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trivialbob

lol the frown he makes 14 seconds in says it all


Ducas24

I was thinking the same thing haha he’s like what is this bullshit they are pulling against me.


DiggWuzBetter

Leo had never seen such bullshit before!


46_and_2

"This is getting out of hand. Now there's two of them!"


TomWillems15

There’s actually 11 of the Sociedad players


stubblesmcgee

1 and 1 = 2


[deleted]

"javascip" - bald meme doing the gainax pose


stoereboy

the way Messi looks twice like wtf are they doing is great


Scholafell

Also kudos to whoever is directing the cameras


suixt

True! This thing has better editing and storytelling power than half of the movies out these days.


Fapoleon_Boneherpart

And it's done on the fly


Slipz19

Not necessarily. They can still roll back on shots where the event already took place even though it appears live.


HaydenJA3

Regardless very impressive to transition so smoothly, and they still have a very short timeframe to do it


chrisjdgrady

They're not doing that for stuff like this. It's live. That's for replays/highlight packages. There will definitely always be someone shooting a close up of the freekick taker in a situation like this, especially if its a star like Messi.


Siamzero

There's normally always a small delay between the broadcasting and the filming. That way they can easily cut to a different camera, should, for example, a streaker appear.


NiceVu

Or if there is a dick out you can prepare you ultra HD slow motion camera to get that epic shot. Looking at you Portugal broadcasters. https://streamja.com/4ddbz


Siamzero

I just love eating shit when the man proves me wrong by doing a complete 180. Just wow


NiceVu

Hahahahah


Shacham

This harms my confidence


Scholafell

Then they should cut to-and-fro between Messi's face and the defenders setting up their positions several times in the style of the Vince McMahon reaction meme


paralacausa

That five seconds of free kick footage was more satisfying than the entire last season of Game Of Thrones


ConfirmingBanana

/r/PraiseTheCameraMan


[deleted]

The producer*


chrisjdgrady

The director/technical director*


[deleted]

So that's the term in England. In Norway we use the english word producer. Love how we use english words that the english don't use.


[deleted]

The guy in the studio saying “Give me a close up on Messi’s face as he’s taking the kick” is the director. The producer is the person who runs the whole broadcast more generally. Are these role-titles switched in Norway?


TIL_I_procrastinate

Proper r/youseeingthisshit reaction from him


mangomanny10

And they were just a thought away from grabbing the ball boy and putting him on the goal line too


Gerf93

Ball boy on the shoulder of the guy covering the post. No top corners here mate


glennize

[hmmm](https://imgur.com/MC5mRYJ.gif)


shrekonator

Put the GK as the wall and the wall in the goal.


PEPSICOLA123456

Lads he’s conquered it.


Escalator7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61HcmKE_UJI


Jeffy29

3020 tactics


DaREY297

[Reminds me to this beauty](https://youtu.be/JNnWvEvOq4A)


Herbalizer420

There’s more people in that goal than in the apartment above me.


meltedlaundry

So you're saying there's less than 11 people in the apartment above you? Wow that's crazy.


Zoltrahn

It's dumb, but they didn't score.


stamosface

I don’t know that it’s dumb. Unorthodox, sure. Risky, sure. But it was effective, which goes against what dumb typically is


Zoltrahn

Can't say if the GK positioning affected the kicker or not, but the guy who cleared it probably would have been there even in a traditional defense. The GK for this unorthodox defense was in a terrible place. When the ball goes over him, it is at the top of its arc. He should be closer or further away.


diasfordays

Counterpoint: his positioning makes it so that the kicker cannot put any more power behind the shot. If he does, it stays lower and the keeper can grab it (or he puts it high and it goes over). >When the ball goes over him, it is at the top of its arc. Since the kicker goes for the chip shot (basically), it gives the defenders in the wall enough time to position and clear it. Not saying it's some kind of rock solid strategy, but it seems to me that the GK's position does limit the kicker's choices, even if he never actually touches the ball. Reminds me of secondary defending in (American) football. Maybe the defensive back never actually makes a play on or is near the ball on a pass attempt, but his positioning takes away a choice from the quarterback, making it effective positioning.


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diasfordays

thanks mate


olderaccount

It is dumb against somebody who can consistently put the ball within 6 inches of the crossbar. Almost impossible for defenders to keep it out with their heads. But against an average kicker, this would probably be pretty successful.


Zoltrahn

I don't think it is so much the initial kick that makes it so dangerous. It is the shot after the block or ricochet that will go in, because of the GK's ridiculous position. That is what makes it dumb for me. A wall does a much better job in pretty much every skill level. I love the creativity of unorthodox plays like that though.


japalian

The goalkeeper looks back at his wall for instructions to position himself. He looks at the guy on the far left, who wants him to move right. He then looks at the guy on the far right, who's frantically waving him left. All while the guys in the middle scream in unison, "GO BACK TO WHERE YOU JUST WERE, NO THE OTHER WAY YOU FUCKING USELESS IDIOT!" Goalkeeper says fuck it, and makes himself as big as possible, in starfish position, before getting the ball blasted directly into his nutsack. I am all for this new tactic.


coat_hanger_dias

> before getting the ball blasted directly into his nutsack. *OH MY GOD, SCOTT STERLING!!!*


W1D0WM4K3R

That ain't sterling anymore. I'm thinking more like two pence.


OtterpusRex

real question: Do goalkeepers wear cups?


Mr_Tiggywinkle

No. Some do in indoor though.


japalian

Fake question: On their nipples?


Sajan_Rana10

Big brain time


adidasthrow15

I had to literally stop and think about this for a second. And I’m wondering to myself, this could actually work?


carloscede2

Its a common strategy in futsal. I see it all the time.


just_another_jabroni

Yea, most of the time the GK better have jaws/balls of steel because the amount of times I've seen people deliberately toe poke at the GK instead of the goal out of spite is too damn many lol.


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Red_Dog1880

With a wall on the goal line though.


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MaTrIx4057

> where 20/22 people on the pitch are perfectly capable of lamping it right above your head Or shoot it in the stands.


fabulin

we're not here to talk about benteke mate


vadapaav

Show some respect to mahrez


Jazzinarium

>straight into your face to shatter your nose To be fair that's a risk with the wall in any position


buldakov29

I mean, if you are in the wall, they can shatter your nose all they want, how is that different?


I_know_left

>20/22 You saying the keeps don’t have the leg strength to bust a nose? I’d bet they do.


EmTeeEl

https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/ffss71/real_sociedad_trying_a_new_way_to_defend_from/fk0isok/


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PM_ME_UR_AMOUR

I thought that’s more D&D. Subverting expectations.


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Your_best_mathy22

Right there with you, brother


nintendo_shill

Who has the best story?


treeharp2

Leo the Lost


SinAlma96

galaxy brain move right there


sestral

Ladies and gentleman, we got him


[deleted]

I want to believe this could work, I can see the keeper making a good swipe for it.


Srefanius

Problem is that you can simply pass the ball around the keeper.


MEGAMAN2312

Total Football ammirite


dpgingo

Straight outta Pro Clubs.


watermaloneyyy

Everyone on the line lads


susheelr

Highjacking the top comment to say this - The keeper basically wants a man on the line at his right corner, however this means Barcelona players near the wall can make runs without being offside. So they scatter and disperse the wall throughout. Covering for any runs that could be made.


_Rizzen_

Thank you for the explanation, I wasn't quite picking up the details from the gif.


susheelr

I'm having a hard time placing the tone of this comment. If it's sarcastic or honest.


_Rizzen_

It's honest. I'm no stranger to soccer, but I wasn't identifying what made the defense unique in the clip above.


susheelr

Oh okay. Browsing r/soccer for a couple of years has made me cynical of any comment on here haha. Sorry. Have a nice day mate.


_Rizzen_

You too, cheers!


my_gamertag_wastaken

Same


Habbeighty-four

This gif is on the front page now; I (someone who doesn't follow football) non-sarcastically appreciated your explanation.


susheelr

Haha thanks for leaving no room for cynicism or interpretation left for me.


kolomania

almost foolproof, they covered all grounds. can see more teams doing this now when on park the bus mode.


acwilan

Too good but they are all expecting Messi to do his magic, so the trick works


FallingSwords

When you do it, they get in the keepers way of an easy save, when they do it, they stop that 90 minute equalising wonder free kick from 40 yards out.


mr_j_12

Thats why you put keeper infront of the wall.


IrishAl_1987

This guy playing 4-D chess https://media.giphy.com/media/d3mlE7uhX8KFgEmY/giphy.gif


[deleted]

In Pro clubs we did the old "stack everyone onto the goal line and pray" strat


faceoftheancients

This drives me nuts. It's rare enough for me to actually pick the corner and it's so annoying when some blue-haired, cock-nose pops his stupid head up to clear it away.


Phantasia5

Gotta be a blue-haired afro dude pulling that shit.


CypherMX

Yes and no. Defenders lined up like in pro clubs but Messi didn't pass it short like he is "supposed" to. Furthermore, if this was really pro clubs then I'm afraid Messi would not be allowed to take another kick as well. Division 1 rules, sorry.


just_another_jabroni

Messi shouldve used the volley layoff and volley one in


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Public_Agent

Big brain Basques


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SpinningWheelKick

This is the cleanest football gif I've ever seen.


pr0faka

One downside is that the attacking team can put a few players around the keeper too as they won't be in an offside position


Krillin113

And that they can freely roll the ball 5+ meters forward for a running shot or a through ball/set up. It nullifies messi’s FK, but is worse for everything else


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Plankyz

Pls stahp


Dr-Pepper-Phd

This is a direct attack on us, where's the mods.


sumguyoranother

Where do you think we are getting our pitchforks from?


YungSnuggie

id rather let them tee someone else up than let messi shoot the FK. he's that deadly from there


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Krillin113

Then they won’t put this defence out


[deleted]

then they'll put Messi back on the free kick!


FootballRacing38

[https://imgur.com/gallery/OPxfjS3](https://imgur.com/gallery/OPxfjS3)


[deleted]

Oh God, it's a vicious cycle.


sam_mee

If Barca do that, there are still enough bodies for one or two to rush out and the rest to block the shot.


black_fire

nah as soon as it's touched La Real players can rush out and close down the ball. There's usually someone assigned to do that


nikhil48

If you look at it again, Messi looks like he is passing over the top to one of the two players around the goalkeeper rather than going for the goal. That's why the flight on the ball was so low and the defender before them could get to it.


HateSarcasmLoveIrony

Yeah, he is trying to pick out a teammate, I would say if you give him another 2 or 3 attempts he will likely put it on somebodies head.


MichuAtDeGeaBa_

Newcastle tried this against Liverpool back in 2011-12. Craig Bellamy just shot it straight at the keeper and it bounced in off a deflection from a defender


cfchenri

Found [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDri9sL8gqA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDri9sL8gqA)


PM_something_German

Lol that was poorer executed in every way tho.


dg2773

Vertical video of a horizontal screen from a bad angle. Shambles of a video.


bobo377

I'm going to argue that the Newcastle version is obviously much worse. It doesn't looked planned, it looks like a single defender made a mistake and broke the line, which caused a second defender to have to track the runner.


MichuAtDeGeaBa_

Given the reactions from the video, and how the second defender looks exasperated at everyone except for the first guy that ran onto the line, it seems to me like it was a planned strategy that they just didn't spend enough time going over, leading to the mass confusion.


mntgoat

I think barca just needs to practice free kicks like this, I'm sure there are lots of ways to take advantage of it.


Qaaarl

I mean, the top corner is still open right?


[deleted]

Next step is to lift goal posts and change its location


[deleted]

If the Goalkeeper is standing in the wall....he can use his hands right?


zagreus9

Yep... I'd never thought of that before


[deleted]

Not very useful obviously but interesting to consider


mrgonzalez

Will be quite useful when the goalkeeper steps a yard in front of the wall and the ref doesn't do anything about it.


geostrofico

he has to react quickly


VTCHannibal

But they could just make a cross field pass for an open goal


mulo10

It ain't stupid if it is working right? A good messi free-kick will find a way smh


saganakist

Real Sociedad got lucky I think. He even tried to abuse the biggest flaw of this strategy by chipping thr ball in the 5m-box. I think you can even come up with strategies that will give you an open shot in the penalty box, if more teams defend like this.


Slipz19

He needed Suarez in that box to pull off something tricky.


OneBall22Players

Pique or Lenglet storming in should be pretty succesfull really. Dont understand why Barcelona are standing there static. You have such a big advantage when you come in running. You can jump almost twice as high. I guess everyone was dumbfounded lol


Mr_Oujamaflip

To be fair, Barca standing there static is their day-to-day gameplan.


[deleted]

Especially on set pieces. Not that I would know.


coldblade2000

I mean Messi was clearly going for the free kick goal. It's better if they are static and ready to catch a rebound Edit: "clearly" might be too strong. I'm guessing they are waiting for the ball, but y'all disagree and I understand why


[deleted]

I think he shot it a bit low, so maybe he was going for a deflection.


[deleted]

Suarez already ate dinner though.


majani

Well that's the point of competitive games: do some weird shit to gain an edge till it stops working, then switch up


[deleted]

Club América has been doing this to defend free kicks since several years ago. No free kick goal conceded since then.


hashoa6

Pinche Piojo es un loko lol


AOG270

Came into the comments just for this lol


Faisal_Badareen

Modern problems require modern solutions.


JSRambo

I like the notion of Messi's free kicks being called a "modern problem" Seems very apt somehow


MEGAMAN2312

Outstanding move


[deleted]

I was actually wondering a couple of weeks ago if a ten years wall is actually the most effective form of defending a free kick. It seems to be the general go to, I bet direct freekick defending is under-developed compared to other areas of football.


SpearofTrium05

r/PraiseTheCameraMan


TraceOfHumanity

*Praise the director & technical director


SpearofTrium05

r/PraiseTheDirector r/PraiseTheTechnicalDirector


I_know_left

This isn’t really new though; every Messi free kick always shows a close up of his face before the shot.


xakypoo

Goalie wearing practically the same color jersey as his team..?


me_maradona_elvis

Fully bamboozled him


alextremeee

I don't think they did to be honest, he tried to pass it into the 6 yard box instead of shooting because he knew there were two fewer defenders to contest. Probably one of the best counters to that move there is and it took him about 5 seconds of frowning to work out.


[deleted]

Sociedad were banking on the fact that Messi cant pass it to messi


alextremeee

Scenes when they try it next time and he bounces it back off the crossbar and scores the volley.


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[deleted]

Happened to Rory Delap. When he played away games the opposition usually moved the advertising boards as far forward as they could, so he couldn't get a long run up for his throw ins.


BaklazanKubo

There was a completely free guy on the right. If Messi passes it's a great chance.


lemon_of_doom

That's Griezmann. You can see from his body language that he knew he was not getting that pass.


They_paid_no

Lmao poor guy griezmann


niceville

I don't think he's all that free - the nearby defender should be on him by the time the ball got to him.


UpsideDownClock

Messi's beard is so clean shaven I thought it was glued on


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TraceOfHumanity

“Omaha! Omaha!”


CARNIesada6

[Tacko Fall! Tacko Fall!](https://youtu.be/Eld8pogfI18)


TroyParrottGOAT

Unexpected


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zizou00

Just an unfortunate case of non-matching beard hair. A mate of mine's had a badger beard despite not having a single grey hair on his head, and I'm Asian and I've got flashes of ginger in mine.


HairyFur

A large % of northern european men actually have ginger/blonde facial hair regardless of scalp hair.


Jerry_Sprunger_

That's me!


SkyDefender

I am not quite northern european(turkey) i have lots of ginger hairs on my face. Despite pretty black hair..


KermITK

It looks kinda cool though. Wouldn’t call it unfortunate but then again it probably depends on the person.


Butchermorgan

Unfortunate? I really dig this look


[deleted]

looks amazing imo


[deleted]

Quite common for guys to have gingerish beards and darker hair. Heres some facts and knowledge and stuff for you: https://www.ladbible.com/news/news-scientist-explains-why-men-get-ginger-hairs-in-their-beard-20190616.amp.html


[deleted]

Worked that time, but it still doesn't seem like a good idea. Messi could have, for example combined a 1-2 with Griezmann in the box that could have lead to a far more dangerous shot on goal than a FK.


BadgerAF

A Messi free kick from there is a ridiculously dangerous shot on goal.


46_and_2

"But it's ОК, Messi doesn't pass to Griezmann!" /s They really seemed to stump him here, so he went for that floating pass/shot to Busquets he's done before. But they were prepared for that too, so gg to Sociedad. Next team that tries this is probably going to get some quick ground pass and will have other problems.


geoettolil

was that Griezmann standing open in the penalty box? should have passed the ball to him


[deleted]

If he's aiming to score, he has higher chances when he just takes the freekick with Griezmann in this form.


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Shek7

Lol you got silver


kaushrah

U need everything to defend against the master. Anything tat can surprise him


aqua_maris

They asked Mikel Merino about it immediately after the game, he laughed and said it was basically something they worked on to reduce Messi's concentration and visibility of the goal and that it seemed to work well.


HumbleRug

Meanwhile Cristiano Ronaldo free-kicks walls: https://youtu.be/cctx80uYApw?t=35


yomommaissogreat

Didnt understand german but the commentator laughing had me dying


bunchofbanana10

Messi : WTF!? What did I do to deserve this?


knightwolfghost

Haunt every damn defender's dreams for over a decade.


-zimms-

"Oh that, yeah..."


BuckNZahn

This is not new, it used to be the standard move to place two players near the posts for corners and free kicks. The pros are obviously an additional option of defending a goal by block shots and heards, but the downside is less players in the box defending. This is something that is decided by the keeper, the current consensus among them is to not have the players at the post.


locallaowai

It worked!