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Set-Piece - Shooting Specialist

I have noticed the throw-ins too. We just chuck it down the line and 90% of the time we lose possession even if we win the flick on. The opposition hardly ever concedes posession to us in that manner.

The corners we take are always the wrong trajectory, floated rather than whipped in. We also defend corners incredibly poorly.
Arsenal defended thirteen corners plus multiple free kicks against Liverpool yesterday without much trouble, their defence won everything.We struggled with two corners today,in fact Walker lost Rooney(the sheringham routine) shortly before the goal.

Where are our leaders/captain/manager telling Walker to get tighter and concentrate or putting another player on Rooney?

There is some serious issues with our set pieces, i mean when Rosicky is getting multiple free headers then you have a major problem!!

** And when is Harry going to tell Kaboul to stop taking all the free kicks within shooting range. It must be a year or two now, it's clear hes never gonna score,they either hit the wall or when they don't they are miles off target!! **
 
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if they dont practice set pieces, then its no surprise they are brick at defending them as well as attacking them
 
linnet_spur said:
Actually, thought our corners were surprisingly good today.
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WTF - in the first half they never beat the first man on the front post and it wasn't much better in the second half. Any new manager next season has to address this, it's a disgrace that its been able to carry on throughout the season.

For me VdV is the corner taker who poses the most threat but even he's been slack and wasteful.
 
How many corners and attacking free-kicks did we have yesterday? Loads. We are likely to get several of these per game. So why not make use of them? I reckon we score a maximum of about 5 goals per season from set-pieces, it's been the way since Anderton and Ziege left. Just think, if we got good at them we could score 10 more goals every season. In big six pointers, being good at them means a six point swing.

Last player to score from a direct free-kick for Spurs in the league without any deflections? Gareth Bale against Arsenal in 2007.
 
SUIYHA said:
How many corners and attacking free-kicks did we have yesterday? Loads. We are likely to get several of these per game. So why not make use of them? I reckon we score a maximum of about 5 goals per season from set-pieces, it's been the way since Anderton and Ziege left. Just think, if we got good at them we could score 10 more goals every season. In big six pointers, being good at them means a six point swing.

Last player to score from a direct free-kick for Spurs in the league without any deflections? Gareth Bale against Arsenal in 2007.
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We score five a season from set-pieces? News to me.
 
We need to tweet every single player to practice set pieces. Also need to email Harry Redknapp. Its pathetic that we cant do the basics. really sick and tired of it.. i dont even get excited when we have them!
 
The biggest problem for me is that, in games like yesterday, the set piece goal can make all the difference. As it did. They do nothing all game and then, from their first corner, they score. We would very rarely do that in a game in which we're under the cosh. And it can be the way to break down stubborn resistance from a team defending well.

I'm not all that bothered about direct freekicks. Sure we should score more of them with VDV and Bale in the team but scoring them is actually quite rare amongst all teams. All I'm asking for is corners and freekicks which clear the first man/wall. And to do so in a relatively quick fashion and not Modric's brick floated freekicks. And get Kaboul the fudge away from every freekick.

Also, some movement from throw ins. There was one in the 60th minute or so where the camera panned to the view BAE had. Modric was standing in front of him, trying to wriggle away from 2 Man utd players. Where were the rest of our players? Standing still, far away. What the fudge? Unsurprisingly, we lost possession.
 
I look forward to a bit of invention. Shape to shoot, chip it over the wall to the far post and have someone run around and smash it in. Alas the whole ref having to tell everyone 'you can't go till the whistle' hasn't had a positive effect on free kicks. It was a great tactic against sides like Man U who are too busy surrounding the ref with half a dozen players after they concede every foul. ](*,)
 
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Icelander said:
Gylfi effin' Sigur??sson. You could make the argument he's the best dead ball kicker in the Premier League. He's been excellent in the Championship, did very well in Germany before that idiot of a manager took over at Hoffenheim and he's been superb for Swansea - 2 assists and 3 goals in 7 games. He's only 22 so if we buy him in the summer he could replace Krancjar(if he wants first team football) and have him take over from VdV when he starts slowing down.

Now sure, alot of this is Icelandic bias, but i firmly believe he's going to be a big, big name in the coming years. http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/wigan-0-swansea-2-gylfi-sigurdsson-with-2-golazos/
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Was going to mention him myself,seen him a few times already down here in swansea and away,excellent corner taker,pings them in,scored a tidy free kick saturday.
Currently on loan from a german club and was with reading before that,he be an excellent addition to the squad,around 5/6 million.
 
Bale was good at freekicks at Southampton, and he bought that to spurs with the freekick against ars*nal, until he started trying to take them like Cristano Ronaldo for some reason!
 
Bentley, Bale, VDV, Modric, Kranjcar and Jenas all had reputations as good set piece takers before joining us. That's just amazing.
 
Not only are we crap at set pieces, but we also switch off regularly at the other end.

It has come to the point now where I expect nothing from them at all and we might as well just give the ball back to the other team?

Has Kaboul ever scored directly from a free kick for any club? He never even gets close!!
 
DubaiSpur said:
Bale was a genius when it came to free-kicks. VdV likewise. Modric was the chief set-piece expert for Dinamo, back in the day. We buy some really good dead-ball specialists. But they turn to brick within weeks of them arriving at the club. Probably lack of training, or focus on set-pieces. I mean, look at United's first goal; you had players running diagonally to draw defenders away, players running parallel to confuse the covering players near the spot, and a player blocking friedel to ensure his non-interference. Therefore, it's no great surprise that huge hole opened up in the center of defence for Rooney to nod it in without even having to jump. We do NONE of those things, because we never practise them in training. Whose fault is that?
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bigheadburton said:
Modric is absolutely dire at set pieces, he never has enough pace on his delivery. Look at Uniteds first goal, when have we ever whipped in a corner like that? And don't even get me started on the awfulness that is Kaboul taking free kicks..jesus!

Our best bet is probably to let Bale take most free kicks, he is the only one who can hit the target and have som pace on the ball. VDV's free kicks never trouble the keepers 'cause there is absolutely zero power in them.
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This and This.
 
ringo said:
It's interesting that BAE has said that he has stayed behind to practise free kicks.

Which suggest that he doesn't get much time during formal training to have a go. We are mugs if we do not practice free kicks and corners. and if we are doing then we need some new coaches/new ideas. I'd be interested to know what eprcentage of goals in the Prenmiership are scored from open play and what percentage are not.
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Last season we finished 16th in the league both for goals scored and conceded from corners:

20 - See how reliant the 20 Premier League teams were on corner goals during 2010-11. Overview. #optacornersday

20 - Now see which Premier League teams were most susceptible to corners in 2010-11. Tracked. #optacornersday

Perhaps no coincidence that Emirates Marketing Project are top of the table for goals scored from corners this season:

Twitter / @OptaJoe: 12/11 - Emirates Marketing Project have scored the most goals from corners (12), while Aston Villa have conceded the most via this route (11). Predictable.

Twitter / @OptaJoe: 13% - The percentage of goals in the Premier League scored from corners. Planned.
 
At least it's not just us. Chalie Adam scored plenty of free kicks last season and was also good taking corners, he's been utter dog brick at set pieces this season!
 
I do find it incredulous that the coaching team wouldn't address this, but also that the player wouldn't use their own initiative and practice corners and free kicks. Beckham for instance used to practice free kicks well after training for instance, why don't our players (or do they). And surely someone could say, - "hey gaffa, can we spend some time on corners"...

They have also trained and played as footballers for years, they should have the ability to beat the first man by now! I am definitely a fan of Harry and there are many positives about how we play - but this I just can't work out. What were Harry's other teams like at set plays? Portsmouth, West Ham etc.

Perhaps Spurs Lodge is a bit of a black hole with regards to set piece skills - the more time you spend there, the more you forget how to take a corner, or they perform some kind of rituals to banish them. Ridiculous as that sounds, somehow this seems more plausible than they just don't bother to practice them!
 
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benny said:
I do find it incredulous that the coaching team wouldn't address this, but also that the player wouldn't use their own initiative and practice corners and free kicks. Beckham for instance used to practice free kicks well after training for instance, why don't our players (or do they). And surely someone could say, - "hey gaffa, can we spend some time on corners"...

They have also trained and played as footballers for years, they should have the ability to beat the first man by now! I am definitely a fan of Harry and there are many positives about how we play - but this I just can't work out. What were Harry's other teams like at set plays? Portsmouth, West Ham etc.

Perhaps Spurs Lodge is a bit of a black hole with regards to set piece skills - the more time you spend there, the more you forget how to take a corner, or they perform some kind of rituals to banish them. Ridiculous as that sounds, somehow this seems more plausible than they just don't bother to practice them!
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There's this photo of BAE practising free-kicks taken not long ago and it's surely no coincidence that he at least hit the crossbar yesterday.

I can't recall seeing any photos of VdV, Bale or Modric staying behind to practice their set-pieces :-k
 
There was a point yesterday where we had a throw-in. I actually (much to my disgust) wished we had Rory Delap for that short moment! Such is the desperation.
 
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