Set-pieces are back in fashion at the elite level of football, and Liverpool are one of many sides buying into them.
The Reds appointed Aaron Briggs as their new set-piece coach back in September, perhaps wary of the fact Arsenal have scored 50 goals from corners in the Premier League since the start of the 2022/23 campaign.
In the same space of time, Liverpool have netted 32.
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Based on what Lewis Steele has noticed in training – however – Liverpool fans can forget about emulating Arsenal from dead ball situations.
Liverpool fail to score a single set-piece in training
After watching one training session, the Daily Mail journalist said: “They just hired the set-piece coach Aaron Briggs. I was watching him in training a few months ago and they were practicing the set-pieces, doing all the long throws and all that – they didn’t score a single one when they were doing that practice run.”
Considering Arsenal – a direct rival for the Premier League title – are winning crucial points with goals from these situations, Liverpool need to get up to speed as soon as possible.
Not only the Gunners, but several sides are taking full advantage of these scenarios, as Liverpool found out recently when Eddie Nketiah scored a 97th minute winner against them for Crystal Palace from a long throw.
Jamie Carragher comments now make a lot more sense
Jamie Carragher strangely complained about the returning trend of long throws in the Premier League recently, saying on Sky Sports Monday Night Football: “I was frustrated with every team almost trying to play the same type of football… I think we’ve gone too far back in terms of set plays, long throw-ins, and kick-offs into the corner flag.”
We highly doubt the man born in Bootle would be saying that if Liverpool were scoring crucial goals using these tactics themselves.
Carragher, who Arsenal have stunned, is a well-connected man at Liverpool and, if Briggs is struggling to make an impact in his role as set-piece coach, the Sky Sports pundit would presumably know about it.
That could explain why he was so dismissive of the long throw-in tactic, considering it is currently a move that is harming Liverpool more than helping them.