Former Stoke City midfielder, Rory Delap, has revealed that Arsenal once wanted throw-ins banned and replaced with kick-ins, an idea prompted by the fearsome long throws he was famous for.
Delap, renowned for his ability to launch the ball 30–40 metres (98–131 ft) at speeds reaching 60 km/h (37 mph), frequently turned throw-ins into scoring opportunities before 2008.
One club that regularly found itself on the receiving end of Delap’s throws was Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal.
Reflecting on the irony, Delap told Ladbrokes (via Stoke Sentinel) during the launch of Ladisfaction, “So many people used to complain about the way we played. It’s funny that Arsenal are now known for their set pieces, because they were probably the worst for complaining about how we played the game during that period. You know, with them it went as far as them wanting to ban throw-ins and replace them with kick-ins!
“That would have probably made it worse for them, to be honest, because we’d have been putting it into the box from everywhere on the pitch! It was part and parcel of our team back then, and I always say that no one would have talked about my throw-ins if we weren’t as successful as we were when it came to getting on the end of them and scoring goals.”
Delap also drew parallels with the tactical approaches of Wimbledon’s “Crazy Gang” in the late 1980s and early 1990s, who relied heavily on long balls, set plays, and Vinnie Jones’ powerful throws.
“I’ve said it before, but football comes full circle. People talk about formations, tactics, and style of play, but things come back around again and again. I can remember Wimbledon’s Crazy Gang, who were about in the late 80s/early 90s, and they were all about long balls, set plays and Vinnie Jones’ long throws. There’s just not loads you can do with football; it’s like fashion; flares come in, skinny jeans come in, flares come back in.”
He added his thoughts on the modern evolution of set-piece coaching, “This thing around the set-piece coach has been around for a couple of years now, and people say it’s new to the game, but it’s not new at all, the only thing different about it is that it’s now one person’s dedicated job, whereas before it was something the manager or one of his coaches would take on.
“You’ve got to move with it, though. You know, set-play analysts are such a huge part of the game because the ball is out of play a lot in 90 minutes, so if you don’t work on what you do from set-plays, then you’re going to get punished. And you’d be daft not to utilise what you’ve got, especially when seasons can be successful or unsuccessful because of set-plays. That’s just a fact.”
