Allardyce - Goalkeepers Are More An Attacking Force!

Last updated : 02 November 2007 By Footy Mad - Editor

Sam Allardyce: "Abdoulaye Faye can be our aerial dominance.

"In this game, there are more balls kicked by a goalkeeper now, either out of hands or off the floor, than ever in the history of the game because of the rule changes.

"When they stopped the goalie picking it up and throwing the ball out at the back, they actually changed a rule to stop more football being played from the back.

"The long kicks from the goalkeeper are more and more apparent in the game and because of the change in the ball, they are kicked far longer than ever before.

"A ball now drops in your own 18-yard box from a goalkeeper, which never used to be the case in my time, a goalkeeper could very rarely get it past the halfway line.

"That point of attack has to be one of the major areas that you stop first, and Abdoulaye Faye's aerial dominance is one of his strengths.

"In the game against Everton he won 21 headers, and that's an astonishing amount."