Other team's set piece - Picking up ball

[nferno]

So we all know Sissoko got banned for his elbow, we accept it and move on.

I do have a gripe though about players (attempting) to pick up the ball when the set piece is obviously not theirs and they know it or the ref/lino clearly signals who it is awarded to.

It's such a shit practice and I know that players from every club do it (including our own) but it should be phased out of the game to make it more of a spectacle. We need more goals in the game and removing this outlet is one step forward in disadvantaging teams that set out to frustrate. A player holding onto the ball gives his teammates a chance to get back in their 2 banks of 5, beginning the frustration again. (Credit to Bournemouth, they aren't the type of side that does this regularly. This post is more targeted towards the West Broms and other cynical teams of this world.)

Less time wasting = more entertainment.
More players out of position = more chance of goals.

A post on the front page article caught my eye:

I think picking the ball up when a foul/throw has been awarded to the other team should be an automatic booking. It ruins the flow of a game and there's rarely an advantage if a player can walk 15 yards with the ball and allow his team to get everyone back.

I mean, how hard can it be to implement this? Ref gives a yellow, if it was shown later on replays that the booked player may have had a valid claim to the set piece; yellow card is rescinded (maybe at half-time, to avoid second yellow reds). What is the difficulty in that??

I'm not calling for a full-on Nazi approach where we penalise every occurrence, no matter how big or small, but the biggest abusers *cough* West Brom *cough* should be discouraged from it until eventually no one does it anymore.

 

[DIEHARD]

We do it as well though. Vertonghen and lamela certainly do it.

 

[nferno]

We do it as well though. Vertonghen and lamela certainly do it.

Yeah I did mention I know our players are guilty too, I don't think it's acceptable for anyone... Spurs player or not.

 

[DIEHARD]

Yeah I did mention I know our players are guilty too, I don't think it's acceptable for anyone... Spurs player or not.

Apologies didnt realise you mentioned it.

I agree with the post. I guess its a way of stalling play and everyone gets in position etc. Its gamesmanship more than it being an offense. I think it actually benefits us as do give away alot of free kicks and fouls so im not complaining.

 

[stevensthfc]

Agree 100%

Time wasting in general is a joke and needs to be sorted out.

 

[muppetman]

It's cheating - it's low level cheating but it's still cheating. Any form of time wasting should be punished as harshly as possible. We pay good money to watch a game of football, not players trying to avoid one.

 

[Lighty64]

i actually feel they should bring it the thing they do in the CL when the ball goes out of play, another 1 thrown to the player waiting to take a throw in straight off, that way once it's gone out of play the oppo have no excuse to try and delay it, and if they did then a booking

i know it would be harder to implement on free kicks

 

[Gassin's finest]

Meh... there's been a lot of this bollocks in top flight football for yonks now. Go watch League One for a lack of spoilt brats playing a proper man's game.

 

[the shelf]

The one that gets me is when a team scores a goal to get back I the game and the opposing goalkeeper/defender stopping them from grabbing the ball back and heading back to the centre circle. It inevitably ends up in some sort of pathetic wrestling match and I'm not sure what the defending team is actually trying to achieve?? It's not like they will be forced to speed up getting ready for the resulting kick off. It would never happen.

Anyway, just a vent...

 

[Dougal]

It's pretty much the same as kicking the ball away (yellow card) apart from the fact the player goes with it. Bit of a nonsense really but the ref should allow for it in his general timekeeping.

 

[monkeynick]

I think that as well as the foam spray stuff for free kicks the referees should have some sort of adhesive spray too.
Then when players try this on the ref can run over and glue the ball to that players hands to teach him a lesson, then it'll be really hard for him to run around for the rest of the game and he won't be able to take any throw ins and will have to go home in his kit as he wont be able to get changed.
There will need to be another ball though and I'm not sure if it's then a goal if the player stuck to the ball runs over the goal line? It does need sorting though and I can't think of anything more likely to curb this quickly

 

[mike_l]

Yeah, that's hardly the main reason we're struggling to score, really scraping the bottom of the barrel for excuses when we start suggesting that teams are able to frustrate us because they hold onto the ball for a few seconds. I'd rather we abolished the practice of constantly doing a 180 to pass the ball back to the fucking centre backs every time we get the ball...

 

[nferno]

Yeah, that's hardly the main reason we're struggling to score, really scraping the bottom of the barrel for excuses when we start suggesting that teams are able to frustrate us because they hold onto the ball for a few seconds. I'd rather we abolished the practice of constantly doing a 180 to pass the ball back to the fucking centre backs every time we get the ball...

I don't think so, those few seconds are vital. if you're not back in position, there's a huge hole to exploit and confusion as to who should be marking who when the person responsible is still a few yards away from the action. It can lead to open chances.

But this wasn't just about us, and me "scraping the bottom of the barrel for excuses". It's a practice I hate in general no matter who does it and needs to be phased out of the game like back passes/relying on ref for goal line decisions/lack of retrospective conduct/etc before it.

 

[Mattspur]

Yeah, I agree. Yellow cards all round. That would soon stop it.

 

[Gbspurs]

One of my pet peeves is when it's a throw in and the player walks about 10 yards further forward before taking it. Kyle Walker is one of the worst offenders for this.

 

[Shadydan]

The one that gets me is when a team scores a goal to get back I the game and the opposing goalkeeper/defender stopping them from grabbing the ball back and heading back to the centre circle. It inevitably ends up in some sort of pathetic wrestling match and I'm not sure what the defending team is actually trying to achieve?? It's not like they will be forced to speed up getting ready for the resulting kick off. It would never happen.

Anyway, just a vent...

To slow down their momentum.

 

[Shanks]

It is kinda funny seeing this discussion here,

Have you guys actually played football before?
Did you ever play in a competitive match (even sundays)?
Did you play as a kid in the streets with your mates?

Presuming that most of you did at some point, as for me personally, I grew up playing football in the streets with my mates, and we all wanted to win.

The want to win, means you want the ball, more than the opposition.

Thats not a bad thing at all, tied in with that, individuals who want to win, are typically more emotional than those who don't really give a shit.

I want that winning mentality throughout, keeping hold of the ball, argueing thats its your, and not theirs... or delaying play, its' all part of the game. I don't see it as time wasting (apart from when its against us), but those short stops does give your team a tiny advantage at either getting back into position or slowing down momentum.

I don't want to see fairies walking around the pitch giving up the ball, I want to see them fighting tooth and nail to keep it and win.

Its what being a footballer is about, does anyone who plays football - 5 a side, 11 a side, sundays, saturdays or at a higher level play just because they like football, or do they play because they want to win?