The Question: why have there been so many headed goals at Euro 2012? | Jonathan Wilso

Jonathan Wilson

Jonathan Wilson's Articles (Bot)
Joined
Aug 1, 2010
Messages
695
Reaction score
0
Points
0
40810

Michel Platini feels the introduction of extra officials behind the goals has reduced the amount of grappling at corners and free-kicks – but the ball itself has been a significant factor
There is little remarkable about the fact that this tournament has yielded 69 goals in its opening 28 games. If the two semi-finals and final produce eight goals between them there will, for the third tournament running, have been 77 goals in a finals. What is remarkable, though, is that of those 69, already 20 have been from headers – already three more than the record of 17 set in 2004.
While Andy Roxburgh, the head of Uefa's technical committee, has been characteristically cautious, insisting that the sample size is too small to draw any definitive conclusions, Michel Platini has been keen to claim credit, insisting that the introduction of extra officials behind the goals has reduced the amount of grappling at corners and free-kicks. "With the additional referee you score more headers, because there is the fear of being caught," he said. "So there are more goals because the players know that the referee is there and they cannot commit fouls all the time.
"I think that the refereeing system allows more goals because there is less shirt-pulling, less simulation. We spent all our youth to try and fool the referee. You pulled the shirt when the referee wasn't looking. You can score more goals because you have the space to score. Before, if you held the shirt it was impossible."
This piece explains just how the officials' field of vision has been improved by the addition of the extra men behind each goal and it does appear that there has been less grappling than usual (although as Vedran Corluka and John Terry – and probably countless others – who might have had penalties for shirt-pulling at corners would point out, it does still go on).
But the extra officials tell only part of the story. Grappling is at its worst at set plays – corners and free-kicks around the box – but only half of the headed goals have come from set plays (or 11 of 20 if you include the first Mario Mandzukic goal against Ireland which stemmed from a half-cleared free-kick). Good delivery, of course, helps both goals from set plays and open play and that has been facilitated by the ball.
The Tango 12 is a good ball in the same way that the Jabulani used at the World Cup was a bad ball. The warning signs were there at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, which used the Jabulani. Goalkeepers seemed bewildered by its dips and swoops while outfielders struggled to control it. The standard of crossing and long-range shooting was noticeably poor and there were no goals from direct free-kicks. In the World Cup, the pattern continued. The very best players in the world couldn't manipulate the Jabulani. Diego Maradona did cream a shot into the top corner on the training pitch while wearing patent leather shoes and smoking a cigar, but that says more about his genius than the ball. Even Lionel Messi said he had no idea how the ball would behave – and when Adidas-sponsored players start moaning about an Adidas ball, you know something is seriously amiss.
At the Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon this time round, the official ball was the Comoequa – essentially the same as a Tango 12 but with a different pattern. Like the Jabulani, it is an eight-panel ball, but it is controllable. In the Cup of Nations there were five goals scored direct from free-kicks. The crossing was better. The long-range shooting was better. The goalkeeping was better. That has carried on into this tournament. There may only have been one goal scored directly from a free-kick so far (which feels like an aberration) but the ability of players to control the ball has been seen in the quality of the crossing.
During the World Cup the former Liverpool player and designer of the Predator boot, Craig Johnston, suggested the Jabulani was too round – an idea that brought a look of utter panic to the face of Alan Shearer (watch the way he dries the palms of his hands on his trousers) – and therefore didn't generate the drag necessary to get the spin that counters air resistance (which is the reason golf balls have dimples). Drag logically must come from the joins between the panels and obviously the fewer there are, the harder that is to achieve. Johnston also suggested that the use of thermal bonding rather than traditional stitching minimises the imperfections that would aid the generation of drag.
The Tango 12, although it is thermally bonded, is made up of 32 rather than eight panels and that seems to have produced a controllable ball.
The idea that the football authorities wanted a ball that behaved unpredictably to confound goalkeepers and produce more goals – if true – was always an odd one: when you gather together the most skilful players in the world or on a continent, why would you then add a random factor so they cannot fully utilise those skills?
The extra officials, similarly, allow players who are good in the air to maximise their ability. Headed goals are a result of better delivery and less foul play. It's easy to criticise the football authorities but in this instance, with the additional officials and the ball, they seem to have got two things very right.
Jonathan Wilson

guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds



More...
 
Top