Set-piece innovations and busting myths about corners: Specialist set-piece coach Andy Parslow talks us through his role | Football News

The rise of the specialist set-piece coach has been a key growth within the sport as soccer continues to seek for an edge. But what do they really do and who’re the most recent innovators? A dialog with Andy Parslow sheds some mild.

Parslow has labored as a restarts coach at Wimbledon and a specialist set-piece coach at Swansea, bettering the data of each groups. Initially, he skilled what he delicately refers to as some “cautious intrigue” among the many gamers, however that has modified.

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Football has modified. A extra refined perspective to set items has emerged. “I remember speaking to someone about man-to-man marking and they told me that they liked it because if there is a goal then you know who to blame,” Parslow tells Sky Sports.

“If you are starting off your set-piece process by thinking about who you are going to blame when it goes wrong, I think you are already onto a bit of a loser there. There is more thought going into it now which is why clubs are hiring full-time staff to deal with it.”

At the highest finish of the sport, each level will be price thousands and thousands, each purpose too. The funding in a specialist set-piece coach can reap big rewards. “It is a significant return that you can get on a relatively small investment, in my opinion,” says Parslow.

“It is not an untapped market but it is an underappreciated and slightly misunderstood market at the minute.” In soccer, as in life, there are those that worry change. Jurgen Klopp’s introduction of a throw-in coach sparked guffaws from sections of the media.

Parslow regards these marginal good points as simply a part of the sport, a part of the method of serving to groups to enhance their probability of success.

“You are not there to be a star,” insists Parslow. “You are there to help the team. It is not a glamorous role, just a function to help a team win a game of football.” He will not be concerned with innovation for the sake of it. “There is a danger in overcomplicating it,” he says.

“The corner spot never moves and the goal never moves. So, while there is not a limit to what you can do, there is probably a limit to what you need to do.” The goal stays to cease objectives at one finish and rating them on the different. His mantra for set items is easy.

“Be good at scoring bad goals.”

But how does a staff do this? The high quality of the supply is vital however largely out of the management of the coach. Much of Parslow’s focus is on what occurs subsequent. “What you need to work on as a coach is to think about where the ball could go next,” he says.

“If the cross is overhit, do we have someone there just in case? If it hits the first man and is headed out, do we have someone there to attack the ball quickly to keep the attack alive? We can take advantage of the chaos before the defence is organised properly.

“How many various zones are we protecting within the field? How many second-contact areas are we protecting to extend our chance of making an opportunity? If you might be simply counting on the proper routine, you’ll actually restrict your alternatives to attain.”

Dynamic movement inside the penalty box is vital.

“You must load the chances in your favour. If I’m a defender and my man runs from A to B, I’ve one resolution to make. If he begins on the again, runs two yards, checks, runs once more and modifications route earlier than going behind, all of a sudden I’ve 5 – 6 issues to assume about.

“Bear in mind, the ball is coming into the box and I need to know where that is going too. All of a sudden, you have increased the number of decisions, increased the probability that one of those decisions is wrong, and increased the probability of a chance.”

These modifications would possibly seem minor however “when you compound them, the gains can be a lot” – simply have a look at Wimbledon and Swansea.

In the 2021/22 season in League One, Wimbledon scored 18 objectives from set items, an 83 per cent enhance on the earlier season. “After that, I could probably have told them to do cartwheels in the box and they would have done it. They were all in.” Last season at Swansea, there was a six-fold enhance in set-piece objectives.

Currently working as a advisor to golf equipment throughout the Football League and past, Parslow is eager to return to a full-time role. “It is a bit like going to the gym, 15 minutes a day will see better returns than going one day for eight hours and never going again.”

In the meantime, he takes us through a few of his favorite set-piece innovations of the season up to now and busts some myths as he solutions 5 widespread questions about nook routines.

INNOVATIONS OF THE SEASON SO FAR

“One innovation I have enjoyed is teams having all 10 outfield players up for the corner, nobody back on the halfway line. A number of Premier League clubs are doing it, some in the Championship and I also saw Burton Albion do it in League One.

“This places strain on the defending staff as a result of whereas they wish to take care of the ball into the field, there are actually extra brief choices round and as soon as the ball is cleared there’s extra probability of it coming again in as a result of the sting of the field is ring-fenced.”

Regarding the delivery itself, causing defensive confusion helps. “One I like, one thing Brentford have performed nicely, and Tottenham did it final season, is lining up in a very ambiguous beginning place so you can’t learn what the routine goes to be,” says Parslow.

“Just earlier than the supply into the field, the gamers run into their positions and it’s a lot more durable for the markers to choose these runs up. I’d think about there’s much more panic among the many defenders, it heightens the stress. I like that innovation.”

Casemiro’s goal against Nottingham Forest stands out for Parslow. Bruno Fernandes played a square pass before moving to receive the return ball. “When play switches, all eyes observe the ball. Fernandes turns into the participant they’re least fearful about,” he explains.

“The ball has transferred to the opposite facet, that’s the sport now so he can transfer in unmarked. Also, Casemiro’s beginning place is offside so he’s already forward of the line of defense. When the ball is available in, he’s now onside for a simple end.

“Alexander Isak’s goal for Newcastle against Aston Villa was the same principle. They switch the angle of the free-kick, clip the ball up to Dan Burn and it is a tap in for Isak arriving from an offside position. I like changing the angle because it is just a new problem.

“Teams put together for that second when the ball is ready down. They have educated for it. Moving the purpose of assault modifications the mindset, it simply places extra questions within the thoughts. ‘What do I do now?’ You can not do it each time however it’s about maintaining that unpredictability.”

QUESTIONS ABOUT CORNERS EXPLAINED

Why do corners not beat the first defender?

A familiar frustration for fans is the sight of a cross failing to beat the defender at the near post. “I do know it annoys folks,” says Parslow. “But people aren’t good, people make errors. The supply will not be all the time going to be spot on. It is soccer. It occurs.”

The reason that corner takers whip the ball towards that near post at pace is because with risk comes reward. “Naturally, it’s as a result of the staff try to assault the close to submit. Generally, on the close to submit, should you win the primary contact it’s onerous to defend,” adds Parslow.

“When I communicate about defending with my markers, I all the time prioritise not permitting the opponent to get in entrance. If they get away from them behind, the ball nonetheless has to journey over their head and there’s time to regulate. Once you might be crushed in entrance, you might be performed.

“There is a much higher chance of a goal, which is why teams target it. But because that zone is so vulnerable, teams heavily prioritise protecting that zone. It is not an easy skill to get the delivery right in there but if you try eight times it might work on the ninth.”

Why have small gamers mark tall gamers?

West Ham’s opening purpose of their win over Chelsea in August, introduced this debate to the fore once more. “Conor Gallagher was marking Nayef Aguerd and he scored from James Ward-Prowse’s nook. I’m certain there have been questions why Gallagher was marking him.

“But he is not expected to win the header. He is expected to disrupt the momentum just enough so that the zones can come and win the header. In my view, for that goal, the zones had to do more to attack the ball. So there are these misconceptions around it.

“People ask why somebody small is marking somebody huge when you’ve gotten different huge gamers within the staff. It is as a result of the large gamers are of their zones. If you’ve gotten 5 gamers marking zonally, they’re there to win the primary contact. The markers are there to disrupt.”

Why not aim for the tallest player?

The obvious follow-up question is to ask why teams do not always aim for their tallest attacker. “Height isn’t any assure of high quality at attacking the ball. Some actually tall guys aren’t the most effective at heading and gamers who aren’t the most important who can actually assault it.”

The element of surprise is also important. “Bear in thoughts that going for the most important man might be the obvious route so it’s most likely the route that the opposition are most ready for. I want to take a look at the place we have now received the most important benefit.”

Sometimes, a player’s scoring record is not the most effective measure of their effectiveness from corners. “Last season, Millwall did brilliantly with Jake Cooper who’s about 6’5″ and he wins a significant amount of first contacts from corners,” says Parslow.

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“How they did it was that they would hang the ball high around the penalty spot and he would get that first contact but that was not where they were looking to score from. They had some very hungry strikers who knew that was their moment to devour the seconds.

“They scored so many objectives simply from these scrappy bits afterwards. That was the plan. They had been aiming for the most important man however to not rating, to draw extra folks, create extra chaos and then rating extra objectives from the results of it. Some groups do that very well.”

Why choose to take short corners?

“Firstly, it’s about what you’ve got in your staff to assault corners. You won’t have the most important staff so your energy won’t be placing the ball within the field and it might be the opponent’s energy if they’ve a staff of giants so it might not make a lot sense.

“So, you might do it to guard against your own weakness and you also might do it if there is a structural weakness in the opposition’s setup and taking a short corner could open up a better opportunity for you than just simply putting the ball into the box.”

Even the specter of the brief nook will be helpful if it creates uncertainty among the many opposition. “Brentford do this well. They always have two takers, usually Mathias Jensen and Bryan Mbeumo, and then a third player nearby or on the near edge of the box.

“Sometimes they nonetheless put the ball into the field however what that is doing is posing extra questions. Do you have interaction? How far do you go as a result of you realize can not get all the way in which there? You would possibly attempt to nick a number of extra yards. That then creates extra space within the field.”

Why not leave players up for corners?

If the short corner can lead to groans, another familiar complaint from fans is why their team brings back every player to defend a corner rather than leave attackers up the field to provide a counter-attacking threat. There is a logic to it, Parslow explains.

“A basic precept of soccer is that if you end up attacking you wish to create house, if you end up defending you wish to limit house. A great way to limit house is with our bodies. The extra our bodies contained in the 18-yard field, the much less house for attackers to run into.”

There are caveats. “The issue is that it could actually create visitors and make it more durable for defenders to assault the ball.” And, as ever, the reason why different teams have different approaches to defending corners will usually depend on the make-up of their team.

“It poses a query as a result of usually should you depart one up, groups will depart two again. But, once more, it comes right down to what you’ve gotten within the squad. There are gamers who simply can not assist the staff defensively and it could be higher to go away them on the midway line.”