'It's a weapon' - the rise of the long throw

"Between 2008 and 2012, Stoke City's Rory Delap regularly hurled the ball into the penalty area from the sidelines, filling defences with dread. "You cannot say it is football any more. It is more rugby on the goalkeepers than football," then Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said at the time. Delap and Stoke posed such danger during that spell that Hull goalkeeper Boaz Myhill once kicked the ball out for a corner to avoid a throw-in."

""Throw-ins are underestimated - by coaches, players, commentators, fans - as something you should just do and see what happens," said Thomas Gronnemark, who was appointed Liverpool's first throw-in coach in 2018 and worked with the club until 2023. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had not even heard of a throw-in coach when the Dane, who holds the world record for the longest throw-in at 51.33m, joined the club's backroom staff."

Long throw-ins are resurging as an attacking tool in English football, with Premier League clubs increasingly using and training them. Between 2008 and 2012 Rory Delap repeatedly hurled long throws into penalty areas, creating significant threat and prompting opponents to treat throws as dangerous set-pieces. Opta data shows an increase in teams sending long throws into opposition boxes on opening weekends, rising from four to eleven teams year-on-year. Thomas Tuchel has advocated considering long throws for England at the World Cup. Thomas Gronnemark was appointed Liverpool's first throw-in coach in 2018; Liverpool's throw-in possession rose from 45.4% to 68.4% under his tutelage.

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