The 2020s are proving to be the decade of set pieces.
With corner goals back in vogue and rugby-style kick-offs becoming fashionable again, throw-in tactics have been going the same way: longer, and into the box.
In the first six matchdays of the 2025-26 season, an average of slightly over one in four throw-ins from the attacking third of the pitch were sent into the penalty area. That frequency is double the proportion of long throws from last season — though this might well prove to be an early-season trend that cools down — and a continuation of a six-year trend.
Examples can be found wherever you look.
Arsenal’s 11 long throws in the Champions League semi-final second-leg defeat against Paris Saint-Germain in May went some way to prove that even the biggest clubs in the biggest games are rethinking what is and is not below them.
Cadiz in La Liga (seven goals) and Brentford (five goals) in the Premier League were Europe’s outstanding long-throw sides across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.
Midtjylland built their first Danish Superliga (2014-15) on set-piece prowess, including throw-ins, and have maintained that identity to win three more league titles and compete in the Champions League.
Long throws were also a long-standing tactic of Simone Inzaghi at Inter, helping him lift six domestic trophies and reach two Champions League finals before he left this summer.
This is nothing we have not seen before, especially within English football. For a tactic to be adopted so widely, though, is different. As outstanding and remarkable as Stoke City were with Rory Delap’s long throws in the late 2000s and early 2010s, few teams tried to copy them.
The consideration was that Delap, a javelin thrower in his youth, had not just unbelievable power and consistency, but also an ability to throw with a flat trajectory — this meant the ball arrived between the posts faster, and at a better angle to be headed towards goal (as opposed to a looping flight).
Seven of Stoke’s 17 long-throw goals in the Delap era were direct finishes.
This season, nobody has a thrower of Delap’s calibre, and long throws look very different. Almost half of the throw-ins that have been sent into the penalty box in the opening six gameweeks have been met with a first contact before reaching the six-yard box.
The broad principle, especially because of how opponents defend, is to create chaos and capitalise on any second balls.
Teams tend to replicate their defensive corner setups, bringing all 10 outfielders back, keeping their best aerial players (often the centre-backs) in zonal roles close to the goalkeeper, and man-marking the most threatening attacking players.
This has multiple impacts. First, it pins teams in, making them much more likely to concede a cross or shot on the second phase if they clear the initial throw-in, as their counter-attacking routes are severely reduced.
Second, while crowding the box maximises the chances of a defensive first contact, it increases the bodies in the way, which makes it much riskier for goalkeepers to come and deal with the throw.
In a period when some goalkeepers have been favoured for their ball-playing ability rather than shot-stopping, crosses can be a weak spot.
One exception to the rule of modern goalkeepers not wanting to engage is Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez.
Martinez is prepared to stand on the corner of the six-yard box — a move that almost saw him lobbed with a tame header in the 1-1 draw away at Sunderland, when Omar Alderete met Nordi Mukiele’s long throw, and Martinez had to backpedal quickly to catch it before the line.
Villa’s figure of seven shots conceded from all throw-in scenarios is the most of any Premier League team.
Such is the chaos in these situations that multiple defenders can end up contesting the same ball. That happens here for a Matthijs de Ligt chance in Manchester United’s recent 3-1 defeat at Brentford.
On Diogo Dalot’s third long throw, Benjamin Sesko makes a run away from goal, and Brentford defender Michael Kayode prevents Leny Yoro from jumping.
Even without any United players competing, Nathan Collins gets on top of team-mate Igor Thiago. Consequently, what should be a straightforward defensive header upfield glances the ball towards a United two-v-three at the back-post.
Matheus Cunha, had he reacted quicker, was in a better position to shoot. De Ligt, reaching, hooked his left-footed effort wide.
A similar scenario played out when Crystal Palace drew at home against Nottingham Forest. Centre-back Maxence Lacroix and No 9 Jean-Philippe Mateta made smart, clockwork movements — Lacroix started close to goal and ran towards the throw, and Mateta did the opposite.
Mateta’s run took Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson away. This left Will Hughes, positioned to pick up loose balls and prevent counter-attacks, in space.
When the ball bounced off Ibrahim Sangare’s shoulder (Lacroix missed the flick-on) and straight to Hughes, he hit a half-volley just over the bar.
The key attacker now at long throws is not the player challenging for the first contact, but rather the far-post runner.
See a big chance for Jacob Murphy for Newcastle United at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers. From Tino Livramento’s looping throw, Newcastle are three-v-six at the near post.
Joelinton, though, wins a standing aerial duel against Andre (these mismatches for the first contact happen a lot because teams keep their centre-backs closer to goal) and glances a header to the back post.
The ball runs between Tolu Arokodare and Toti Gomes. Murphy, the far-post attacker, and Bruno Guimaraes make runs inside the static Rodrigo Gomes, and are queuing up to score, only for Murphy to shoot straight at Sam Johnstone from inside the six-yard box.
Kayode (Brentford), Antoine Semenyo (Bournemouth) and Mukiele (Sunderland) are all long-throw experts with good consistency.
Keith Andrews, Andoni Iraola and Regis Le Bris, the head coaches of their respective clubs, have all shown little desire to produce champagne football, instead preferring disruptive and direct styles.
The two cleanest long-throw goals yet have come from Brentford and Crystal Palace, and prove the point about the dangerous far-post runner.
Andrews’ side snuck a 94th-minute equaliser against Chelsea from such a situation.
Kevin Schade (even without Kayode, they have options) dropped the throw onto the corner of the six-yard box. Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez tried to position himself aggressively to contest, but was crowded out by three Brentford players.
Kristoffer Ajer, one of the trio blocking Sanchez, won the first contact. His far-post flick-on was met by Fabio Carvalho, a late substitute.
Alejandro Garnacho, the winger tasked with marking Carvalho, had switched off in the way that the opposite wide man often does. He was not expecting the ball to reach his direct opponent, and was too focused on the ball to realise that Carvalho had run.
Palace, who are developing a reputation for long throws after using the tactic to create their match-winner against Liverpool last weekend, showed exactly how to manipulate Villa’s zonal-dominant approach.
Jefferson Lerma was on throw-in duty, so centre-back Chris Richards took his place in the box. From an aggressive start position, he runs towards the ball as it is thrown in.
Palace have three runners, plus two positioned on the edge of the box, should the ball drop.
Lacroix — not Richards — wins the flick-on, and Ismaila Sarr times his run to tap in at the back-post.
Also notice how Daniel Munoz and Daichi Kamada have stepped up tightly to Ollie Watkins and Donyell Malen, ensuring Villa’s key transition outlets are marked should a turnover occur.
Across the past six full Premier League terms, there have only been five instances of a team making 100-plus throw-ins into the opposition box in one season — and three of those are Brentford, plus Cardiff City and Huddersfield Town in 2018-19, when the pair were relegated.
Long throws — along with inswinging corners and counter-attacks — are no longer archaic tactics for underdog teams trying to find levellers against better teams. As Mikel Arteta said about his Arsenal side last season: “We want to be the kings of everything.”
This time around, we are on track for six teams (Brentford, Bournemouth, Palace, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle and Sunderland) to record more than 100 long throws.
Times have changed and tactics mirror that, but there are fewer shades of Delap and Stoke than appear at first glance.
(Top photo: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
