can cause panic and with today's rules regarding physical challenge the defenders and not so keen to go through forwards who have their backs to goal. But at least a long ball means most of the opposition will be very withdrawn.

there are many different ways to take a free kick to apply pressure on the defending team but the six yard sideways or backward pass would seem the least inventive and often invites pressure rather relieves it. The key to most free kicks or dead ball situations is the movement of the attacking players and the speed at which the kick can be taken.

[Craven Mad]

It's all about the stats.

The chance of scoring from a 45 yard, hoof into the area are slim-to-nil. It's the same with corners; chances of scoring from one are far, far lower than most would expect.

Retention of possession is far more valuable than a hoofed free kick or a deep corner - hence the prevalence short corners and short free kicks.

Proof? Read The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Football is Wrong , it's really useful for tactical insights.