Crossing: A Dying Art

You could be forgiven for thinking that the current Arsenal side resembled a gaggle of vampires on Sunday as their fear of crosses was plain for all to see.

Chelsea’s chief irritant, Ashley Cole, stole into The Emirates whacked a couple of balls across the face of goal and the game was over by half time. Simple.

Well, perhaps not that simple, as wave after wave of the home side’s attacks broke on a big blue wall.  The Gunners’ neat interchanges and through balls were failing.

Despite this, when the wide men did get into crossing areas the ball would again be funnelled back to the edge of the box for another go.

It is true to say there is no point pumping the ball into the box if there is no-one to win it but placing the ball in to Andy Gray’s “corridor of uncertainty” does not half worry the defence, as Mr Vermaelen found out.

What would be the harm of swinging it in and forcing a chance to arise?

Far too many Premier League wingers will happily dribble around defenders until they are dizzy before passing the ball inside and slowing the move, stand up messes Nani and El-Hadji Diouf.

And there are more than enough who are content to win a throw in or a corner only for it to be played short once again.

A short trip down memory lane will land us in 1999, Manchester United’s treble winning season.

Giggs and Beckham were experts at playing percentages. If you bombard the box with a ridiculous amount of crosses, eventually Andy Cole will swing a limb at it and connect. One in five usually.

And as Aaron Lennon proved four times against Wigan Athletic last week, if you get to the by-line and put the ball across the face, whether it be drilled or lofted, someone on your team should get a sniff of it. Though it does help if Titus Bramble is on watch.

Arsene Wenger’s men are known throughout Europe for their unique, attractive and thrilling football. But what happens when a decent team comes to the match to “park the bus”.

Crosses into the penalty area are a Plan B for the red half of North London, but they also provide a very successful Plan A for a number of teams in arguably the best league in the world.

Stoke’s Liam Lawrence and Mathew Etherington have helped to establish the Potters as a tasty Premier League side by  simply keeping onus on the opposition to defend their area.

And Liverpool’s dip in form cannot be solely put down to a lack of wide men in their squad, but it surely has not helped as teams look to nullify central men Gerrard and Torres.

There is a lot to be said for the age old art of crossing as defenders and goal keepers continue to have nightmares about the flashed the ball across the six yard box.

Half decent strikers should be there for a simple prod home. And if your club does not have any of those, just pray that Michael Duberry is in the opposition’s back four.

Joseph Bill

December 3, 2009