Danny Fox fancied himself as having a long throw in his locker, but while he could ping a regular supply of 40-yard crossfield balls with his wand of a left foot, he did not have a left hand like a windmill to go with it.
Another former Forest defender, Jack Robinson — as he has subsequently demonstrated at Sheffield United — has a fairly decent chuck on him… but was only rarely asked to use it during his time at the City Ground.
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When it comes to the ability to deliver a long throw-in, the list of players who have demonstrated their ability to do so at Nottingham Forest is, fittingly, not very long.
Even so, what is absolutely certain is that there has never been anyone quite like Moussa Niakhate.
When the 27-year-old signed from Mainz, Forest knew they were getting a player who had the ability to deliver a long throw, even if this was not a primary reason why they paid £9million for his services. Forest’s scouting reports on the Senegal international had highlighted his capabilities long before he arrived in Nottingham. But he still managed to not only catch a few Forest fans by surprise — but also some rival managers.
It isn’t just the fact that Niakhate can deliver the ball right into the danger zone at the near post that has raised eyebrows — it is the manner in which he does it.
Forget the era of the forward flip when the thrower barrels into a forward roll before emerging from it to launch the ball like a missile.
With Niakhate, there is no long run-up and no real momentum. Just one or at the most two strides towards the touchline, a pause, an improbable arch of the back and then a whip-like motion as he propels his upper body forward like a spring finding its shape again, as the ball sails into the distance.
The technique is remarkable, can seem scientifically impossible — and the end result is becoming an increasingly useful weapon for Steve Cooper’s side.
At Forest, there has often been a degree of sniffiness about the use of the long throw. Fans have a level of expectation when it comes to doing things the Forest way; to playing a certain brand of football. Not just at Forest, but around the country, long throw-ins have often been bracketed in the same category as long-ball football. For those who hold notions of having a certain style or identity, it was just not quite the done thing.
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Even Steve Cooper did not initially envisage that it would be something Forest would regularly call upon. When Niakhate suffered a serious hamstring injury in only his second game for the club, back in August, it was an option Forest were robbed of either way. But since his return to fitness in March — at a time when Forest’s search for a regular supply of goals had become more urgent — his long throw has increasingly become a regular feature of their approach.
“It can be a well-used weapon. We do not want to be completely reliant on it. But if it adds to our ways of scoring goals, I do not think we should be naive enough not to use it,” says Cooper. “We have seen other teams this season winning games in the Premier League, with the help of long throws. Moussa has not been around for as much of the season as we would have liked but now he is and if there is something he can add to a game; if he can make a difference, we will use it.
“We might not use it in every game. But at least we know it is there if we need it.”
So what about that technique? Is it that unusual? What, if anything, sets Niakhate apart from others?
We asked Dr Neal Smith, head of biomechanics at the University of Chichester to assess the Moussa missile.
“The first thing is his hand position,” says Smith. “You will see most throw-ins taken with the hands placed either side of the ball, whereas he places them further around the back of the ball, behind it, to direct all the force forwards through the delivery.
“The second thing is the loading of the hip flexors, abdominals, and frontal shoulder muscles from the ‘take-back’ phase. This is quite common for all long throws, but for him this is exaggerated.
“It creates what we call a ‘stretch-shorten cycle’ where energy is stored and then released. The key here, is not to wait too long in the ‘back’ position or else this energy starts to reduce. So his stretch-shorten is pretty quick.
“Then the acceleration of the hands towards release is extremely quick. Big, strong shoulder and pectoral muscles help him and his technique here.
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“Most players’ arms and hands will start to slow down as they are about to release the ball; a sort of safety mechanism if you like to stop injury to the arms and shoulders. He just accelerates right through the release point and as a result has a very exaggerated follow-through where the arms rotate more than 200 degrees to give the arms chance to slow down after release.”
Niakhate’s long throw came to the fore at Anfield, where his ability to deliver the ball into dangerous areas was the catalyst for both Forest goals.
“The throw-ins created a problem for us. You can prepare for a lot in this game. But obviously we had not prepared well enough,” said Jurgen Klopp in the aftermath. “We knew about the threat but it was about how we dealt with the threat of the second and third ball.
“Throw-ins created a proper mess for us. Ibou Konate was a bit too much in a fight with whoever was around him, but how he dealt with the second ball, the third ball and the fourth ball was actually not even close to being good enough because they won all of them and always put the ball back into an area.
“That, in the end, caused us massive problems. As a player who is not directly involved, you need to read the situation better. There is one who fights for the ball and all the rest have to pick up where the next potential threat is.”
Niakhate’s throw was the catalyst for the first Forest goal at Anfield, even if it did not come by the traditional method of pitching the ball directly into the penalty area.
Niakhate loops the ball down the line for Taiwo Awoniyi, the Forest forward. He wins his battle, before feeding the ball into the path of Morgan Gibbs-White.
Neco Williams is making a darting run down the right flank… and Gibbs-White sees this.
Williams benefits from a bit of good fortune, as his shot takes a deflection, leaving keeper Alisson helpless — but he is also rewarded for his ambition, when he drives in a shot.
Forest’s second goal was a more traditional long-throw goal, as Niakhate moves over to the right to deliver the ball towards the near post.
When he is on the pitch, it is normally Felipe, the former Atletico Madrid defender, who is the target for Niakhate. That is the case here as he challenges Virgil van Dijk for the ball.
And, in the process, the ball is deflected perfectly into the path of Gibbs-White, who has found space for himself close to the penalty spot.
Gibbs-White still has work to do, but delivers a spectacular and precise volley into the corner of the net.
In all, Niakhate’s long throws have led to four direct attempts on goal. But that simple stat does not quite tell the whole story.
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When Niakhate loops the ball towards the near post, it promotes the same tantalising sense of possibility as a corner, whether it is the dominant figure of Felipe or skipper Joe Worrall trying to win the first ball.
At Aston Villa, it almost carved out a goal for Cheikhou Kouyate.
Felipe is again the Forest player loitering with intent at the near post.
And, amid a melee of players, the ball eventually falls to Kouyate.
Kouyate squeezes in a shot, but is denied by some alert goalkeeping.
“You can’t coach his technique, that just comes naturally,” says Cooper. “You can coach the next bit of it — the first contacts and the second contacts. You have a strategy around that. It is easier, as a technique, to throw a ball into a certain area than it can be to deliver a corner or a free kick.
“The probability of hitting the right area with the throw… I guess it is a little bit easier. If it is something we believe we can use in games, then we will. But we do not want to be 100 per cent reliant on it.
“At the same time, having said that, goals have been hard for us to come by; we are searching for different ways to get goals and if that helps, so be it.”
If Niakhate, the man with the spring-loaded spine, can help carve out another goal or two in the remaining three games, it could have a huge say in whether Forest hold on to their Premier League place.
(Top photo: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
