Bizarrely, some of the very best free-kick takers in the world right now are English.
We’ve come a long way since Harry Kane was taking set-pieces at Euro 2016.
James Maddison is undoubtedly one of the best dead-ball strikers in the Premier League, and the Tottenham midfielder has named three further English players as his favourite free-kick takers in the division at the moment.
Indeed, Maddison named Kieran Trippier, James Ward-Prowse and Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold as his three favourite free-kick takers in the league right now, claiming that he likes all three players due to their technique and their ability to hit the ball with pace.
Maddison loves Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free kicks
Maddison spoke about the three set-piece specialists.
“Too much pace on it. Pace is the key. If you look at the best free-kick takers in the Premier League you’re looking at, for me, Trippier, Trent, Ward-Prowse and De Bruyne hits it a bit differently, but those three are my three favourite and all of those players hit the ball with so much pace,” Maddison said.
Spoilt for choice
We could debate for days about which of these players is the best set-piece taker, but the fact of the matter is that England are lucky to have this sort of selection.
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Indeed, Gareth Southgate is spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing who should take the set plays for England, and that makes the Three Lions incredibly dangerous from any position on the pitch.
If England are to win a major tournament in the coming years, it may come down to the finest of margins, and set-pieces can often be the difference between victory and defeat in the biggest of games.
England may well have the best roster of set-piece specialists in world football right now.