The whole concept of kick-offs in football changed dramatically in the summer of 2016.Formally, it needed two players taking centre with the ball required to go forward.But that all changed.Now, only one player is needed to kick-off with the ball allowed to go backward.Pretty simple, right?All that’s needed is one player to just knock the ball back to a teammate and we’re off.However, Tony Pulis is still trying to get his head around the new system, it seems.That’s because his Middlesbrough side took probably the worst kick-off in football history against Leeds on Friday night.
Boro might have ran out 3-0 winners thanks to a Patrick Bamford hat-trick but they didn’t get the match off to a very good start.Captain Grant Leadbitter stood over the ball and, without looking, attempted to play an immediate ball to Adama Traore on the right wing.But Traore wasn’t quite on the same wavelength and, in truth, it just looked pretty ridiculous as Leadbitter just gave the ball straight to Leeds after a matter of seconds. We're not quite sure how it could get any worse than that...
WATCH: MIDDLESBROUGH'S TERRIBLE KICK-OFF
Take a look:
FOOTBALL FANS CALL IT 'THE WORST KICK-OFF EVER'
And here is how football fans reacted - with many claiming it was possibly the worst centre ever:
GETTING TRAORE ON THE BALL
In truth, it was probably a good idea to try and get the ball to Traore.
That’s because the former Barcelona youth player was in sensational form during the 3-0 victory.
The pacy winger terrorised Leeds during the match and his assist for Bamford’s second goal was just incredible.
Take a look:
The impressive win for Pulis’ side lifted them up to sixth and - therefore - in the playoff places.
If they want to get promoted to the Premier League, though, they might need to work on their kick-offs.