Shrimpsvoices

Am I the only one who thinks there was nothing wrong with Porto's goal against Arsenal last night? All they did was take an indirect free kick quickly against a sleeping Arsenal defence. Anywhere else on the pitch and nobody would have batted an eye lid. Personally I think it's the defence's fault for not standing infront of the ball which is basic in my eyes for such a dangerous position.
Arsene Wenger claimed, 'The referee must let them make a wall before allowing them to take the free kick'

Why??

When i played in the North Lancs league the first thing we did when we conceded a free kick in a dangerous position was to stand in front of the ball to stop it being taken quickly. I cant believe Arsenal were naive enough not to do that.

Coincidentaly there was an article in the Daily Mail by Martin Samuel this week about free kicks. He suggested that football could follow the example of hockey where not only can they take a free hit as soon as they want but they dont need to pass it to someone, they can just take it to themselves.

I find it funny what Wenger has come out with when a few years ago, Thierry Henry was terrible for taking quick free kicks and scoring from them. Never heard him complain then.

For me it's one or the other. You either let players take it whenever they want, as long as it's in the correct position or always wait for the whistle. It can't be both as you'll get events like last night. As Richard pointed out, as soon as a free kick is conceded, stand over the ball and make sure the defence is being organised behind you.

I'm sure that it's all been said already but if anyone compares Arsenals' defending to schoolboy football then I would take issue. I watch my son play in two games most weekends and they are far better organised than Arsenal were last night. No surprise that Fabregas was fuming after the game about the defence.