In the studio of ESPN after the competition match between RKC Waalwijk and Ajax (0-1), it is about the phenomenon of the ‘wall girder’. Davy Klaassen regularly lies behind the wall during free kicks of the opponent around the penalty area, although he did not have to do that in Waalwijk. After the game won, Klaassen says that he has no problems with his remarkable role, despite the outside world sometimes being ‘giggly’ about it.
Klaassen turned in on Friday night Veronica Inside ridiculed for his role in the opposing team’s free kicks. With the equalizer of AS Roma, on Thursday evening in the Europa League, the midfielder of Ajax went to the ground behind the wall and that led to a lot of hilarity in the program. “Every player who lays there is a dick”, said Johan Derksen for example. Klaassen, however, does not find it annoying to be a wall girder. “I’m not doing it for fun, but I’m doing it to avoid a goal. If a ball is close to the box, you want to jump with the wall as high as possible. But then they can also shoot it underneath.”
Davy Klaassen as ‘wall girder’ in the match against AS Roma
Klaassen is supported by analysts Ronald de Boer and Kenneth Perez. “I’m not laughing about it. It looks silly, but I understand very well that you are going to lie down”, says De Boer. “A trainer will really look for a type of player who would do it. Koeman will not ask Messi and Pirlo will not ask Ronaldo. Ten Hag also not Tadic, I think. Tadic might do it,” but if you had to make a choice, you’d rather ask Klaassen. ” Perez would ‘like to know’ who the first wall girder ever was and why the trend originated. In the past, players like Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho have sometimes successfully shot a free kick under the wall, but according to Perez, such free kicks are not very common.
It cannot be said with certainty, but Marcelo Brozovic may have been the first ‘wall girder’ on October 24, 2018, or at least the first successful one. When Luis Suárez took a free kick during a Champions League match between Barcelona and Internazionale (2-0), Brozovic decided to lie under the wall at the last minute. He blocked the ball and received a lot of compliments in the international media for the ‘revolutionary’ way of defense. Even Messi, watching from the stands, was visibly impressed.
?? Leo Messi’s reaction ?? Marcelo Brozovic ?? A unique way to defend a free-kick …#UCL pic.twitter.com/IIYvcNn2Ua
– UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) October 30, 2018
“I do agree with Ronald: if the trainer had told me to lie down, I would have laid down”, Perez says. “I don’t laugh at all about it. If you get an assignment from your boss, you just do it. But I don’t see the added value of it. It strikes me that it has been a trend in the last five weeks. Would there is someone still lying there in three years? ” According to Erik ten Hag, the phenomenon of the wall beam is a trend that can be seen ‘everywhere’. “I saw it last night el Clásico again. Especially when the free kick is taken from close by, it is an effective means. “
“Usually I don’t have a very important role in a free kick”, Klaassen explains. “Today I happened to be in the wall, so today I would have been in the wall if a free kick was close. Then someone else would have lay down. I notice that people laugh about it, but it is to win. Even if I have to hang on the bar, I will. ” There was one dangerous free kick from RKC: Cyril Ngonge curled the ball onto the crossbar sixteen minutes before the end. Because of the distance to the goal, Ajax did not opt for a wall beam. “Then it makes no sense. Then they will not shoot it underneath,” said Klaassen.
The distance from the free kick of Cyril Ngonge, who ended up on the crossbar.