Magpies forward Callum Wilson and his Newcastle United teammates have been discussing a new set piece plan that they think could work.
The 30-year-old has appeared on the latest episode of the Footballer’s Football Podcast, where he shared a new idea Newcastle have talked about to prevent the opposition scoring directly from free-kicks.
In short, Wilson has pondered whether or not it is worth having a wall. His theory is that no wall actually makes it harder for the attacker and easier for the goalkeeper.
However, it appears that the plan may never come to fruition in fear that it goes wrong.
Wilson on Newcastle’s set piece plan
On the Footballer’s Football Podcast, Wilson shared his new idea with co-host and West Ham striker Michail Antonio.
“I was having this debate the other day with a few of the players at our club about free kicks,” he said.
“Why not have no wall? If you’re an attacker in training and you’re hitting a dead ball from 20 yards out, and the goalie is standing there, and you have a few people spread out in the way nine times out of 10 you’re not scoring.
“The goalie is just going to react as he’s got so far to see the ball, no matter how well you strike it is rare you’ll find the top corner.
“We was like, should we start trying it? Should we try no wall? But all of a sudden you concede from it and it’s like ‘woah’.
“But I would back Pope, for example, to save a free kick from someone who is shooting from 20 to 25 yards out.
I just thought it was worth trying, but maybe in training.”
Wilson backs Pope, but new plan may never be used
In fairness to Wilson, his logic makes sense. When you have a wall, it usually gives the attacker a bigger space to aim at if he can get the ball over it.
But there would be no favoured side if there was no wall. It would just be free-kick taker versus goalkeeper.
While Wilson might back Nick Pope in that situation, Newcastle would look incredibly foolish if they were to concede from it. Therefore, it seems incredibly unlikely that it will ever happen.
The Magpies are yet to concede directly from a free-kick this season, but they have scored one. Kieran Trippier expertly found the top corner against Manchester City, with his effort flying past a helpless Ederson, whose wall did him no favours.
Perhaps Newcastle need to try this idea in training, as we already have one of the Premier League’s top free-kick takers in our ranks.
If Trippier struggles to find the net from distance against Pope with no wall, maybe this is actually a good idea that should be used.
And if it is successful in the Premier League, Wilson will be quick to take all the credit.
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