Kick offs

[Emu]

I'm sure there must be some logical reason for this but does anyone know why when we have a kick off, the ball is punted into the left hand area of the pitch just inside opposition territory?
I cannot understand the logic behind it. I'd have thought it would be better to keep posession from kick off - espeiclaly with a team like us who try to play with a passing style.

 

[The Doctor]

I think the ball is supposed to go out of play further upfield thereby immediately putting the opposition into a defensive position pinned back towards their penalty area. But I’m not convinced it really works or has much benefit especially as it is so predictable. It would be good to see us try something different - why not have one player touch the ball forwards to another player who runs directly forwards before thumping the ball goalwards. I’m sure there would be occasions when such a move would completely surprise the opposition and see the ball sailing over the keeper into the back of the net.

 

[metroace]

Just a guess here. If one of ours gets on the end of it, we can mount a rush attack. If the ball goes to the opposition or if it goes out of play, our defence have had a chance to get close to the players that are their responsibility in the time elapsed. Many teams seem to do a variation of this move at kick off.

I like the sound of what the Doc says but it would not work more than once or twice a season.

 

[Knibbsworth]

I think it is something to do with the chaotic nature of the team structures immediately after kick off.
All of their players are in their half, all of ours are in our half.
Passing backwards invites pressure when Hardie, Jephcott etc aren't in position, the midfielders aren't in position, and the opposition are in unpredictable positions.
Statistically we are more likely to lose the ball and concede rather than score a goal in the first move.
Kicking it out for a throw allows us to organise, settle, set our team shape and for our eleven to get their heads around how the other team are lining up.

 

[Martin Langford]

I think it is something to do with the chaotic nature of the team structures immediately after kick off.
All of their players are in their half, all of ours are in our half.
Passing backwards invites pressure when Hardie, Jephcott etc aren't in position, the midfielders aren't in position, and the opposition are in unpredictable positions.
Statistically we are more likely to lose the ball and concede rather than score a goal in the first move.
Kicking it out for a throw allows us to organise, settle, set our team shape and for our eleven to get their heads around how the other team are lining up.

Similarly something I noticed on Tuesday night after the first 2 goals was that all 10 outfield players celebrated the goal together and then when the ref told them to get back ready for kick off 9 of them jogged back and took up their positions but the 10th player, hardie for one goal and Garrick the other, kept on walking back to the halfway line stopping to tie their bootlaces and then finally got back over the halfway line what seemed like several minutes after the goal had been scored thus ensuring the team had time to get organised and switched back on before the opposition kicked off

 

[Sainghin Green]

You are all probably right about time to settle however ludicrous that might seem. At a re-start you have un challenged possession and everyone unmarked unlike at a corner or free kick so you decide to give it all away so you can sort yourselves out. Unbelievable. I don't remember Ipswich wasn't it making that choice when they scored from the second half restart last season.

 

[Willis88]

I think it is something to do with the chaotic nature of the team structures immediately after kick off.
All of their players are in their half, all of ours are in our half.
Passing backwards invites pressure when Hardie, Jephcott etc aren't in position, the midfielders aren't in position, and the opposition are in unpredictable positions.
Statistically we are more likely to lose the ball and concede rather than score a goal in the first move.
Kicking it out for a throw allows us to organise, settle, set our team shape and for our eleven to get their heads around how the other team are lining up.

This makes most sense to me.

Having both teams in their own halves is unusual for the way the game is played and passing it direct to another player means there are potentially 10 players waiting to tackle them, whilst kicking it to the wing and maybe even getting a throw in evens the odds a bit.

 

[GreenThing]

Was we like to play it out from the back, wouldn’t playing the ball back to Cooper be a better option?

 

[Sainghin Green]

Since, with a bit of luck, this restart issue will only occur once in every match it's probably not worth worrying about!

 

[Bryan Tregunna]

Since, with a bit of luck, this restart issue will only occur once in every match it's probably not worth worrying about!

True, but we've had to kick-off more than once in two-thirds of our league games this season.

Argyle are saving a fortune on the Clean Sheet Bonus.

I agree with the OP, though, it's like a lazy offside, we just give up possession needlessly. However, perhaps it's the execution rather than the strategy. With the hoof so close to the line, the defence can often shepherd it out, but aim it half a dozen metres infield and it opens up more possibilities.

 

[The Pasty Kid]

I'm always reminded of rugby kick-offs when I see it. I accept there must be a reason for it - given its regular use - but it just feels like giving the ball away inevitably and needlessly.

 

[Sainghin Green]

We can't have a 'special team' for re-starts as they would in American Football but we can put the same amount of thought into it. There must be scope for several different 'plays' called on the pitch as seems appropriate from a huge 'up and under' to something more subtle.
Why not try to keep possession, play to the penalty area and see what happens - it worked for the Netherlands in the 1974 World Cup Final.

 

[warney]

No tactical reason - it's just an age old Argyle tradition!

 

[The Doctor]

We can't have a 'special team' for re-starts as they would in American Football but we can put the same amount of thought into it. There must be scope for several different 'plays' called on the pitch as seems appropriate from a huge 'up and under' to something more subtle.
Why not try to keep possession, play to the penalty area and see what happens - it worked for the Netherlands in the 1974 World Cup Final.

You'd certainly think there was scope for some creative thinking. The 'long shot' variant I describe in my first post in this thread was one example (Paul Wotton could have been a good exponent of this one) but another, for the current Argyle side, would be for Danny Mayor to dribble straight at the heart of the defence and potentially draw a foul in a dangerous position outside the penalty area. I guess there are just not enough of this particular kind of set piece to warrant time being spent thinking about this/practising.

 

[mervyn]

I once saw Malcom Macdonald score the fastest goal possible from a kick off. The balls was moved a couple of inches as he ran up and whacked it straight into the goal. Impossible to score any faster.