Manchester United came through a tough assignment in Merseyside with all three points, but former referee Mark Clattenburg is not a fan of Everton’s antics during the game.
Michael Carrick’s six-game unbeaten streak met one of its toughest matches yet as Everton played the quintessential David Moyes game.
There were a lot of crosses, direct play, aggression on set-pieces, and physical duels, which often crossed the line of acceptance.
What is your message to Michael Carrick after the win vs Everton?
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Amongst all those things, one aspect of Everton’s antics was particularly frustrating for Mark Clattenburg, who called for a ‘strong punishment’ to put a stop to it in an exclusive interaction with United in Focus.
Mark Clattenburg comes down hard on Everton’s corner antics
It’s not the first time a team has done it this season, nor will it be the last, but Everton’s corner tactics against United crossed even the most relaxed line.
Moyes’ side won ten corners in what was a concentrated effort to score a goal from a set-piece, and were it not for Senne Lammens’ heroics, they would have succeeded.
United were subjected to such treatment against Arsenal, too, and Clattenburg called it out at the time, but Everton arguably went a step further.
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Lammens was blocked and surrounded a good distance behind his own goal line, and Everton players pushed and prodded their markers with abandon, having no regard for where the ball is delivered.
Clattenburg said that it’s high time referees start punishing this strongly because that’s the only way it stops happening.
He said: “I have called many times in the past that a trend of holding and blocking at corner kicks needs to be clamped down on by referees. We recently saw in the match Everton v Manchester United, where the goalkeeper is clearly impeded, and defenders and attackers are clearly holding.
“I believe this trend has become more popular due to the influx of set-piece coaches, and we have seen even more goals from corner kicks compared to other seasons.
“Referees should understand the intentions of players and punish strongly, and this will solve the problem, and until this happens, we will continue to see goalkeepers being blocked and holding.”
Man Utd have shown there’s more to set-piece planning
United are one of the few teams who can call out this corner tactic without a hint of the pot calling the kettle black.
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Edwin van der Sar quotes on Senne Lammens
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That is because they are among the league leaders in goals from set-pieces, but have done so by curating harmonised set-piece routines.
This brute force way of just blockading the goalkeeper is a shortcut that should be clamped down on, and United have shown that there’s more to corner planning than just overloading the goalkeeper.
Be it Bryan Mbeumo’s goal against Spurs or Luke Shaw’s near-miss against West Ham, United consistently create good chances from corners by pulling out choreographed training routines.
Not only does that make for a much better viewing, but it also takes more effort and introduces an element of competence in an area that is becoming more and more about chaos and luck.
May Clattenburg’s advice be taken seriously by the decision-makers because the Premier League’s product quality is at stake.
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