Bend it Like Beckham?

It’s time to analyse the analytic, football’s set piece coaches, their innovative progression, they profess to have. Players coached alternative ways to score free kicks near the penalty area, the reality, a free kick shot at goal to manipulate the ball, to defeat the opponent’s wall or a dink into the penalty area. Poor technique on shots high and wide, where’s the invention? Hand signals, players cusping their mouths to their teammates with pre-tactical ploys, three players on occasions standing over the free kick, to suggest would be a better employed in close quarters to an opposition defender, the finger signals or scratching to flag down the bus parked, football’s parlance if they parked the bus on the defending lines, thumbs up for a taxi. For any set piece tactic to succeed justifies the extra coaching staff to the managers, is it all laptop theory or hours of practice on the training ground? The need for the opposition to be not wide awake is a determining factor but that cannot be factored in.

Steven Gerrard’s tenure at Aston Villa was overladen with coaching staff, a suspect staff for the heights of the Premiership. Gerrard placed a string emphasis on free kicks to succeed but did failure on the tactic contribute to Gerrard’s dismissal. The current manager at Aston Villa, Unai Emery, employs the same free kick coach, better practice perhaps. Manero highlights a routine free kick scenario with the defending team holding a high line on the penalty lines, all teams play to this positional play, it becomes a bore fest, a dink into the opposition’s penalty box, where’s the skill? Theirs none, link to article dated Oct 8^th 2019 ‘Manero questions the high line defending tactic’.

The top three clubs stats wise with goals resulting from free kicks including penalties is the Arsenal on 14 with Everton and Luton Town on 13 and 11 respectively. Tottenham Hotspurs, Wolves, Aston Villa and Manchester City come into the next category on free kicks scored, but how many are ratioed out as innovative free kicks? Is it a surprise that Everton hit the heights? The Toffees are the kings of the corner kicks in attacking mode with players being loaded into the penalty area to utilize the team’s physicality. The best component of the back post corner kick’s duels is James Tarkowski scaling high and physical leading to goal opportunities, Everton’s talisman is profiled in article dated Aug 3^rd ‘Southgate’s Nepotism’ profiled ‘James Tarkowski’. Luton Town rely on free kicks in their attacking phase, with Arsenal taking the mantle of the paciest side in the Premiership leading to a high ratio of fouls against teams in transition from long free kicks between a team’s third and the halfway line termed as ‘deep free kicks’ lumped into the opposition’s penalty lines is termed as primitive but a high rate of winning the second balls can make it a threatening tactic. Everton and Brentford are the two main components of the long ball with Premiership teams in general restarting from these positions with passing movements to the side or forward to link. Can we say that the termed ‘Free kick specialist coaches’ are a waste of club’s finances? Are we to take the Sean Dyche old school of proving the theorists wrong in some quarters, is it all blue cards and bollocks? Is it a mish mash of the believers to the converted? Of course we could outstanding free kicks being scored, but the innovative free kick box has to be ticked as low grade, back to the drawing board to suggest. As for the old school tie, why not indeed. Or is it a case of bend it like Beckham? (Stats outlined at the time of writing)

Robbie’s Mystery Tour

It’s time to jump on board the Robbie Fowler mystery tour with Robbie trailblazing through a variety catalogue of managerial jobs only for the tenures to be relatively short with many coming to an abrupt end having been successful while in situ. So why the mystery exists? Robbie did have a reputation during his playing career of having a rogued element attached, so in jest has a possible cottaging courtship been of note or to go down on the sniffer persils, link to article July 2021 ‘Ancelotti Loses Credibility, the Sniffer it’s a Mystery’. Could these theories map out on the explanation board? Perhaps not.

Robbie’s coaching mystery tour started in the main during the 2011 season with a stint at MK Dons on the coaching staff, followed by Bury and returning to Liverpool during the same season to coach the club’s strikers before locating to Thailand as a player with Muangthong and taking the manager’s position. In 2013 Robbie returned to Liverpool’s academy as a coach. During the 2019-20 season the Robbie managerial tour resurfaced down under at the Brisbane Roar Club in Australia with the usual tenure coming to a swift end in 2020 with the Covid pandemic being given as Robbie’s explanation on departing, do we doubt?

Robbie quickly returned to management in India, smell the curry with SC East Bengal, link to article 5^th January 2021 ‘Rick Parry’, to cast doubt on Robbie’s Australian adventure exit. Robbie guided the Bengal to ninth position in the League with the club marked down as relegation fodder pre-season. Fowler arrived at the club with limited time for pre-season training and guided the club on a long unbeaten run to cast Robbie as overachieving, a common theme but why the sharpish exits? To reiterate, another one year tenure ended.

Been ‘around the world’ Robbie next adventure was to embark on the green route to Saudi Arabia for a sniff of the green notes but not in the Saudis first division a drop zone from the Ronald Universe. The 2023-24 season began with Al Qadsiah like sandals in to hit the accelerator pedal ear marked 6 wins and 2 defeats in Fowler’s eight matches in charge with the winning results sequence leading to one’s sacking, quote Fowler “The club’s CEO wanted the club to go in another direction”. Either Robbie is telling porkies or he is as mystified by the early doors departure lounge syndrome. Of the opinion that there is enough credit and merit in Fowler’s CV to warrant a Championship manager’s position in England to give a proper birth to the Fowler management aspirations, it’s a fine line to prosper, Fowler deserves that chance.