What is it with us and set pieces? Our record.

[worcestersauce]

What is it with us and set pieces? Do we ever practice them?
No doubt you thought this thread was about us defending set pieces but it’s not, teams sometimes fall victim to set pieces and all teams score from them, or so I thought. Let me ask a couple of quick questions, off the top of your head this season :-
How many goals have we scored from corners?
How many goals have we scored from free kicks?
No need to look it up I’ll tell you we have scored two goals from corners, although both were against Young Boys at the start of the season, and absolutely none from free kicks not directly from a shot or from a ball into the box or even a quick pass played forward, nothing, nada absolutely sod all now how can that be right for a Champions League team? We have not scored one set piece goal in the Premier League all season and that just isn’t good enough hence my question do we ever practice set pieces in training if not why not and if we do what is going wrong in matches?
Is it that we never play for free kicks and corners? Do we try to stay on our feet and not go down? Do we not get into the opposition’s half enough or do referees just not give us decisions? My mind goes back to the Wigan game when we seem to have corner after corner and yet couldn’t convert one into a goal, let’s be honest this has to be a training ground problem does it not? Can anyone think of a set piece that they recognize from where we’ve used it before? I can’t anymore and that is costing us big time especially in the situation we are in where teams defend in strength against us. Who is responsible, Harry, or his team of coaches & trainers?
By the way in comparison we have conceded two from corners and four from free kicks!!!

 

[Legend10]

Wasn't Hudds goal at Fulham from a corner?

 

[Marty]

A defender on the post would've stopped Vidic's header yesterday. It might sound controversial but I'd gladly let a couple of opponents go unmarked if it meant we had a man on each post for free kicks that we know will be swung in like that.

We do need to practice attacking free kicks and corners as well but we don't have a gang of brilliant headers of the ball really. Our two CBs will always be threats but apart from them, if Crouch is off we have nobody else who can head the damn thing, and even Crouchy isn't particularly good at set pieces as he tends to get either double marked so he can't reach the ball or penalised for just being tall.

 

[worcestersauce]

Wasn't Hudds goal at Fulham from a corner?

It was you're right it went out to him and he shot so one goal from a corner, a little non standard but I'll give you that one but it's still not good enough though is it, one corner all season and still no free kicks at all.

 

[Kyras]

A defender on the post would've stopped Vidic's header yesterday. It might sound controversial but I'd gladly let a couple of opponents go unmarked if it meant we had a man on each post for free kicks that we know will be swung in like that.

You simply can not afford to put men on the posts from free kicks because of the offside rule. The group of players will have to become far too deep, crowding the goalkeeper and causing havoc in the box every single time. We should look to play a higher line than most from free kicks because Gomes does not deal well with being crowded. It's not the fact that there will be unmarked players, as it is obviously standard practice for corners, it's the consideration for offside.