Jamie Carragher has voiced his frustration at the sharp rise in long throws that have swept across the Premier League this season.
Statistics following Brentford‘s 2-0 victory at West Ham reveal there have been an average of 3.85 long throws into the opposition box per game this campaign.
That figure is more than double last season’s average of 1.52, and significantly higher than the 1.47 recorded in 2023–24.
It marks a stark contrast and one that has been exploited to great effect by several clubs – including Keith Andrews’ Bees – although neither of their goals against the struggling Hammers on Monday night stemmed from such situations.
Nevertheless, Carragher dedicated a significant portion of Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football to lamenting the widespread use of the tactic – which featured heavily in Liverpool’s defeat to Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday – by teams from both ends of the table.
The 47-year-old former Liverpool defender said: ‘I’m at a situation with long throws. I understood teams at the bottom half of the table, or even fighting relegation, to do a long throw because they don’t have the quality to get the entries into the box.
The former Liverpool defender said he ‘understood teams at the bottom half of the table, or even fighting relegation, to do a long throw because they don’t have the same quality’
Carragher has voiced his frustration at the sharp rise in long throws in the Premier League
‘Obviously you need to get the ball in the box to give yourself a chance to score goals.
‘And I used to want to see the long throws from those teams against the top teams and see how a Liverpool would cope with it, or a Manchester City who have maybe got ball-playing centre-backs – but can they go head the ball?
‘I used to like that dynamic of the game. I am frustrated with the fact that I feel like every team this season has taken a long throw at some stage. You see the numbers and it’s off the scale.
‘And I’m trying to think of the reasons why and it’s because some of the top teams are doing it and it almost feels like it’s not something to be embarrassed about it like they maybe would have been in the past.
‘I remember Arsenal last season at PSG in the Champions League where they absolutely battered them in the first 15–20 minutes with long throws going into the box. But I think when you’ve got real quality who can get the ball into the box, the time it’s taking to take throw-ins is like (groans).’
Long throws were popularised by Liam Delap’s success with them while at Stoke City
Carragher said he was ‘frustrated’ by the best teams in the top-flight employing the tactic
Rory Delap’s long throw-ins were a staple of Stoke’s play under Tony Pulis from promotion out of the Championship in 2008 and then the next few years in the top flight.
David Moyes described them as ‘like a human sling, while Sam Allardyce called the tactic ‘the best Scud missile I have ever seen’.
Delap’s throws could measure 40 metres and even reach 50mph at times.
In total, Delap’s long throws directly led to 24 goals for Stoke City in the Premier League and another eight in the Championship.
And Carragher’s view stands in contrast to that of Brentford head coach Andrews – promoted from set-piece coach in the summer as successor to the Tottenham-bound Thomas Frank – who continues to underline the value of exploiting dead-ball situations to gain any possible advantage.
After Kevin Schade netted a late equaliser against Chelsea from a long throw last month, Andrews said: ‘That’s quite unique, isn’t it? Yes, it is.
‘But it’s not unique for this football club, I must say. I was obviously in a different role last year, where we caused a lot of chaos from situations like that. We’ll always try and find ways to get results and win games.
‘If you feel a long throw will help you with what you’ve got, A, the delivery and B, the physicality, to be able to cause problems and create opportunities, then I think it would be foolish not to use it.’
