News
Virgil van Dijk, Phil Jones and James Tomkins absolutely trust a community chat discussing the work of the final-ditch address. Spurs must silent doubtlessly attempt and e book obvious of them.
One in every of football’s most enduring pleasures is the final-ditch address when a player looks to be to be like obvious to attain but the defender has other thoughts. Those ‘oh, how did he function that?!’ moments. These narrate defending is as spicy as goalscoring.
Wes Morgan
In the 2018/19 season, Leicester are playing Spurs. A player breaks the Foxes’ defensive strains and is in on purpose but he hadn’t reckoned on the huge slab of flesh that is Morgan who is at stout stretch. Correct as Dele has pulled his leg again to shoot, Morgan rakes the ball away together with his heel. Moral defending. He’s been retired three years now, y’know.
Steve Sidwell
Take into accout when Sidwell turned into a footballer? He turned into once extremely belief of and in a successfully-travelled occupation, he spent three seasons at Fulham. They were playing West Brom, and Romelu Lukaku broke free and obvious going towards purpose from the left, taking the ball from the midway line. The best state about here is you are going to clearly see Sidwell flying in from wide on the accurate all alongside as the ahead approaches the purpose earlier than being intercepted honest as he tries to shoot on the six-yard line. It’s completely timed and absolute poetry in motion – like watching a missile hit its target.
MORE FROM JOHN NICHOLSON ON F365
👉 Football is selfish, queer and abusive on workers’ rights; demand Lassana Diarra
👉 Van Dijk assault and Saka harassment feature in ten monstrous unpunished fouls
Badou Ndiaye
The Senegalese might maybe no longer be a name many of you are going to keep in mind playing for Stoke City against Manchester City; he fully turned out 27 times in the Potteries and can now be chanced on in Turkey. Anyway, City are in on purpose and there are no longer any defenders left, honest the keeper. A obvious purpose, accurate? Inferior. As Raheem Sterling is taking it round Jack Butland, our man puts on his jet-heeled boots and dispossesses him, whilst the purpose gapes. Snatch that, oil boy.
Christoph Zimmermann
The German is playing for Norwich against Spurs. The final third of the pitch is obvious. The Spurs player burns towards purpose and looks free and obvious but Zimmerman has other tips and times his situation completely, blockading the rampaging attacker honest as he strikes the ball to deflect it for a nook. Supreme. It turned into this roughly make which bought him transferred to Darmstadt 98 for an undisclosed price rapidly after.
Phil Jones
Of path Phil Jones. Take into accout, a protracted time in the past, he turned into regarded as the inheritor of a Duncan Edwards-kind all-round brilliance. In a 2011/12 recreation against Fulham when United weren’t needless, Fulham salvage Bryan Ruiz into the six-yard box and a matter of seconds from scoring, but he didn’t count on the rubbery-faced defender sticking a final-minute foot out and deflecting it for a nook. These days, United would hail it as obvious final-ditch defending; again then it turned into honest atypical. To be lovely Phil wears the dazed, unnerving expression of a man who has honest lately been hit by a Routemaster, in the methodology fully Phil can.
READ NEXT: Phil Jones reveals he turned into ‘s******g himself’ after Man Utd icon threatened to ‘spoil his face’
Kolo Toure
Sixteen years in the past. It’s the North London derby. A Spurs player breaks away, the goalie advances and the ball is taken round him; they honest want to roll it into the earn from 18 yards but here is Spurs and Toure puts himself in the methodology and tackles the player, deflecting the ball, even when scoring gave the influence an easy state to function with the earn giving come hither looks to be to be like.
Virgil van Dijk
VVD is the king of the final-minute intervention and seeing him in stout flight, closing down the opposition is belief of as one of the recreation’s best issues. Right here four years in the past against Spurs, Dele has reached the 18-yard box and has honest somewhat of over-played the ball. VVD is crouched like a tiger able to pounce and sees his chance with a actually best intervention. He makes it gape easy but when performed badly you slay up with a player together with his foot the truth is inner a striker.
Jamie Carragher
Eighteen years in the past, the Merseyside derby turned into an incendiary affair. Andy Johnson (keep in mind him? He retired 10 years in the past, is now director of football at AFC Croydon Athletic and runs a property company) is burning towards purpose with no-one but the keeper in entrance of him and it looks to be to be like like he’ll collect, but Carra is prowling, accelerates and runs alongside and blocks him together with his entire body.
Timothy Fosu-Mensah
Playing for Palace against Huddersfield, a striker breaks free ahead of the defence and looks to be to be through on purpose, but the Dutchman has other tips and sprints after him, arriving at tempo to take the ball. He’s so instant it the truth is looks to be to be like like he’s been accelerated and everybody else has been slowed down. Fosu-Mensah is now plying his exchange at title winners Bayer Leverkusen as proof that starting up your occupation at Manchester United needn’t downside you.
James Tomkins
West Ham are playing Palace and are some colour of hapless. A crossed ball bounces off the again of a community of defenders, who looked somewhat dazed. The ball deflects into a Palace player’s path, three yards out. It has to be a purpose. But no. Right here’s Tomkins at stout stretch, like a ballet dancer doing their best Swan Lake, dangling his foot in the air, deflecting it away. He’s silent at Palace, but here is his final season.
