Walls at free kicks

[AndyWolves]

I've often wondered if they do more harm than good by unsighting the keeper. My thinking being that the keeper has to stand in a suboptimal position to see the free kick taker taking the free kick. He will then lose the flight of the ball as it gets obscured by the wall and won't be able to see what the ball is actually doing once it re appears over / round the wall. This means the goalie can't be sure he's anticipated the acceleration/curl on the ball correctly until he sees it again. By then it might be too late.

There are occasions where a wall will be necessary​ but I do wonder if a keeper on his line, expecting the shot, would have an easier time saving any shot from distance type if he can see the ball all the way.

Thoughts?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

You give decent players a free strike from 20-25 yards, anywhere near central, with a massive run up, with no obstruction in front of them, able to go either side and they'll score all the time. The keeper won't sniff it. They can just hammer it if there's no need to get it up and over a wall or really curl it.

Keepers cause their own problem at the moment with the trend of setting a wall up and then still pushing off the wrong foot.

 

[FrankMunro-371]

The wall should be lined up to force the taker of the free kick to try to avoid hitting the, though some defensive walls just do not do their job properly making it easier for the kicker. I agree with DW that without a wall the goalkeeper would have little chance.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

If a player gets a ball up and over a wall and in to the top corner, then chapeau. That is great skill. But the wall (if set up correctly) makes that skill as difficult as it can be for one side of the goal. As a keeper, your main job is the other side of the goal really, but you should be able to get back and cover a fair chunk behind the wall, so it should take a fantastic free kick to score in theory.

But as Dan says, there is an epidemic of good keepers pushing off on the wrong foot and therefore making it more difficult for themselves. I have no idea why.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Right, there is a wall here but it's fucking useless. It's set pretty much outside the near post for some reason. So Becks can go either side. Look at the power, the keeper has no idea where it's going...I mean it's a fantastic strike in its own right from a fantastic player, but City haven't helped themselves there. It's probably the keeper's fault tbf, he sets the wall up.

And look at that distance, it's miles out. Imagine reducing that by 10 yards and you're still not offering anything in the way to block it. It'll be a goal more often than not.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Christ! That could be the worst wall I have seen in donkeys years. It would be fucking hard for Becks to land the ball on the six-yard line but otherwise it is doing fucking nothing.