Source: Telegraph
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger wants to scrap throw-ins
Arsenal are not the only Premier League team to have suffered an aerial bombardment from Stoke's long-throw specialist Rory Delap. [LNB]The Arsenal manager witnessed his side torn apart by two Delap deliveries in their visit to Stoke last season, when the former Republic of Ireland international set up both goals in the then-newly promoted side's 2-1 win. [LNB] Related ArticlesArsenal v Aston Villa: match previewWenger: Arsenal kids can be best ever'Arsenal still in race if we win games in hand'Usmanov calls on Kroenke to make intentions clearEmile Heskey groin injury 'short-term'Heskey: Villa must stay groundedIt was a tactic which made a large contribution to Stoke's survival. [LNB]But as the Frenchman prepares his Arsenal team to play top-four rivals Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday - on an expansive pitch which reduces the threat of long throw-ins - the 60-year-old suggested kick-ins would allow the game to flow better. [LNB]He told Arsenal's official website: "(The rule I would change would be) maybe to play throw-ins by foot. Why not? I think it would make the game quicker." [LNB]Wenger believes the advantage gained by teams possessing long-throw specialists is unfair. [LNB]"For example at Stoke, for Rory Delap it is like kicking the ball," he said. [LNB]"It is a little bit of an unfair advantage. He is using a strength that is usually not a strength in football." [LNB]Radical though it sounds, Wenger insists the suggestion would not be the most revolutionary change to the game as football evolved to its current format. [LNB]"Football is the most popular team game in the world and one day some crazy guy said 'we don't use the hands'," added the manager. [LNB]"How could you have imagined on that day a game that is completely natural to play with your hands would become the most popular sport?"[LNB]
