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Kick-ins to keep up the intensity

Recently FIFA have brought forward their ideas for the introduction of a few rule changes. Most of which will not benefit the organic the rhythm of the game. Although, one of the proposed changes is the substitution of throw-ins to kick-ins.

Personally, I am in favour of this move. The importance of the throw-ins has been underrated over the years.

Throw-ins serve many purposes in the game, popular ones include retention of ball possession, launch opportunities for chances being created, relieve the ball from a defensive phase.

We also often see them used dark arts of time wasting.

We see at levels of the game thrown in specialists who are able to launch offensive throws into the box with almost the same efficiency as wide or deep freekicks.

These scenarios can seem even more dangerous when you take into consideration that you can’t be offside from a throw in the first phase.

Basically, the throw-in is an underrated set piece that needs to be honed as a skill. It also needs to be included in the attacking and defensive strategies for head coaches and their coaching staff.

Strategies would include finding the correct formation during throws to either decrease shot creations on contact when defending or increase the shot creation potential when attacking.

Thomas Grønnemark, a former bobsled athlete who held the Guinness World Record for the longest Throw-in. As of 2018 he became the throw-in coach of Liverpool F.C.

Set-piece coaches have always had to be much more meticulous about this set-piece.

We see some teams reliant on the set pieces for chance creation so the proposed changes would give these teams much more of a potent dimension.

Wenger’s Revolution?

 FIFA’s Chief Head of Global Football Development, Arsene Wenger revealed back in 2020 that he planned to replace throw-ins with kick-ins.

He looked at the positioning of players in a throw-in scenario and mentioned how teams were a man down when taking throws.

” Stats show that in eight out of 10 of those throw-in situations, you lose the ball.’’ Wenger told L’Equipe.

The proposal from Wenger only applies to scenarios in your half and it is optional. Either way it gives Burnley the opportunity to launch more direct balls into the box.

Firstly, there are no more embarrassing moments where a professional footballer performs a foul throw. It just simply isn’t possible to do a foul kick.

He had the right idea; however, it should be completely available throughout the match or not at all.

Making it optional just gives the referee much more to think about, let the game flow naturally.

The idea makes sense overall from the view of the philosophers of the game as well as fans who just want to the highest tempo in their teams when they compete.

Set-pieces were very much a pain for Wenger especially if you mention Pulis’s Stoke City side. So therefore, it isn’t a surprise to see him looking to alter some set-pieces none more so than throw-ins and free-kicks.

FIFAs Amended proposal

As I mentioned before FIFA are looking to bring some proposals and try them out in youth tournaments.

The quotes coming from FIFA suggest that they are looking to shift away from throw-ins all together regardless of the half of the pitch.

The information so far is very minimal but out of all the proposed amendments, the alterations to this specific section of the game would make the game much more entertaining.

Although, for this to be implemented effectively, I do think they need to marry this amendment with a time-wasting prevention measure.

Stopping the clock, every time the ball goes out for a ‘’kick-in’’, keeps that intensity level up. As much as, it takes away from the drama that follows time-wasting it places more urgency.

No-one really wants large amounts of added time unless you are in a situation where you are chasing the game.

So, the time-wasting becomes very difficult with throw-ins, no more strolling around to get the ball, no collecting the ball from the furthest possible locations.

Could it actually work

The premise of kick-ins is intriguing. With the level of quality in the top divisions, don’t be surprised if some players score directly for kick-ins. Even if they don’t count.

I’m all in favour of making any sort of alteration to increase he competitiveness and give players much more pressurised environments.

It essentially becomes another dead-ball situation. Teams will have to risk switching the ball over long distances with very little back lift or very little room for a run up.

As technically gifted as players are nowadays this is another opportunity for set-piece specialists to create chances and shot creating actions.

The dimensions of pitches therefore may be something to be reviewed There are grounds that vary in distances between the stands and the pitch.

There are some grounds like Goodison Park, Selhurst Park or St.Mary’s that make it very difficult to incorporate this set piece.

Then there are some grounds with significant distance between the touchline and stands examples are the awkward hill gap at Old Trafford and the sizeable gap at the London Stadium.

The logistics then become a problem with groundsmen. Will the pitch guidelines be altered to bring in this new amendment?

There is no doubt we would see better quality of matches. I’m in favour of introducing kick-ins to the beautiful game.

There are so many grounds across the world, so my only issue would be how pitch sizes would alter in order to accommodate this new version of a set piece.

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