To be fair to Brady, there were 2 Liverpool players next to him and they broke in opposite directions, one taking Brady with him to the left, looking from the goal out wards. That left the gap and caught the keeper wrong footed.
Brady did move but I thought it was mainly caused by Skirtl pushing. This was about the only think Skirtl did for his own team for the whole game. All in all I thought we lined up the wall poorly and allowed Liverpool players to pull our players out of position. Having said that, It was a very well struck free kick.
The way I saw it, Brady had Skirtl & someone else directly behind him. As Gerrard started his run,y one shoved & the other dragged Brady out left of the line creating the gap which Gerrard found. They should have had someone like Sagbo in Brady's position with a bit of muscle strength to hold fast. At the same time, McGregor wasn't set firmly on the ground for launch - he had been constantly moving back & forth to the right post to set up the wall. Those two factors Gerrard exploited to perfection. Hope we learn from it.
Brady flinched and jumped out of the way himself. Watch the slow mo replay, see the way his legs - knees and ankles specifically - move. That's a jump not a tumble.
You're right..I wasn't trying to defend Brady at all - he blew it. By being slightly off the ground & flinching ( he must have sensed the ball was coming towards him) made it easier for the Liverpool players to nudge him & increase the size of the gap for Gerrard to use. I doubt if Sagbo would have flinched - my main point really...
Ooh - do you mean like my response in post number 13? Because you can still assemble a wall and the ball still has to be either passed from the kick or struck at goal. No difference really.
Except that you build a wall, they put men forward, most of them unmarked as half your players are in the wall, the with another on the line, it'd be easier for them to just pass it in, and unless they seriously ****ed up it'd pretty much be a guaranteed goal. That's without even mentioning them being able to stick a man on the keeper to make it even harder to defend.
Old Fart here, the defensive wall goes way back to the days of the leather lace up ball, remember that anyone, and the wooden nail in studs with hard toecap boots,always got ribbed for toe prodding. Back then it was virtually impossible to bend the bloody thing so free kicks came hard and straight. Then they changed the ball, it got lighter, water resistant and "bend it like Beckham" was prevalent. Back to the "wall" I always told my colleagues not to jump, hands on your crown jewels and do not move sideways. Never had more than four players in the wall, seemed to give the keeper a better view. For the past ten or so years I have often thought about putting the wall on the "wrong side" ie lets go back to Liverpools goal, if the wall had been covering the far post what would the outcome have been. Think it may have confused the Liverpool players. Right I've had my tuppence worth time for an afternoon nap
Leaving themselves wide open for a quick counter attack if they don't score? Yes, that's how it works we've seen clubs employing your tactics for years.
Why would they be wide open? They could keep their entire back 4 back and still outnumber the markers in the box. Funny for you to make that comment, the tactics I just spoke about haven't been used for years, because no one is so ****ing brain dead to stick a player on the line, so they can't be used can they. Duh.
It was obvious that the only way Gerrard would score was through the wall, as it was too close to get the ball up and down over the wall. As it has been said they should either have someone on each post, or a player behind each of the Liverpool players in the wall, so when they moved there was still cover, and the wall remain in tact.
i thought brady (i didn't know who it was at the time) was pushed out of the way by the liverpool player. in just the same way as when we drew 2-2 after being 2-0 up at anfield in 2008. liverpool players pushed defenders out of the way of shots. it's a tactic they use.
It'd leave every opposition player on side, so there'd be no need to shoot, the oppo would just pass it around between the players and wait for the inevitable move by the defence or boos from the fans.
We dont seem to be doing a very good job of maintaining the defensive walls when we face a freekick in a dangerous area. On Saturday the walll broke-I think it was Brady that moved to his left and the ball went inbetween the end of the new wall and him and into the net. It would appear that if Brady? had stood his ground he would have blocked the shot. McGregor not at fault at all? Dont get why we cant stand our ground. Surely training ground stuff? Very important in this league where we face opponents who pose great danger in these situations.
McGregor's positioning was poor. A goalkeeper should have that area of the goal covered because then the player has to produce a top-notch free-kick to dip it over the wall (and then it's fair play to you, good goal). I think Skrtel lead Brady away from his position though. I initially thought he pulled him away to create the gap for Gerrard, but I think he's just attempting to move with Skrtel. He shouldn't have ducked anyway. There's no excuse for ducking unless a call was given and I doubt that was the case.
watch the YaYa Toure Free kick and the Lampard free kick again on YouTube in particular our wall. think this is something that needs to be worked on. Yes we have conceded three goals from three exceptional free kick takers. But our wall has appeared weak and easily moved out the way in all three, now this may not have exactly led to the ball going in the back of the net, but highlighting this may prevent us conceding goals from future free kicks in these areas. Any team who now watches all three of these free kicks against us will surely use the, lets get our men in their wall and nudge them out the way tactic.
I think the co-commentator put it well. He acknowledged that Mac was poorly positioned and off balance. He also said that you have to trust the wall, the keeper should cover the non-wall side of the goal and if Gerrard can get it up and down over the wall then you just have to take your hat off and say that's brilliant.
Actually, if the defender is inside the post, behind the goal line, is he then playing the opposition 'onside'? I can't find a definitive answer. Technically - he's off the pitch.
Ye he's playing them on. If Toure had of tried to go behind the goal line before Davies thumped it forward for SAgbo the lino would have classed him as active still.
