Image Credits: Imago Images
Liverpool’s season has effectively been split into two parts: before and after they fixed their set‑pieces.
In the first half of the campaign, Arne Slot’s side were a soft touch from dead balls to the point where it began to undermine their ambitions.
In Europe, the numbers looked fine – five goals scored and none conceded from set‑pieces, a healthy balance of 5.
But at home it was a different story: in a Premier League that Slot says has become “so much more about set pieces than it was last year”, Liverpool had scored just three and shipped 12 from those situations, a disastrous balance of -9. Slot even admitted it was “impossible” to win the league with figures like that.
Something had to give, and it did. Set‑piece coach Aaron Briggs, who had been handed responsibility over dead‑ball routines, left his role around the turn of the year as Liverpool looked for a new direction.
Into that void stepped a relatively low‑profile figure: Lewis Mahoney.
The 27‑year‑old Welshman arrived from Southampton in September as first‑team set‑piece analyst, having previously worked at Bristol Rovers and Swansea, but did most of his work away from the spotlight at the AXA Training Centre. After Briggs’ departure, Mahoney was promoted to a more prominent matchday role on the bench and effectively became the brains behind Liverpool’s revamped dead‑ball strategy.
The impact has been dramatic. Lewis Steel has reported that since Mahoney’s influence grew, Liverpool’s set‑piece balance has been much better.
Across all competitions since Mahoney was brought into the fold , there has been nine goals scored and only two conceded. That swing from -9 to +7 has not only tightened them up defensively but also turned corners and free‑kicks into a genuine weapon again, with Virgil van Dijk and others suddenly looking menacing in the opposition box.
Slot still frames it as a collective effort, but inside the camp there is a clear understanding that Mahoney’s meticulous analysis and creative routines have quietly transformed one of Liverpool’s biggest weaknesses into a strength.
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