Liverpool have ranked the 4th worst for set piece goals (Credits: Imago Images)
The Premier League has entered a set-piece arms race since Mikel Arteta started using dead balls to his advantage at the Emirates.
Under Jürgen Klopp, The Reds had a decent set-piece record, as they didn’t concede a single goal from corners in the 2023-24 season.
Things changed under Arne Slot as the Dutch manager couldn’t bring all of his preferred staff to Anfield. Etiënne Reijnen, Slot’s set-piece coach at Feyenoord, was denied a work permit by the UK bureaucracy.
This has clearly led to some visible underpinnings in the Slot architecture. Liverpool ranked 4th worst in the league for capitalising on set pieces.
Luckily for Slot, this didn’t alter the path of his league-winning season as The Reds managed to score in 98% of their matches. Liverpool relied on 17.4% of their goals coming from set pieces last season.
However, the threat still looms as teams like Arsenal continue their reign as the set-piece masters of Europe. The Gunners hired set-piece coach Nicolas Jover in 2021, setting the benchmark for dead-ball expertise in the Premier League.
The North Londoners have scored 22 corner goals since the 2023/24 season, the highest in any elite European football league.
Quiz: Name the team Liverpool signed these players from in the 2010s
Liverpool hire specialist set-piece analyst
To fix this problem, Arne Slot searched within the bounds of The Isles, as The Reds turned to Southampton’s Lewis Mahoney as their set-piece analyst.
This decision came in just a few days after The Merseysiders promoted Aaron Briggs to become their set-piece coach. The English coach joined Liverpool in 2024 as their First Team Individual Development Coach.
His record includes serving as a match analyst and assistant manager at various clubs. Welshman Lewis Mahoney also has similar extensive analytical experience.
Arsenal, Brentford and Aston Villa have always been league leaders when it comes to set-pieces. Luckily for Slot, The Gunners lacked in other aspects to challenge The Reds last season, whereas The Bees and The Lions were facing problems of their own.
It’s just a natural transition for The Reds after getting some creative and brute force firepower upfront. Defensively too, The Reds haven’t been at their best as Slot expressed his worries regarding set-piece goals conceded in a handful of matches last season.
Dead balls are increasingly becoming a very exciting part of the beautiful game. From creative, chaotic beginnings, modern-day coaches are trying to turn it into a more composed format as the game progresses into a structurally chaotic stage.
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