Cast your mind back to early November and Newcastle United were being lauded for their innovative and successful set piece strategies as they shot up the Premier League. The start of this season saw the Magpies find the net against Fulham, Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace, Everton, Brentford and Aston Villa from well-worked corners and free kicks that had clearly been perfected on the training ground.
Toon boss Eddie Howe, in typical fashion, was quick to deflect praise onto someone else for the successful routines when quizzed on the subject. “It’s Jason Tindall, it’s Simon Weatherstone, Graeme Jones, Stephen Purches — they deserve a lot of credit for our innovative set plays," Howe said.
"It’s something we have always prided ourselves on and a lot of work goes into it. It’s not just the coaches, it’s the analysts as well. It’s really a collective effort. I’m delighted when they work, though not every one is going to, but the element of surprise is important in our routines.”
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However, despite that barrage of successful set piece attempts early in the campaign, the goals have since dried up from dead ball situations. This, despite the fact Newcastle boast one of the tallest teams in the league when Fabian Schar, Sven Botman, Dan Burn, Alexander Isak and Joelinton take to the field.
Since the Carabao Cup win over Leicester City in mid-January, Newcastle have only found the net once in 127 corner kicks. That strike coming from an unfortunate Theo Walcott own goal in the win over Southampton last month. It has actually been well over 150 attempts since a player in black and white has got on the end of a direct corner to score.
Of course, this is nothing new if you're a diehard Newcastle United supporter. The north east outfit once went 375 corners without finding the net during the Alan Pardew era.
However, the Premier League has moved on significantly since his spell on Tyneside and top flight clubs are now being punished if every minute detail is not scrutinised. Newcastle have done very well hiring analysts, scouts, boardroom bigwigs and more in recent months - but the need for a set piece specialist on the training pitch is clear.
The clubs Newcastle want to be in and around for the long haul - the likes of Tottenham, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City - have all splashed out to bring experienced coaches onto their training grounds to improve their luck from dead ball situations.
Spurs' set piece supremo Gianni Vio’s is rumoured to have a whopping 4,800 different routines in his arsenal. Tottenham's campaign may have ultimately been a disappointment but the start of the season saw the north London outfit flourish from corners and free kicks.
Manchester City have leant on the expertise of Carlos Vicens to make sure they are making the most of their set pieces. City scored 21 times from them in the Premier League and conceded just once last season. Vicens almost left the Etihad Stadium last summer to take a managerial role in the Netherlands before being persuaded to stay by Pep Guardiola.
Liverpool also made headlines when they hired the help of Thomas Gronnemark, the world’s first throw-in coach. Following his work with the Danish national bobsleigh team, he believed other sports were “light years ahead of football in regards to data, analysis, being innovative”.
Even clubs like Brentford are investing heavily in every single part of the backroom setup to ensure their top flight stay carries on. Simon Austin, of football analysis site The Training Ground Guru, told the i paper: “They have psychologists, sleep specialists, a ball-striking specialist. It’s all about marginal gains."
With Kieran Trippier currently struggling to make the most of his incredible dead ball ability, it's time for Newcastle to follow in the footsteps of their Premier League rivals with another crucial behind the scenes appointment this summer.
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