CanadaSaint Posted 29 September, 2014 Share Posted 29 September, 2014 We conceded one against Arsenal and very nearly another one against QPR at a vital time, from very similar positions. With the livelier ball and higher player skill levels, these free kicks have become lethal, and it might be time to address that. What are your thoughts on the split wall - two players on each side (leaving the keeper to cover the middle), rather than a four-man wall on one side (which leaves the keeper to cover the direct shot and hope to god that he can get to the other side if the shot goes there)? This could be supplemented with defenders on each post because the direct shot has IMO become a much greater danger than playing attackers onside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igsey Posted 29 September, 2014 Share Posted 29 September, 2014 Did you see either of those free kicks? Nothing any keeper could do about Sanchez's, and Kranjcar's too would have beaten every keeper in the game had it been an inch or two lower. The positioning of the wall will not make any difference at all; we need to stop giving free kicks away in those positions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaSaint Posted 29 September, 2014 Author Share Posted 29 September, 2014 Did you see either of those free kicks? Nothing any keeper could do about Sanchez's, and Kranjcar's too would have beaten every keeper in the game had it been an inch or two lower. The positioning of the wall will not make any difference at all; we need to stop giving free kicks away in those positions. Yes, I saw them - that's why I started the thread. It's easy to say that we need to stop giving away those free kicks, but they're going to happen regardless. And we need to find a better way of defending against them - especially as teams are putting a left footer and a right footer on the ball so that the keeper is kept guessing where the shot might be going. Gerrard's goal against Everton wasn't top corner but good enough to beat Howard, and a post defender might well have kept Sanchez's shot out. You're making big assumptions in your response ("the wall will not make any difference at all") because the whole point of the split wall is that it gives the keeper a better view and a better chance of getting to the corners - and the players on the posts give some added protection. Of course some shots will still go in, but in the modern game the split wall might well be a better option than the four man wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint86 Posted 29 September, 2014 Share Posted 29 September, 2014 We conceded one against Arsenal and very nearly another one against QPR at a vital time, from very similar positions. With the livelier ball and higher player skill levels, these free kicks have become lethal, and it might be time to address that. What are your thoughts on the split wall - two players on each side (leaving the keeper to cover the middle), rather than a four-man wall on one side (which leaves the keeper to cover the direct shot and hope to god that he can get to the other side if the shot goes there)? This could be supplemented with defenders on each post because the direct shot has IMO become a much greater danger than playing attackers onside. I said I was very unhappy with him towards the end of last season and was vilified for it, called a troll etc. Stand by my decision that there was/is better available than poch, and that allows for Koeman to not be one of them come the end of the season. His lack of interest in the league fixtures at the end of last season, injury record, disloyalty post Cortese and Sunderland were simply not good enough. People had their heads in the sand back then and were blinded by the fact that we were 8th... I would argue that he underachieved personally, but that is neither here nor there anymore. Things change fast in footy as we all know. Look again at Christmas and we'll have numpties expressing disappointment in Koeman, despite his start and the fact that he has had to build a team out of the scraps and left overs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OttawaSaint Posted 29 September, 2014 Share Posted 29 September, 2014 Trouble with men on the posts is that they can then move an attacker or two up to nod in an easy header or collect a rebound for a tap in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saints foreva Posted 29 September, 2014 Share Posted 29 September, 2014 Tbf the one on Saturday wasn't even a free kick. The skate **** dived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doddisalegend Posted 30 September, 2014 Share Posted 30 September, 2014 Tbf the one on Saturday wasn't even a free kick. The skate **** dived. In slow motion to... took him five minutes to go from standing to hitting the floor clearly playing for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doddisalegend Posted 30 September, 2014 Share Posted 30 September, 2014 We conceded one against Arsenal and very nearly another one against QPR at a vital time, from very similar positions. With the livelier ball and higher player skill levels, these free kicks have become lethal, and it might be time to address that. What are your thoughts on the split wall - two players on each side (leaving the keeper to cover the middle), rather than a four-man wall on one side (which leaves the keeper to cover the direct shot and hope to god that he can get to the other side if the shot goes there)? This could be supplemented with defenders on each post because the direct shot has IMO become a much greater danger than playing attackers onside. I'd actually like us to concentrate on making the most of Free kicks at the other end last time I remember us being a threat from free kicks was Lambert in our first season in league 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted 30 September, 2014 Share Posted 30 September, 2014 I'd actually like us to concentrate on making the most of Free kicks at the other end last time I remember us being a threat from free kicks was Lambert in our first season in league 1. We scored two last season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearsy Posted 30 September, 2014 Share Posted 30 September, 2014 I would like Forster to dive across even if he can't get there, I don't like it when keeper bros just stand there applauding! Have a little jump at it, Forster bro! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjii Posted 30 September, 2014 Share Posted 30 September, 2014 I do think teams could do more to defend these dynamically. Mixing things up would at least have the possible benefit of disrupting the attacker's preparation and making them think twice. For example, with the Kranjcar free kick (which was a dive and followed a clear push that should have resulted in an fk for us, but anyway.....) it was obvious he was taking it and it was obvious it would be a right footed right-to-left bender. Therefore the two people on the left of our wall were never going to do anything useful. They could drop back which then puts pressure on finding the top corner rather than just getting it "up and down". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpturner Posted 30 September, 2014 Share Posted 30 September, 2014 I said I was very unhappy with him towards the end of last season and was vilified for it, called a troll etc. Stand by my decision that there was/is better available than poch, and that allows for Koeman to not be one of them come the end of the season. His lack of interest in the league fixtures at the end of last season, injury record, disloyalty post Cortese and Sunderland were simply not good enough. People had their heads in the sand back then and were blinded by the fact that we were 8th... I would argue that he underachieved personally, but that is neither here nor there anymore. Things change fast in footy as we all know. Look again at Christmas and we'll have numpties expressing disappointment in Koeman, despite his start and the fact that he has had to build a team out of the scraps and left overs. What has any of that got to do with the thread or the post you quoted? Have you quoted the wrong post on the wrong thread? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpturner Posted 30 September, 2014 Share Posted 30 September, 2014 The only way we could have prevented the Sanchez shot from hitting the back of the net was to make the goal temporarily smaller - almost the same for Kranjcar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted 30 September, 2014 Share Posted 30 September, 2014 Tbf the one on Saturday wasn't even a free kick. The skate **** dived. In slow motion to... took him five minutes to go from standing to hitting the floor clearly playing for it. This is why trying to avoid giving away free kicks is never going to be the whole solution because players will simulate outside the area just as they do for penalties. It's all very well abusing a player from an opposing team for doing it, when we know perfectly well that Saints' players will do it as well. There does need to be a solution to simulation, just as there does to 'professional' fouls, which managers are also implying are part of the game. Cheating in any form should not be part of the game and punishments should be sufficiently strong as to deter cheating. If FIFA were to introduce something like an enforced substitution of any player who cheats followed by a lengthy ban, players would think hard before doing it. Harsh? Hardly. In other sports, cycling and snooker are two examples, cheats can be banned for life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 30 September, 2014 Share Posted 30 September, 2014 This is why trying to avoid giving away free kicks is never going to be the whole solution because players will simulate outside the area just as they do for penalties. It's all very well abusing a player from an opposing team for doing it, when we know perfectly well that Saints' players will do it as well. There does need to be a solution to simulation, just as there does to 'professional' fouls, which managers are also implying are part of the game. Cheating in any form should not be part of the game and punishments should be sufficiently strong as to deter cheating. If FIFA were to introduce something like an enforced substitution of any player who cheats followed by a lengthy ban, players would think hard before doing it. Harsh? Hardly. In other sports, cycling and snooker are two examples, cheats can be banned for life. Despite what we may think of referees they are not that easily conned. There is usually a little shirt tug or arm grab that is not easy for us to see from the stands. Having said that, these professionals spend hours on the training ground practising how to go to ground and make it look like they have been fouled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted 30 September, 2014 Share Posted 30 September, 2014 Despite what we may think of referees they are not that easily conned. There is usually a little shirt tug or arm grab that is not easy for us to see from the stands. Having said that, these professionals spend hours on the training ground practising how to go to ground and make it look like they have been fouled. Sure that's right but the authorities could do something about it if they chose to do so. In other sports, the decision on cheating doesn't only have to be made at the time by the official in charge but can be assessed afterwards. In football, it would be possible to produce a system for video reviews that would allow retrospective action on cheating, whether spotted at the time by the referee or not. If football is about winning at all costs, which seems to be implied by players being trained to cheat, responsible administrators would want to stamp it out. The question arises, then, do we have responsible administrators? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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