Top 10 Free-Kick specialists in 2014
The sight of a dead ball being placed some yards from goal strikes fear in hearts of opposition fans. The goalkeeper organizes his wall in a frenzy, the free-kick taker sizes up the distance and the available angles. And then, if the free-kick taker is endowed with the required technical brilliance and mental fortitudeCometh the hour, cometh the man!As demonstrated many times, free-kick specialist can turn a game on its head with a moments inspiration. There can be piledrivers that will go in no matter how well the goalkeeper is positioned (think Roberto Carlos), and then there can be works of art that curve in from an impossible angle leaving the keeper looking extremely hapless (think Ronaldinho).Teams often keep a free-kick specialist in their ranks to capitalize on these opportunities, because these specialists seem to be successful at beatingthe physics of a moving footballagain and again. What follows is a look at some of the most dangerous free-kick specialists who will be seen in action thisseason.
#10 Steven Gerrard
Gerrard is likely to take on complete responsibilities of free-kicks for Liverpool this season after the departure of Luis Suarez.
Gerrard has been responsible for some epic free kicks over the years, more so because he puts them in when his team really needs him to. He has a curler as well as a driver which he hits with an absolutely straight foot.
It was this goal against Sunderland last season, after which Gerrard was seen jokingly telling Suarez, “No more free kicks for you!”