Why the Net has the advantage in the ‘Undies world’
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Baggies look to repel Delap
Thursday 20th November 2008, 11:41AM GMT.
Albion boss Tony Mowbray has pinpointed desire as the key to repelling Rory Delap’s infamous long throw as the Baggies prepare for their crunch meeting with Stoke.
Mowbray’s men will be the latest side to face the Premier League’s newest deadly weapon, when they line up against Delap and Co at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.
The Baggies manager believes determination to win headers will be key to dealing with the bombardment from the former Republic of Ireland international.
He said: “There is no clever tactic. You bank men in front of the goalie and hope somebody heads the damn thing out.
“I don’t think there is anything you can do to stop it. You can’t stand on the touchline and jump up and down to stop him throwing it in. I think it probably suits them better the further away from the corner flag it is.
“That gives him a trajectory and an angle to throw it straight at goal, knowing that any kind of touch could take it in.
“The closer he is to the corner flag, the more it becomes like a corner and forces him to throw it away from goal. It is very difficult to deal with.
“You have to want to make the first contact with the ball but they have half-a-dozen lads who are 6ft 4in-plus so it can be hard to do. Everybody who has played them this year has had to deal with it and I’ll be no different.
“We know what is coming, it is within the laws of the game and we will look forward to going there and giving them a good game.”
Mowbray insists Stoke’s decent start to the Premier League season has not surprised him.
He said: “Hand on heart I knew Stoke would be a handful because of the nature of how they play. I knew Stoke would be competitive in the League because of that.
“They are positive, they tend to play two men up front and have earned their results. But they have gone three or four games not winning and we’ll see how they react.”
Albion midfielder James Morrison has been ruled out of the trip with a knee injury but should be back to face Wigan a week later.
Stoke striker Ricardo Fuller, who scored a hat-trick against the Baggies last season, is suspended.
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At least we play football the right way!!!
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its okay playing good football but its getting us nowhere we are bottom , stoke and hull are simply better organized than us and thats down to the manager at the end of the day .
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bonus fuller being out as he always seems to do well against us
we need to be positive and take our chances on saturday we are playing some good stuff but not getting the results we deserve lets hope that changes this weekend
come on you baggies
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Surely the best way to counteract it is by not giving away throw ins in our own half.
2 Paul Rogers.
You can’t get enough of this moaning can you. Why not try putting your feet in the wishing well and then one day you might be able to say it’s alright now.
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Dont give away any set pieces including throw ins at any area of the pitch. Stoke will not score from open play because there players are more suited to the NFL than the premier league.
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paul rogers….
your a muppett, go and support wolves or join a cult, idiots like you are not welcome at the hawthorns
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For us to have any chance of beating Stoke then
Tony Mowbray must go 4-5-1.
Carson,Hoefkens,Donk,Meite,Robinson,Greening,
Zuiverloon,Valero,Teixeira,Do-heon,Miller.
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7) Against a team that relies on high balls and long throws you suggest dropping Olsson?
One of our tallest and most consistent players this season in place of Donk who has been shocking in the last few games he’s played?!
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Meite MUST play, Olsson MUST play and I’d consider putting Pele on too (I can’t believe I’ve just typed that)…..just to head the ball away!!
Try to pass the ball around them and I’m sure we’ll score goals
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9. id agree with you on the 1st to comments but then you let yourself down with the pele comment. He may be able to head balls away but any defender that does stepovers 4 yeards out like against leister last season should not play again. Ishy for england:D
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10 – I did feel bad writing it!!
Do people think that we’d be better off trying to nulify Stoke by setting up to defend against their set plays, or set up to outplay them as much as possible?!
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Yes, agree that Meite & especially Olsson should play – he’s been one of our steadiest players. i dont post much so dont know if 2 is a constant moaner but i see where he’s coming from. We have our best chance to finish well clear of the bottom 3 this year but for all the creativity we have in midfield we have not one player who can tackle and win the ball back. i saw a report after the chelsea game which said we were bold as we didnt play a defensive midfielder and i thought yes thats right because we havent got one!(i dont include pele). other than the obvious of having another proven goal-scorer i think this is one area we could improve the squad.
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Delap’s throws remind me of the german doddlebugs they sent over the channel during the war, nasty little critters they was. Not that i’m that old I read it in the beano.
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Sutton Hoo (sorry but you will always be TRB to me…) Just wanted to say i got the paul Rogers reference – wishing well – classic !!
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Maybe we could get someone to break his arm ???
Only joking…. but whats the difference between this throw in and a general hoof into the box ??
I think we (and other teams) are making too much out of this and we must make sure we don’t oner hype things or we will be shaking every time the ball goes out.
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It’s the mystery of the season. Defenders who can clear corners in their sleep, panic over a long throw. I do not understand it.
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Malvern my friend – never a truer word has been spoken. Corner – long throw – free kick, Long throw – free kick – corner. What’s the difference, they all end up with the ball being launched in to the area ? These guys are supposed to be pro’s not kids scared of the boogey man !! That’s what all this hype has done, and Stoke are lovin’ it. The man’s got a very long throw end of – it ain’t a bloomin exocet missile – get over it.
Rant over have a good even’n one and all !!
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Are we getting ourselves into a bit of a state,we just have to deal with it.I wish ToMo hadn,t made so much of this Delap throw in the press.isn,t this putting pressure on the players before we even kickoff.(thats if he did say it)
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I think Olsson is the weak link in our back 4,
he has no pace and seems far to clumsy,his ball
distribution is also letting him down.
Our best defence would be ZUIVERLOON,DONK,MEITE,
and ROBINSON,with the latter needing a kick up
the back side,I`d even consider putting CECH in
ahead of this big head!!PREM CLASS!GOTTA BE
JOKING! MUST BE THE WORST LEFT BACK IN PREM!.
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M-U don’t seam to have had any trouble with there long throws
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13 Quinton.
I know it’s a slip of the finger but calling Delap’s throws doddlebugs makes them somehow seem less of a threat. Bet Cyril remembers them, where is he by the way?
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2.
Oi div, take yourself down the custard bowl, we don’t like your kind up the Hawthorns! Blaming the manager…people like you really irritate me
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19,I thought we had bought Cech for that very reason,to put some pressure on Robbo.He hasn,t had a kick,and they wonder why players get fed up and want out.They obviously sign, hoping to get a game,and then are treated as though they don,t exist.He must be feeling narked when he sees the current L.back not playing at the top of his game,and still not getting a go.Play him and lets form an opinion of him.
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Santa.
I presume your working on the ‘try anybody because they might be better theory.’ If TM, who sees the players in training everyday thinks he would do better, don’t you think he’d have tried him by now. I don’t think Stoke would be the ideal game to drop Robbo anyway.
PS. All the people who were criticising Robbo for diving in last season seem to be having a go about him not tackling now.
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Point taken Sutton,but it would be nice to see where some of the money went!
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celtic baggie said
Stoke wont score from open play(enough said)
dont forget your season will have to start next week now
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