Handball: Seventh outfielder? Stop the crap!

The new rule with the seventh fielder gets more and more weight and changes the handball. Many protagonists are in favour of abolishing them. SPOX spoke to Julen Aguinagalde and Magnus Wislander in Zagreb about the changes.

The European Championship in Croatia is history. What remains of the tournament in the Balkans is the first title for Spain and a disappointing German team, whose atmospheric disturbances between players and coaches will require a lot of work at DHB in the coming weeks.

If you look through tactical glasses at the 13. European Handball Championship, it is noticeable that one of the five rule changes decided by the IHF, which have been in force since the first World Handball Championships since 1 January 2009, has been adopted. The game is becoming more and more influential compared to the Olympic Games in 2016 and the World Cup in 2017: the seventh fielder.

Unlike in the past, when a player replaced for the goalkeeper had to wear a vest and only he could be swapped back for the keeper, any player can now leave the plate for the man between the posts.

This leads to much more extensive tactical possibilities. Unlike before the change, the other field player can be used to his full potential. Previously, the body wearer’s room for manoeuvre was limited, as he always had to be positioned in such a way that he would not have to make a long way to the bank if he lost a ball.

In any case, with the new regulation in Croatia, matches were shot and finally lost. Two examples: When Denmark beat Germany in the second half with their seventh fielder, there were plenty of rooms and superstar Mikkel Hansen couldn’t be stopped. It was the key to the victory of the Danes.

When the DHB team tried to catch up with Spain and put everything on the same page with their seventh fielder, the team finally broke up. It scored three goals in the orphaned goal.

Although the seventh fielder gives some teams advantages, the rule is anything but popular in handball circles. Stefan Kretzschmar was already “annoyed”by this during the games in Rio. Rear space shooter Julius Kühn called the tactical means at the European Championship “a gambling”.

“I prefer it the way it was before. I’m in favour of stopping this crap,”said Spain’s circular runner Julen Aguinagalde in a conversation with SPOX. And Magnus Wislander doesn’t think much of the change either.

“I personally don’t like the rule,”said Sweden’s legend to SPOX:”It influences the tempo in the game. As an attacking team, you play slower because you’re afraid of getting the ball into the empty goal after a mistake. Many people say yes, the rule makes handball more spectacular. I think it makes handball more boring.”

Another problem is that the one-on-one duels, these duels, which are an essential part of the sport, are decreasing. The team playing in overwhelming numbers plays with at least two rotors and, in the best case, lets the ball run until a gap in the defence opens up or an external player is free.

“The body-focused game is lost. And I’m someone who loves to get into the hustle and bustle. Aguinagalde said,”I want to clean up man against man at the circle, and the traditional way of playing defense is lost. You always have to speculate about rushing out at the right moment to catch the ball in a pass,”Wislander says.

There are also numerous situations in which the ball is thrown into the empty goal after conquest. This has little to do with handball for many observers and participants. It sometimes looks ridiculous, Aguinagalde even calls it “a humiliation”. However, it can also lead to spectacular actions, as Rune Dahmke’s unbelievable rescue act against Denmark showed.

The biggest point of criticism, however, is another. If a team receives a two-minute time penalty, a fielder is simply replaced for the goalkeeper. The disadvantage is gone, at least with that, it goes on in six against six.

“Where’s the punishment? In my opinion, this rule is not fair,”said Aguinagalde, who is a member of Poland’s top club Kielce. Wislander can only agree:”It’s really bad, that you won’t lose anything after a time penalty, because you can bring the sixth player.”

And the world handball player of the century continues:”Even though I don’t like this rule, as I said before, you have to accept it and take advantage of it. That’s all there is to it. I think you’ve seen the seventh outfielder of this championship being used very productively in some cases, but the game is being changed more and more negatively as a result.”

Nikolaj Jakobsen is one of the specialists. The 46-year-old coach successfully uses the seventh fielder in the Bundesliga with Rhein-Neckar Löwen and also with the Danish national team.

However, Jacobsen has already gambled away. In the European Championship semi-final against Sweden, a fielder replaced the goalkeeper in the second half of the extra time. Denmark lost the ball and got it in the empty goal. Sweden led with two goals ahead – the decision.

Especially for defeated opponents, however, the game with the seventh fielder can be an advantage. Dr. Rolf Brack, who has been training at Frisch Auf Göppingen in the meantime, noticed this many years ago and practiced it at HBW Balingen-Weilstetten at an above-average level.

“In the last two years we have played over 400 attacks with Balingen without a goalkeeper, where we had a 56 percent quota in seven against six. If you play this well, train well and bring the necessary courage, then attack rates of as much as 70 to 75 percent can arise in seven against six, even with mediocre teams, I think,”Brack once said in the SPOX interview.

All in all, however, Kretzschmar called for a predominantly negative attitude towards the new rule:”Six against six and the goalkeeper should not be allowed to leave the goal area”.

Aguinagalde can only agree:”If I take all the arguments for and against the seventh fielder together, I still come to the same conclusion: That’s bullshit!”.