Long throws return to the Premier League as Brentford lead the resurgence
Brentford have scored seven goals from long throws since last season and are using multiple throwers and set-piece coaching to turn the tactic into a growing threat across the top flight.
Long throws have re-emerged as a regular attacking weapon in the Premier League, and Brentford have established themselves as the most prolific practitioners.
On Saturday against Chelsea, Kevin Schade's long throw led to Fabio Carvalho's late equaliser as Brentford rescued a 2-2 draw. Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sánchez also pushed a Schade throw over the bar earlier in the game, and the match featured a string of long throws from Michael Kayode and Schade that repeatedly unsettled the home defence.
Brentford have scored seven goals from long throws since the start of last season, five more than any other Premier League side, and last season produced 48 chances from such situations worth 7.2 expected goals, figures the club says underline the tactic's effectiveness. Brentford boss Keith Andrews, who served as the club's set-piece coach before his appointment as head coach in June, said there was a stigma attached to the method but defended its use. "I felt there's a little bit of snobbery in the game around scenarios like that," Andrews said. "If the big boys do it, then it seems to be accepted."
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca acknowledged the difficulty of defending repeated long throws and pointed to the personnel Brentford can call on. "First of all, try not to concede the throw-in," Maresca said. "They have Kayode, Jensen, Schade and even Pinnock who are strong on throw-ins." BBC Match of the Day pundit Ashley Williams, the former Wales captain, described long throws as "weirdly difficult [to defend]" and said teams should practise them more often. Former Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given called the tactic "refreshing" and said an old-school throw-into-the-mixer can "cause a bit of carnage."
Brentford's focus on set pieces has roots in Andrews's previous role and in targeted recruitment. The club signed Italian right-back Michael Kayode from Fiorentina in January, a move Andrews said was partly influenced by the player's ability to deliver long throws. Andrews added that the technique was prominent in the final eight to 10 games of last season, including Champions League fixtures, and that the club has worked to make multiple players capable of producing effective long throws.
The resurgence mirrors a wider trend across the top flight. Premier League clubs have increased their use of long throws: the average number of throws of at least 20 metres ending in the opposition box rose from 0.9 per game in 2020-21 to 1.5 in 2024-25. Long throws that led to goals also rose, from 0.03% in 2020-21 to 0.38% in 2024-25. In the opening game of this season, 11 of 20 teams launched at least one long throw into the opposition box, and before the Chelsea match there had been an average of three long throws into the penalty area per Premier League game — roughly double the average over the previous two seasons.
Clubs beyond Brentford have invested in specialist coaching to exploit and defend set-piece nuances. Liverpool employed Thomas Gronnemark as a throw-in specialist in 2018, and under his tutorship the club's possession from throw-ins reportedly rose from 45.4% to 68.4%, moving Liverpool from 18th to first in the league on that measure. Gronnemark said throw-ins were "underestimated — by coaches, players, commentators, fans — as something you should just do and see what happens."
Andrews said the aim is pragmatic: to find advantages that help score and prevent goals. "We'll always try and find ways to get results and win games. It's nice that we're able to have multiple players able to take long throws," he said. The technique's revival, supplemented by coaching and data on effectiveness, has prompted more teams to include long throws in match plans and to devote training time to both delivering and defending them.
As the season progresses, the role of long throws is likely to remain under scrutiny from opponents and analysts, with clubs balancing preparation between traditional set pieces and the renewed threat presented by well-executed throws into the box.