As a disciple of Pep Guardiola, Enzo Maresca is unlikely to have concentrated much on the art of the long throw as he built his coaching career.
Yet at Lincoln on Tuesday, the Chelsea boss will come up against an opponent who helped bring it back into fashion.
In game after game this season, Premier League clubs have been launching the ball from the touchlines.
Indeed, in their recent 2-2 draw at Brentford, Chelsea conceded a late equaliser by failing to deal with Kevin Schade’s fearsome delivery from the flank. Lincoln’s impressive young boss Michael Skubala surely took note.
With one of the lowest budgets in League One, Skubala and his team have consistently punched above their weight, and they are third in the table this season. Cutting edge techniques, including AI, help them succeed, and there is one element of which Skubala is particularly proud.
‘For the last two seasons, we have been working on a specific type of long throw,’ Skubala explains to Daily Mail Sport. ‘My coaching team and sports scientists have been involved in the process and we’ve used AI to inform our decisions too.
‘Now all of a sudden, it’s coming back at the highest level – but we brought in back two seasons ago. There is a strong rationale behind where and why we do it. There are different ways to score in the Premier League, and Under-21 football, and again in League One.
‘There is sometimes a ‘level bias’ when owners and sporting directors are looking at coaching appointments. But if you dig deeper, the coaching in League One is better than ever before, which is why you find teams relegated from the Championship don’t have it all their own way.
‘It’s about being adaptable. For a while in football, it felt as though everyone was expected to copy a certain way of playing – and that was Pep Guardiola’s way.
‘But at the time he had the biggest budget and the best players, so teams playing the same way were generally going to come off worse. Pep has always adapted, too, which is sometimes overlooked.
‘Maybe now the game is not so much about position and possession. It’s about efficiency, entries into the box, and there is more physicality and athleticism. Crystal Palace have shown that the game doesn’t have to be played in one way.’
It is worth pointing out that Lincoln have far more than long throws in their armoury. Skubala and his staff have used AI to record thousands of set pieces of all kinds and built the information into their training sessions.
Skubala, 42, made his senior coaching debut in one of the most difficult environments, in charge of a struggling Leeds United side at Old Trafford. Leeds led Manchester United 2-0 early in the game and eventually hung on for an impressive point. In just 90 minutes, Skubala had planted his flag in the ground.
The one-time England futsal coach is approaching his second anniversary as Lincoln boss and he has them just two points behind leaders Bradford. There has already been interest from Championship clubs and it seems inevitable that Skubala will coach at a higher level.
Now, though, his sights are on Chelsea, who added the Club World Cup to the Europa Conference League in an impressive first season in charge for Maresca.
By fielding a strong team throughout the Carabao Cup, he has bucked the trend of many EFL colleagues, who use the competition to field younger players and give their regulars are breather.
It has paid off spectacularly, with supporters relishing the chance to take on one of English football’s powerhouses, and Lincoln looking forward to an unexpected windfall.
Skubala added: ‘For a club of our size, playing a strong team in these games can be a huge benefit – as big as developing younger players. In the early stages of the season, legs are fresher and you can do it.
‘It’s different for a club like Chelsea, who are involved in the Champions League. But this is a great opportunity for us.’
