Soccer players are now lying down behind the wall. It sure looks strange when you see it though.
Seems like more football players are lying down behind the wall these days? Sevilla did it when Messi stepped up to take a free kick. I can understand that, what with Messi’s form recently in smashing home free kicks.
And I guess the lying down behind the wall all started with teams trying to stop Messi’s former Barcelona teammate, Ronaldinho. Who scored by striking a free kick under the wall when they jumped.
I’m thinking maybe just stand in the wall and don’t jump or even have a player lie down behind the wall. If someone can whip in a free kick despite the wall then all the best to them. Doing too much creates its own kinds of problems in football. It kind of reminds me of players putting their hands behind their backs when defending to avoid getting a hand ball called on them. It only makes it harder to defend!
Here, for Fulham, Ivan Cavaleiro lies down behind the wall when Liverpool steps up to take the free kick. What’s funny though, or sad for Fulham fans, is despite all this effort, a hand ball was called when Fulham jumped in the wall.
Mohamed Salah sneaks his penalty past Alphonse Areola to restore the deadlock at Craven Cottage.
I guess it does work, after all, when a free kick taker steps up to strike the ball and see the defender lying down they’re not going to try to hit the ball under the wall.
However, it does leave the defending team short a player in marking other players. I think when teams see players lying down behind the wall they might take a quick free kick or pass the ball off while the wall is setting up.
