One of the biggest joys in football is a free kick working out properly, one player stepping up to shoot the dead ball over the wall and curling it in or smashing it in past the goalkeeper, the method of free kick taking has changed a bit over the years, especially thanks to the Juninho (Lyon player) method which would see players hit the bottom of the ball and it floating about in the air and flummoxing goalkeepers.
Without much to say, here are the best free kick takers in the Premier League current.
Christian Eriksen
While most of the talk surrounding Tottenham has been about Harry Kane and his meteoric rise into England’s central striker, another player had been doing just as well for the team from London. Christian Eriksen actually had just as good a start before Kane took over with that free kick goal against West Ham. Eriksen not only has great swerve on his free kicks but has pace in it also, which allows him to beat goalkeepers on their side.
David Silva
The heartbeat of the Manchester City attack, while people have applauded Yaya Toure’s free kicks, some of them have been hit with the force of a rocket, David Silva is known for his guile and this is present in his free kicks also, although he doesn’t take as many free kicks as people would expect, he still is handy in that region and should be kept an eye out on for doing stuff with the ball.
Wayne Rooney
Is there anything that the Manchester United striker cannot do? Apart from being the Captain, he is one of their leading goal scorers and is set to become a legend at the club. Rooney has power and precision in his free kicks and has always looked to take a few. He might have actually scored more goals had it not been Cristiano Ronaldo taking away all those free kicks early on.
Alexis Sanchez
The Chilean has been on fire this season and even with the dead ball he has been excellent, while Mesut Ozil also has done rather brilliantly with the dead ball, the onus on all the attacks is on Sanchez and he has not disappointed. The Chilean is deadly with the ball in free kick regions and has scored a few goals this season from outside the box showing that there is more to the player than just those lung bursting runs into the box.
Juan Mata
The name might come as a surprise but Juan Mata has been named as the most successful Premier League free kick taker in the history of the Premier League. The Spaniard has the most successful free kick taker in terms of shots to goals and is ahead of players like David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo during their stints in the Premier League. Mata might not have scored as many free kicks this season but he still is part of this skilful list.