The prodigious aerial assaults by Rory D e l a p h a d b e e n repelled all
afternoon so, when Martin O’Neill’s players had to defend one more in the
94th minute, the Aston Villa manager was not overly concerned. “It was a
problem all day but we thought we had resolved it,” O’Neill would reflect.
John Carew (6ft 4in) and Martin Laursen (6ft 2in) were patrolling Stoke’s
target area on the edge of the six-yard box but both mistimed their jumps
and Mamady Sidibe (6ft 4in), with his back to goal, directed the winning
header past Brad Friedel, the Villa goalkeeper.
“The Delap” became an overnight sensation in the Premier League. Of the seven
goals Tony Pulis’s team have scored since promotion from the Championship,
three have been made by Delap’s well-honed weapon. “They are very dangerous,
but from our point of view this was just the last one that we had to deal
with,” O’Neill said ruefully. “Whether it was a bit of luck or whatever, the
ball ended up in our net. It’s a part of the game and you have to cope with
it and up to that point I thought we did pretty well.”
Portsmouth are next to face the challenge at Fratton Park this afternoon,
providing Delap passes a fitness test, but alrteady it looks as though the
long-throw specialist could make the difference between survival and
relegation. Delap’s success is no accident and the danger he poses to other
teams has warranted specific attention in training. “We did prepare for
Delap’s throw-ins,” admitted Gareth Southgate, the Middlesbrough manager,
whose side beat Stoke 2-1 in their next league game after Villa’s 3-2
defeat. “One of our young lads has quite a long throw, though he had to come
halfway on to the pitch to get his throws into the penalty area in the way
Delap does. However, the key advantage we had over Villa is that we were at
home while they were at the Britannia stadium, where I understand the pitch
is not so wide.”
Everton’s manager, David Moyes, described Delap’s action as “the human sling”
when Stoke scored two goals against his team directly from his long
throw-ins, which have been measured at 41.5 yards. “I have never seen
anything like this in my life,” said Chelsea’s manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari,
who professed to be less concerned by the aesthetics of the Republic of
Ireland midfielder’s throw than by its effectiveness and consistent threat.
“If you are making goals, it’s more beautiful than not making goals,” the
pragmatic Brazilian said.
The technique worked for Stoke in the Championship, part of an aerial assault
that Bryan Robson, then managing Sheffield United, likened to “playing
Wimbledon of old”. The Premier League was warned. In a West Brom match
programme last season it was suggested that Stoke “train with cannons
rescued from local medieval ruins . . . footballs are fired into the
distance for Mamady Sidibe to head and Ricardo Fuller to run after”.
Pulis bristles at the character-isation of his team as “long ball” and
“one-dimensional”, for the Potters can play. An outstanding work ethic
underpins the intelligence of Dave Kitson and the athleticism of Fuller in
attack, while Liam Lawrence and Delap are industrious providers in midfield.
But they are stuck with the label, despite Pulis’s gentle protests.
“Phil Neville caused us problems with his long throws as well,” he declared.
“It’s part of the game and you have to defend it. It’s not unlawful to throw
the ball in. We are fortunate we have someone who does it very well and we
will work and work on it. I see Portsmouth doing it with Sylvain Distin and
other teams do, so we’re not the only team.”
What sets Stoke apart is their drive to perfect the art. Pulis has worked with
Delap on the pace and trajectory of his throw-ins, demanding that they be as
flat as possible to make it more difficult for defenders to clear and more
dangerous for a goalkeeper to attempt to claim. Two players are deployed
inside a 6ft target area and it is Delap’s job to hit them, a task made
easier at the Britannia since the pitch was narrowed to the minimum
permitted dimensions of 100m by 64m in the summer.
“It’s more accurate than a corner and it’s so tough to deal with. A defender
or attacker is more likely to flick it on than anything else,” said Delap.
“You have to use your natural assets. I used the throw-in in the
Championship last season and the manager made clear that not a lot was going
to change this season. It’s not much different to what I’ve done at other
clubs but it’s getting more attention because we’ve got more height in the
team and had more success with it. If it’s done right, there is no way of
defending it.”
Scolari instructed his defenders to “win the first ball, so we arrive in front
quickly” but an injury to Delap denied Stoke an opportunity to use this
tactic and they were appreciably less productive without it.
Robbie Earle, who was part of the Wimbledon team that habitually upset the
giants of their day, believes the ploy is so difficult to counteract because
every advantage is with the attacking side when the ball is delivered well.
“There’s a big advantage in that you can’t be offside from a throw-in, which
means defences can’t use the tactics they might for a free kick coming into
the box,” he said. “We used the tactic at Wimbledon, where Stoke’s assistant
manager, Dave Kemp, was on the staff. Vinnie Jones had a long throw and it
got us our fair share of goals.
“Stoke will have gone through the three scenarios: what happens when a Stoke
player flicks it on; what happens when an opposition player flicks it on and
what happens if there is a knockdown by an attacker or a defender. Their
homework paid divdends against Everton when a Tim Howard punch only
half-cleared the ball and Seyi Olofinjana scored. If rival teams want to
combat Delap, they have to put in as much work. Stoke put Leon Cort in front
of the keeper against Everton and it’s a tactic we also used at Wimbledon
when, invaria-bly, the keeper would find someone standing on his toes so he
couldn’t jump.
“The boot was on the other foot when we played Tranmere in an FA Cup tie and
had to face Dave Challinor, who was reckoned to have the longest throw in
the game. I’d like to say our answer was ingenious and scientific but,
instead, Vinnie Jones tripped him up after no more than 10 minutes and
trampled all over his arms.”
Jones is retired, so Delap need only concern himself with the fact that, more
than any other Stoke player, he may hold their Premier League fate in his
hands.
1,000
The number of league matches Stoke will have lost since the second world war
if they are defeated at Fratton Park today. Stoke finished the first season
after the war in fourth, just two points behind champions Liverpool
Case for the defence: how you stop the ‘human sling’
‘I have never seen anything like this in my life. But if you are making
goals it is more beautiful than not making goals’ - Luiz Felipe
Scolari, right, Chelsea manager
‘If rival teams want to combat Delap, they have to be prepared to put in
as much work as he does’ - Robbie Earle, ITV pundit
‘We are fortunate we have someone who does it very well and we will work
and work on it. I see Portsmouth doing it with Sylvain Distin and other
teams do, so we’re not the only team. It’s part of the game and you have to
defend it’ - Tony Pulis, Stoke City manager
‘If it’s done right, there is no way of defending it. It doesn’t matter
what team we are up against, it’s going to work if I hit the right areas
with the ball’ - Rory Delap
‘They are very dangerous, the long throw-ins into the six-yard box. It’s a
part of the game and you have to cope with it’ - Martin O’Neill,
Aston Villa manager
‘One of our lads has a long throw but he had to come halfway onto the
pitch to get his throws into the penalty area the way Delap does’
- Gareth Southgate, Middlesbrough manager
