Last summer, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, then Manchester United manager, decided to hire a dedicated set-piece coach to try to improve the team's serious lack of ability to score goals in set-pieces. Eric Ramsey, who eventually played for Chelsea, became the first set-piece coach in the red devils' history, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer praised him as an innovative coach with a new concept, which was once expected by the outside world. But now that the new season is halfway through, how effective is it? Little to no avail!
So far, United have played 22 league rounds and won a total of 110 corners, but have not scored a single goal. The last time a corner kick was scored was in March 2020. He has won a total of 63 free kick opportunities and scored only 1 goal, all of which rank first from the bottom in the Premier League.
We know that goaling from set-pieces is the most direct way to score in football and a weapon to break through dense defenses. The number of set-pieces that each team can get in a game is generally about 10, but the hard work of organizing the attack to create only about 10 shooting opportunities in the whole game. While United were able to score 0 goals in 110 consecutive corner kicks and just 1 goal in 63 free kicks, we really don't know what this set-piece expert Eric Ramsey has brought to United.
In stark contrast, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea have all scored at least nine goals from set-pieces this season. Liverpool had 12 (9 from corners) and Manchester City and Chelsea had 9 each. Here to focus on Liverpool, as early as 2018 Klopp realized the importance of set-pieces, he innovatively hired a dedicated out-of-bounds coach - Thomas Gronemark. He is the world record holder for out-of-bounds balls, throwing 51.33 meters of out-of-bounds balls. Klopp's purpose is clear and he hopes The addition of Gronemark could add more variation to Liverpool's set-pieces.
Such a move was ridiculed at the time. In response, Klopp explains: "This is to let the players get the best and most professional advice, the more experts you have around you, the better, when we use these experts, I have to be the one to make the decision, but how many experts you have is not enough." ”
Klopp paid close attention to the details in the set-piece session, constantly innovating and tempering tactically, and reaping rich rewards. Liverpool's set-piece goals have consistently been among the highest in the Premier League over the past few seasons, providing them with a very important attacking tool.
Of course, liverpool's strong set-pieces are not only professional and meticulous training, but also inseparable from Robertson and Alexander-Arnold such as strong passing full-backs. It is no exaggeration to say that Klopp has the two full-backs with the strongest passing ability in the Premier League, and in the past there have been scenes where Arnold and Robertson occupy the top two in the Premier League assist list. This season, this grand occasion is expected to return. As of now, Arnold is at the top of the Premier League assists list with 10 assists, robertson is 3rd and 2nd in 8 assists. Salah, also from Liverpool, 9 times.
But United also have passers with good footwork, such as B Fee. In addition, Tres is also a full-back known for his assist ability. In addition, Liverpool have a top centre-back with a header ability like Van Dijk, and Manchester United are no exception. Maguire is a well-known "air bully", and Varane also has a sense of height and grabbing points, and has a strong header ability. Therefore, United's ability to score goals on set-pieces is unbearable, and it must be that the training link is not in place.
Their main problem can be seen from United's set-piece attack this season: 1. Lack of running inside the penalty area. Almost all players stand still and wait for the pass, thus making the opponent's watchful eye very targeted. Liverpool, on the other hand, have changed a lot. Cover, fake run, back run, so that the opponent can not be defended; 2. Corner ball drop point difference. United's corner kicks were either penalties or destroyed, and rarely were comfortably passed.
So far, Manchester United has scored 31 goals in the position battle, which is not much different from the top teams in the table such as Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, and the gap in the set-pieces is quite large. It can be seen that if Manchester United can improve in this link, then there will be an essential improvement in breaking the dense defensive link. Lonnick attaches great importance to set-piece attacks, is aware of the team's problems and says it will focus on improving in the future. We'll see how it works.