Glenn Roeder says that the squad will practise dead ball situations
on a regular basis this season - and is convinced the rewards will
come.
West Ham beat Utrecht 4-3 on penalties last Saturday, bringing back memories of the famous image of Glenn consoling David Batty when he missed for England against Argentina in the World cup.
The argument about whether practice makes perfect was the subject of a TV documentary this week, and Glenn recalls:
"The David Batty one was the last one although Paul Ince also missed, and it was a very sad night."
And he adds:
"It was nice to be part of a British team winning a penalty competition the other day."
But it is free kick where the Hammers have not been reaping sufficient rewards, thinks Glenn, who says:
"It is an important part of football and the statistics will tell you that the percentage of goals scored from dead ball kicks is very high.
"We haven't worked on them too hard in the friendly games because the first few teams we will be playing will have had scouts watching us.
"We don't want to give too many clues away but this week we are working really hard on the set plays and hopefully we will get the benefit of that with a few goals.
"I don't think we got too many last year from corner kicks or wide free kicks, and it's something we could improve on.
"We will be practising them at least once a week during the season."
The Utrecht game was the last of the friendlies, and Glenn concludes:
"I wish we could have had a couple more games of that quality to be absolutely truthful.
"But the games were arranged quite hastily, and we would have put ourselves at greater risk if we had had more games and the squad is very stretched."
West Ham beat Utrecht 4-3 on penalties last Saturday, bringing back memories of the famous image of Glenn consoling David Batty when he missed for England against Argentina in the World cup.
The argument about whether practice makes perfect was the subject of a TV documentary this week, and Glenn recalls:
"The David Batty one was the last one although Paul Ince also missed, and it was a very sad night."
And he adds:
"It was nice to be part of a British team winning a penalty competition the other day."
But it is free kick where the Hammers have not been reaping sufficient rewards, thinks Glenn, who says:
"It is an important part of football and the statistics will tell you that the percentage of goals scored from dead ball kicks is very high.
"We haven't worked on them too hard in the friendly games because the first few teams we will be playing will have had scouts watching us.
"We don't want to give too many clues away but this week we are working really hard on the set plays and hopefully we will get the benefit of that with a few goals.
"I don't think we got too many last year from corner kicks or wide free kicks, and it's something we could improve on.
"We will be practising them at least once a week during the season."
The Utrecht game was the last of the friendlies, and Glenn concludes:
"I wish we could have had a couple more games of that quality to be absolutely truthful.
"But the games were arranged quite hastily, and we would have put ourselves at greater risk if we had had more games and the squad is very stretched."