While Dominik Szoboszlai’s screamer in the 3-1 Carabao Cup third round tie against Tottenham Hotspur was undoubtedly an unbelievable goal, was it an unbelievable volley?
Wednesday’s wonder strike has re-sparked an age-old debate over one of football’s hardest skills, with the Liverpool squad having their say on whether Szoboszlai’s strike was a volley or a half volley.
In a video published by Liverpool on their social media channels, the squad were split on the controversial topic, with the vote finishing 10-9 in favour of the goal being classified as a volley.
However, the inconsistencies between the players’ perceived definitions of the two may have led to a few uninformed votes. So, what does the dictionary say?
Bad news volley voters. As a noun, Oxford describes a volley as: “In some sports, for example tennis or football, a hit or kick of the ball before it touches the ground”.
With the Hungarian goal clearly bouncing after he receives possession, that officially rules it out as being a volley. I’m sure the Liverpool midfielder will be gutted.
However, I wouldn’t celebrate too soon half-volley voters, although I’m sure the VAR era has taught you that already. Oxford defines a half volley as: “In tennis and football, a shot or kick immediately after the ball has bounced”.
While this is more subjective, Szoboszlai catches his strike as the ball is descending, compared to catching it immediately after it bounces – the technique we associate with some of the great half-volleys.
While by dictionary definition Anfield didn’t see a volley or half-volley on Tuesday night, it has still seen some great examples of both over the years.
The most famous case of a perfectly executed half-volley the Kop End has ever seen has to be Steven Gerrard’s wonder strike against Olympiacos back in 2004.
With the clock ticking, the ball fell to the Liverpool skipper, who connected with it beautifully just as it rose centimetres above the Anfield turf. Now that’s what you call a half-volley.
With the difficult technique required to pull off a full volley, the list of Anfield examples is inevitably sparser. However, it’s captain fantastic once again who provided a brilliant example with his left-footed volley against Manchester United in September 2012.
After some brilliant full-back work from Glen Johnson, the ball broke to Gerrard in the box, with Liverpool’s captain controlling it on his chest before volleying home, without a bounce.
So, while Dominic Szoboszlai’s strike drew Gerrard-like comparisons, it wasn’t technically a Gerrard-like Volley - not according to the dictionary anyway.
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