A GAME OF THOW-INS
LIVERPOOL’S secret weapon outlined how a change in approach has thrown more weight behind their success this season.
Thomas Gronnemark was approached by Kop boss Jurgen Klopp four years ago to revolutionise how the club thought about throw-ins – and it has helped add more goals to their already impressive armoury.
The Dane, who was also a member of the Denmark bobsleigh team, previously held the Guinness World Record for the longest throw-in – 56 yards – which is from one goal to the halfway line.
Now the 46-year-old has become an integral part of a remarkable campaign that has already reaped two trophies this season.
Gronnemark revealed: “What I’m teaching Liverpool is that the nearest player could be every player on the pitch – we even had Alisson a couple of months ago taking a throw-in.
“We create space with the clever throw-in and have scored a lot of goals from there this season.
“For example, the third goal against Manchester City in the FA Cup semifinal. We did something specific there that we worked on in training.”
Gronnemark’s coaching is one of the ways Klopp has embraced innovation after he credited a team of German scientists for his side’s penalty-taking in their FA Cup shoot-out win over Chelsea last week.
Gronnemark pinpoints Andy Robertson’s increased throwing range as a benchmark of the techniques introduced shortly after the Reds’ 2018 Champions League Final defeat by Real Madrid.
He said: “When Liverpool had a throw-in on the left side, it would be him that took it and he would throw very, very short.
“That meant the opposition could put much more pressure on Andy and the team in general.
“Even though he will probably never be one of the world’s best throwers length-wise, it gave him over 500 square metres.”
Liverpool’s route back to the top began with an injury-ravaged Premier League title defence last season, but Gronnemark reveals they still comfortably topped the table for throw-in statistics.
“There were two things measured. First, the average seconds per throw-in and then how many percentages of all throw-ins are super-fast throw-ins under five seconds,” he added.
“It was only Chelsea who were close to us in the average, but we were far ahead of the others on super-fast throw-ins. All in all, we were much faster than all the other Premier League teams.
“The throw-in philosophy wasn’t affected by injuries we had last season.”
Since joining the backroom set-up, Gronnemark has witnessed first hand how Klopp has continually evolved Liverpool by creating an environment with success at its foundations.
True to the ideals of Anfield’s fabled Boot Room, the former athlete believes their greatest strength lies in the exchange of ideas which takes place within the inner sanctum.
He said: “That’s one of the many secrets around Liverpool’s success.
“A lot of people have knowledge, but they’re also willing to share it and bring in new knowledge, like when Jurgen called me in July 2018.
“The words ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ are not only a slogan for the fans. It’s something that’s done every day at Anfield.”