EPL Top Five: Saluting the Masters of Free Kicks

Throughout the years, the Premier League has been bestowed with some of the most spellbinding artifices of shooting the ball on goal. We call it the free kick.

The free kick takers had their own style and ruse, distinguishing them from all the other nine or 10 players on the team.

Not everybody could master taking free kicks, and if you watch some of the wondrous goals scored by the players, you will realize the sweetness and thrill of the shot.

The names of David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Les Ferdinand, Alan Shearer, Hasselbank, etc. have always been synonymous with free kicks, and among these favorites I have mentioned above I will put the former England captain at the top of the pile.

1. David Beckham

Arguably the best free kick taker in the history of English football, Beckham’s majestic curls into the top and bottom corner of the nets have been the eye candy of many football fans.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid winger had this classic apt for bending the ball in compliance with the aerodynamics, which the goalie could only admire after he would concede the goal. Not only his precision, but also the posture with which he goes over the dead balls, are truly fabulous.

He has managed around 70 to 80 goals solely from his free kicks.

As for his very best, it’s hard to single out one, but if you consider the timing and urgence of goal then certainly his last gasp equalizer against Greece in the WC’02 qualifiers beats the rest.

2. Thierry Henry

A surprise pick, but you have to give him a bow when you see his ball wrying around the corner of the air and sliding past the keeper into the net. He also liked to bend the ball like Beckham at times, but not as immaculate as Beck’s were.

It was really amazing to see his short run up and then watch him smash the ball hard, which coupled with the bend deceived the keeper to go past him.

3. Les Ferdinand

Highly controversial choice again from the reader’s perspective, but one thing I appreciated about this former Newcastle ace was the power of the shot.

He would hit the ball with all his body strength and it simply rocketed to the back of the net, dumbfounding the keeper. Though free kicks could not bring him many goals, he will be remembered for his short run up and lashing the ball through the wall into the net.

4. Frank Lampard

I am tempted to put Gianfranco Zola’s name here, but what’s so beguiling about this Englishman’s free kick is that you can hardly stop it even it’s right in front of you!

Confused?

He had his own style of hitting the ball hard, but made it dip so that in some cases it would fall right in front of the goalie and bounce over him to cross the goal line. On several occasions, he loved to drill the ball home as swiftly as he could with a sharp small bend and a deflection or two from the wall.

5. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink

The former Leeds and Chelsea striker resort to no special techniques while handling the dead ball situations, but he loved to score from free kicks quite often.

The Neophyte: Cristiano Ronaldo

My hands were itching to type about this boy’s free kick knackery—and it should certainly do after I watched an absolute peach of a physics-defying goal from the Portuguese whiz kid against Portsmouth.

He engineers his free kick like no one has ever done before—a short run up, a hit to the ball causing it to gain a momentary elevation in air, and a slide down the top corner of the net.

What’s more jaw-dropping about the free kick is that the ball automatically swayed wildly left to right as if the air was a springboard to it. Though his accuracy of the shots on goal isn’t that great, which he openly admitted last night, no one can stop the ball when it’s on target.

According to Sir Alex, the goal against Pompey was the best free kick he has ever seen in the EPL. I will not stand firm for his claim, but that’s blatantly one of the goals of the season.

Honourable Mentions

Steven Gerrard, Paul Ince, Eric Cantona, Van Persie, Gamst Pederson and the other guys who you reckon worth mentioning but haven’t impressed me that much.