The number of long throw-ins has increased significantly in the Premier League this season, and Jamie Carragher believes the trend is a major setback for the league.
Jamie Carragher has claimed the Premier League’s full adoption of long throw-ins this season is a sign of regression. The former Liverpool defender is concerned that the product is being diluted and giving fans less interesting football.
Long throw-ins have been notable in the Premier League this season, with an average of four per game, up from just 1.5 in the 2024/25 season. Brentford are still the champions of this tactic, but Arsenal’s active use of it has attracted particular attention.
Carragher says the rise of set-piece coaches and a better understanding of data has helped the game evolve, but not in a good way. This pundit played for Liverpool from 1996 to 2013 and believes current elite football is indistinguishable from previous eras.
He set out his beliefs in a column for the Telegraph, saying long throw-ins should be “a cause for concern, not celebration”. While he defended a manager’s right to do whatever it takes to get results, he pointed to the fact that the ball is currently being played for an average of 10 minutes less per game than six years ago as evidence that things are going in the wrong direction.
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“It’s wrong to criticize managers who prefer one style over another, but let’s not pretend that that style is more appealing or tactically smart when we see defenders firing long throws and causing chaos in the penalty area,” he wrote.
“Percentage football is neither versatile nor sophisticated, which is why players who firmly believe in these methods are rarely employed by elite Champions League clubs, and when they are, they don’t last long.”
“Judging that standard against the complex and beautiful passing moves and dribbling of (Pep) Guardiola’s Barcelona or Luis Enrique’s PSG a year ago is like comparing tea from a potato chip shop with a quality Michelin-star meal. One is easier to prepare and cheaper to assemble than the other, but it will never surprise you.”
In September, Mirror Football spoke to Thomas Gronnemark, the world’s only professional throw-in coach, about the long throw-in trend. Despite his profession, Gronnemark is frustrated by much of what he has seen in practice and blames some clubs for jumping on the bandwagon but with poor results.
“You could say there are a lot more long throw-ins in the Premier League. You could say, ‘Isn’t that good?'” No, not necessarily! Too many teams take low-quality long throw-ins. Some of the throw-ins are not long enough so it’s not dangerous, but sometimes it’s a matter of strategy,” Gronnemark said.
“It’s also entertainment for the fans. People might think that those who coach long throw-ins want a lot of them. In fact, I don’t think so. I don’t want to see any team take 10 long throw-ins every game because then there are too many starts and stops.
“People just look at the best teams and say, ‘They’re really successful data-wise, so we’ll do the same thing.’ But they forget that there’s a lot of years of hard work behind it.”
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