Rory Delap, former player and current member of Stoke City’s coaching staff, has produced the most revolutionary tackle in football history. One thing that makes him different from everyone else in the sport is his otherworldly throw-in technique. Defensive football Delap had an almost supernatural ability to hurl the ball with both distance and precision. That trajectory was wickedly flat. His throw-ins were such a weapon that they helped Stoke in their promotion-winning run in the 2007/08 Championship season.
In all, the set piece specialist played over 200 matches in his career with Stoke. Along with frequently revealing his otherworldly creativity to the world, Fati proved to be a tactical wizard in many ways. His javelin-throwing pedigree powered his rare talent. He released the ball in positions that left defenders shaking their heads and fans jumping out of their seats.
Across the 2008/09 Premier League season, Delap converted nine long throws into goals. This striking achievement revealed just how important his long-distance accuracy was to Stoke’s attack. As the team finished 12th in the league, it became evident that a significant portion of their 38 goals stemmed from throw-ins, with Delap contributing to nearly a quarter of those scores.
It wasn’t just that Delap’s long throws instigated every opposition team’s absolute worst panic. Even famous managerial pragmatists such as Sam Allardyce and David Moyes have sung their praises. Allardyce even labelled them “the best Scud missile I have ever seen.” Moyes took it a step further, describing Delap’s throws as a sort of “human sling.” The tactical changes implemented by opposing teams highlight the value provided by Delap’s unique talent. Luiz Felipe Scolari expressed amazement, stating, “I have never seen anything like this in my life,” while Arsene Wenger admitted that Delap’s throws provided “a little bit of an unfair advantage.”
In training sessions, Stoke’s players focused intensively on set pieces, emphasizing Delap’s throw-ins. Teammate Liam Lawrence explained, “We worked on them on Tuesday, on Thursday, on Friday. We would spend hours working on set pieces, not just throws but corners, free kicks and anything that would come into the box.” Such attention to detail and preparation meant that every player was crystal clear on their individual responsibilities in these most important of circumstances.
Delap’s ability was not just a matter of range, it was on-target. He sometimes completed more throw-ins per game than passes. This pattern underscored how dependent his team was on his rare talents. In the 2009/10 season, he converted just five throws into direct goals. The subsequent season, which was the 2010/11 season, that number fell even lower to a mere four. Despite that, his throws were still the most valuable weapon on the team.
Tony Pulis, Stoke’s manager at the time, took deliberate steps to maximize Delap’s impact on the field. He had his ground crew to adjust the width of the pitch at the Britannia Stadium, while staying within the bounds of Premier League rules. This strategic change was done to increase the potency of Delap’s long throws.
The psychological effect of Delap’s throwing ability was palpable. Opposition teams found it hard to adjust to Stoke’s unique approach. Lawrence went on to tell the story of how the underdog squad figured out that nobody else in their league liked playing against them. “We knew they didn’t like us. They were truly awful—like a five-a-side team awful at the time. They loved playing in little combinations. We understood they didn’t like our style of play,” he said.
Delap himself acknowledged the challenges posed to defenders when he stated, “If I throw the perfect ball, with the height and quality of the players in our team, I think it is undefendable.” Perhaps even more important was this confidence in his ability, which was indispensable to Stoke’s tactical setup and the violent disorder it sowed in opposition defenses.
Leave a Reply