The defences Everton, Aston Villa, Portsmouth and Arsenal have
all been undone by Rory Delap's long throw-ins this season.
In terms of sheer accuracy, obtaining a throw in the final third is
more valuable than winning a corner when you have the 32-year-old
Irishman in your side.
Edwin van der Sar, though, insists that Manhcester United will be
more than prepared for Delap when Stoke visit Old Trafford at the
weekend, having worked on dealing with it in training.
"We've been working on it of course and we've got one or two
ideas," he told Sky Sports.
"The main thing is if we have the ball we've got to play our game
and we've got quality all over the pitch.
"Of course you have to focus on the set-pieces from the opposite
team. Normally those of corner kicks or free-kicks and these are
throw-ins, so that's a different approach."
Tomasz Kuszczak and Ben Foster have seen playing time this term and
now the Dutchman seems to be coming to terms with his impending
retirement. He mused: "It's not going to be from 9 to 5 sitting
behind a desk...I'm going to pick a couple of nice things to
do.
"Hopefully I'll do some coaching, do some community work and even
commentary for television."
We shall see...
... gl hf VDS.
