Maresca jokes he'll use Delap Snr for game of throw

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca said he will send for Liam Delap's father and former Republic of Ireland international Rory if ever he decides to jump aboard the long throw bandwagon.

The tactic has seen a resurgence in the Premier League this season, with the Blues themselves on the receiving end when Brentford nicked a stoppage-time point off them in September following a colossal throw from Kevin Schade.

Top-flight defences have been oddly puzzled by how to effectively counter the chaos caused by balls chucked sometimes as far as their defensive six-yard box – as they were back when Delap senior tormented opponents with his huge reach whilst playing for Stoke between 2008 and 2013.

Delap played 11 times for the Republic between 1998 and 2004

Maresca said he was not yet ready to throw in his lot with those managers trying to hurl their way up the table but should that change, he knows who to call.

"If we don’t do it it’s probably because I don’t like it," he said. "But you need to evolve in football. We don’t plan to play long throw-ins but probably one day we will start.

"Ten years ago Liam’s dad was the king of long throw-ins. In case we decide to go for long throw-ins probably we will swap dad with son. Liam can go off and we’ll bring on his dad."

Former Potters midfielder Delap had been a schoolboy javelin champion and after the club were promoted he became famed for his long and unusually flat throws.

His most notable success came as Tony Pulis’s side beat Arsenal 2-1 in November 2008 with both goals coming from Delap deliveries.

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