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Set Piece Goals (or lack of them)


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Would people be happier with the current football if we stuck one or two in from a set-piece each game? I certainly would. Pulis's former sides used to strike fear into teams when they won a corner - so why are ours so toothless? Our set-pieces have gone from over-hyped, to disappointing, to actively poor.

 

Why should we care...

With 23 goals in 21 games, you have to scroll down the table to Hull in 19th place to find a team that has scored fewer goals than Boro this season. We also rank 18th in the league for shots on target. Even the most loyal Pulis supporter must be able to see that we will not score enough to challenge for autos at this rate, and with no clean sheet in the last four games - we simply need to start scoring. Improving the rate from set-pieces seems like the most realistic way to start.

 

Is it really a problem...

First off - do we have enough corners for this to even be a factor? Yes, in short. We have an average of 6 corners a game - the 5th highest in the league. However, we rank 21st for goals from set-pieces, with only four all season. To put that in perspective, Villa have 15. Diminutive Brentford have 10. Woeful Reading have 8, double that of Boro. It's definitely a problem!

 

I thought Pulis sides were quite good at corners though...?

They sure were. Pulis's WBA side scored 18 set piece goals in the Premier League in his last full season, with 14 coming from corners. Almost half of their total goals tally of 39. They scored from almost a quarter of all their set-pieces. This wasn't down to chance - it came from Pulis and the players working hard on the training ground. Simple tactics, executed well. They were brilliant at spreading big players around the box and using runners to create space for them to attack. So why has Pulis not been able to transfer even a fraction of that devastating weapon to Middlesbrough? He must be putting our players through the same drills as he did at WBA and employing the same tactics around set-pieces. Right...?

 

Maybe our players are just bad at heading...

Did Pulis just have better players at WBA? Probably, but they were up against better defences too. And they weren't that great, as they went down the year after we did. This season, Ayala, Flint, Batth, Fry, Shotton, and Friend have a combined goals tally of three at the halfway stage of the season. And someone may correct me, but I believe only one of those was headed. Last season, Ayala and Flint scored 7 and 8 respectively - so we know that at least two of our players are lethal from set plays. Fry, Shotton, Friend, and Batth are less prolific but all big enough to cause problems. Add Hugill into the mix too who is meant to be an aerial specialist and we have more than enough height and aerial prowess. So why don't they score? 

 

Maybe the corners are rubbish...

From my view from the stands and the TV - the deliveries have been the main problem. Have we missed Traore's corners that much? Wing is the only player who seems to have whipped in a decent set piece this year. Surely players with the experience of Downing or Howson, or Braithwaite should be able to take a corner or a free-kick? What are they practising in training? It must be driving Pulis insane, and I can't believe he hasn't come up with an answer yet. The amount of floated corners into the keepers arms or scuffed ones straight at the first man are getting beyond infuriating for everyone - surely the players themselves too. This has to be priority number 1 to sort on the training ground - but I haven't heard Pulis mention set-pieces as a factor in our goal-scoring woes in one interview this season. 

 

So what's the answer...

  • Bad luck? The goals will come eventually?
  • Sign better headers of the ball?
  • Sign a set-piece specialist?
  • Work harder on the training ground?

 

I would be very interested to hear people's thoughts on the subject, even if its just to tell me to get a life :)

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Its all about delivery, at the start of the season we had Wing putting in the crosses and I think we scored 3 from corners in the first 5 games.

Since Downing and Howson have been taking them they have been nothing short of terrible. That said Flint has missed about half a dozen headers which he should have at least got on target.

 

Take a look at Brentford, they seem to be creative with their corner routines even if they don't have a significant amount of height or power in the box.

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Its all about delivery, at the start of the season we had Wing putting in the crosses and I think we scored 3 from corners in the first 5 games.

Since Downing and Howson have been taking them they have been nothing short of terrible. That said Flint has missed about half a dozen headers which he should have at least got on target.

 

Take a look at Brentford, they seem to be creative with their corner routines even if they don't have a significant amount of height or power in the box.

 

I'm inclined to agree that delivery is the main issue. But then I wonder why on earth nothing is improving... they must have identified it and be working on it?

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Definitely delivery is the main issue. I wonder if opposing managers are just setting there teams up better against us too, we are extremely one dimensional. 

 

I'd also suggest where as Pulis had success with set pieces in the prem, the general type of cb you see in the championship (like Flint and Ayala) would much prefer to deal with that type of play rather than slick movement and positional type defending. We are essentially playing into other teams hands if that makes sense.

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Good thread SS. I think hard work on the training ground is the answer although I do agree with Dan1234 above in that set pieces are usually meat and drink to the championship centre backs.

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I think it is a bit down to bad luck and our goal scoring form should pick up at some point. We have the 7th highest amount of shots per game yet we're 18th for shots on target... Are we a team that's just awful at shooting or is it that the chances we create lead to speculative shots?

 

We'll never be prolific but even a small boost in goals should see us become competitive again, as long as the defence remains water tight...

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I think Dan1234 has got it right about us being one dimensional, any opposing manager who's done his homework knows what his getting with a Pulis team, the danger is ball launched into the box from throw ins for the big CB's to get onto same with corners. We're not a hard team to work out.

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But surely Premier League teams knew what to expect from West Brom too? And teams still weren't able to stop them. Or Pulis's Stoke.

 

Interesting what a few have said about Championship defenders being happier defending his kind of tactics... although Villa have managed to score 15 so it is clearly possible! Maybe we should have a look at what they're doing.

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But surely Premier League teams knew what to expect from West Brom too? And teams still weren't able to stop them. Or Pulis's Stoke.

 

Interesting what a few have said about Championship defenders being happier defending his kind of tactics... although Villa have managed to score 15 so it is clearly possible! Maybe we should have a look at what they're doing.

 

But I'd say it's one thing knowing how to stop it and one thing having the players to do it. Pretty much every current championship team has your typical low ability but huge, will put his head anywhere center half, not only centre half's but other team members of similar type.

When it comes to villa the big one for starters is the quality of the set pieces which I'd imagine is way higher than ours, also as I said earlier about us being extremely one dimensional, you could say directly the opposite about villa. They have threats from everywhere.

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It's about putting a good delivery into the box which no one for us seems to be able to do.

 

That's the top and bottom of it really, hopefully that will be addressed next month in the window.

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It's about putting a good delivery into the box which no one for us seems to be able to do.

 

That's the top and bottom of it really, hopefully that will be addressed next month in the window.

 

Has to be priority no.1 for me in the transfer window. Someone to take corners and free kicks from the left and the right or put in a decent ball from deep would soon become our most important player.

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It's about putting a good delivery into the box which no one for us seems to be able to do.

 

That's the top and bottom of it really, hopefully that will be addressed next month in the window.

 

Has to be priority no.1 for me in the transfer window. Someone to take corners and free kicks from the left and the right or put in a decent ball from deep would soon become our most important player.

 

Yeah probably our only playmaker! I wonder if we could get Andy Hinchcliffe out of retirement, he put a great corner into the box.

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It's about putting a good delivery into the box which no one for us seems to be able to do.

 

That's the top and bottom of it really, hopefully that will be addressed next month in the window.

 

Has to be priority no.1 for me in the transfer window. Someone to take corners and free kicks from the left and the right or put in a decent ball from deep would soon become our most important player.

 

Or, alternatively, buy some decent footballers instead  :idea:

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It's about putting a good delivery into the box which no one for us seems to be able to do.

 

That's the top and bottom of it really, hopefully that will be addressed next month in the window.

 

Has to be priority no.1 for me in the transfer window. Someone to take corners and free kicks from the left and the right or put in a decent ball from deep would soon become our most important player.

 

Or, alternatively, buy some decent footballers instead  :idea:

 

No!

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It's about putting a good delivery into the box which no one for us seems to be able to do.

 

That's the top and bottom of it really, hopefully that will be addressed next month in the window.

 

Has to be priority no.1 for me in the transfer window. Someone to take corners and free kicks from the left and the right or put in a decent ball from deep would soon become our most important player.

 

Or, alternatively, buy some decent footballers instead  :idea:

 

No!

 

:crying:

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