Set-pieces: Why are they so important? What is the actual role as a specified coach? How much can they improve a team?
Lets delve into the importance of set-pieces....
Good Evening Ladies and Gents,
Today I am taking a look at how important set-pieces are to a team and how much they can elevate a team.
So far this season Chelsea rank 11th for both scoring from and conceding from set pieces, scoring 7 goals and also conceding 7 goals, effectively they cancel each other out, which is not good.
A set-piece should be a vital tool that clubs use to to maximise attacking chances and the best teams score multiple goals from them per season and barely concede from them.
If you look at Manchester City, they have scored 11 and conceded just 2, which is a plus 9 for them from set-pieces in the league so far this season. Arsenal have the best different in the league of plus 13, conceding 5 and scoring 18!! That is the main reason they stayed in the title race through the back of 2023, when there attackers couldn’t score, the team stepped up and used set pieces to their advantage.
Over the last few seasons we have averaged around plus 5/6 goals scored from set-pieces, which isn’t a bad average but to really elevate and basically score more goals we need to be doubling that average.
The obvious way to do that is to higher a ‘set-piece specialist’ but also ensure you have enough players of a decent height and physical presence in order to make the most of them.
So now we know that Chelsea have hired Bernardo Cueva, starting from this summer, we have hired a set-piece specialist. That is part one ticked off the list. I think from reviewing him he is an experienced analyst who now specialises in set-pieces.
Brentford’s goal scoring figures since Cueva has been a specialist coach have progressed nicely, going from 12 to 18 goals per season and going from conceding 15 to conceding 10-12. They still only average a plus of around 5 per season currently but that has changed from an average of minus 2/3 per season in Cueva’s 2 full seasons so far.
Each season Cueva has managed to slightly change the figures in a positive manner, which to me is excellent, it means he is innovative and can continue to create ideas, he has managed to strengthen them defensively whilst make them more potent from attacking set pieces.
His main job is to keep being creative, keep innovating whilst also keeping the defensive side solid.
This article is an excellent read on how Brentford made the most of set-pieces and the varying styles of set-pieces they used in the 2022/23 season.
https://totalfootballanalysis.com/set-piece-analysis/dissecting-brentford-brilliant-corner-routines-2022-23-set-piece-analysis-tactics
I am happy with the appointment and think that he will continue to improve and innovate set-pieces and hopefully help us make the most of attacking set-pieces and solidify us defensively.
Thanks for reading
Luke Rushbrook
I think set pieces are massively important, and should include every single dead-ball. Think how many throw-ins there are each match. Coached properly with innovative ideas, it can do wonders.
But with the stats on City and Arsenal, they 'probably' have conceded the fewest number of set pieces this season. Within reason, the more set pieces you conceded, the more likely you are to concede a goal. The more set pieces you are awarded, the more likely you are to score a goal.
Still massively important, as we saw a few years ago when we scored a lot of set pieces under Lampard. During the JT era, we would never expect to concede from a set piece, whereas now I expect us to concede on every corner.