Seeing as we tend to have 4 centre backs on the pitch at a time we should be a lot more lethal from set pieces then we yet the delivery is terrible. I'm not talking about having a go at goal, I think Oscar is more then capable of lining up a decent effort, but corners and wide free kicks, PSG were always a danger from them and causing chaos where we really don't seem all that lethal.

 

In Jose's first spell we could win matches of the back of our set piece and it was a great way of breaking down a stubborn defence who park the bus.... almost seemed like we practiced them. This time around meh

 

Lack of consistency. Even Lamps, who used to deliver quality almost every time, has become unreliable. The corners in particular this year have been f**king dreadful at times.

Yeah I was thinking this yesterday, a lot of the time we don't even beat the first man. With such height in our team we need balls into the right area, maybe give Willian a chance at it, at times can whip in a swinging ball that causes problems maybe just needs a few more attempts

Find one person that can do it reliably and stick with them. Lamps, Luiz, Oscar, Hazard, Willian and Schurrle have all had a crack at various points this season and I struggle to remember who has been sh*t and who has been good because they switch takers so regularly.

 

You would think they could identify in training who has the most consistently quality delivery and just stick with them.

This is something mata excelled at. I think a lot of the time, there's only one or two in a team that can really deliver dangerous balls from set pieces on a regular basis. Liverpool have gerrard and suarez; man city have silva and nasri; man utd have mata and rooney; we have, well...hardly anyone.

Schurrle isnt any good at them, Oscar and Willian are the best but the most inconsistent too imo. Lampard is fairly good and seems to me the most consistent, but he doesnt seem to have the power on his curlers that he used to. At this point he also doesnt play that much. We really dont have anyone at the roster currently who can deliver a consistently good set piece.

This is something mata excelled at. I think a lot of the time, there's only one or two in a team that can really deliver dangerous balls from set pieces on a regular basis. Liverpool have gerrard and suarez; man city have silva and nasri; man utd have mata and rooney; we have, well...hardly anyone.

I don't remember mata being all that good though, certainly not consistently. When going for goal he was decent, but no better than say Oscar.

The thing that annoys me probably more than anything else that we do on the pitch is when we have a corner that doesn't clear the first man, god how I rage every time that happens.

We should of kept De Bruyne for just for set piece delivery 

Honestly, just pick two players and get them to practice the fricking thing until its becomes habit, I have always been a fan of the inswinger as it causes more caouse but is also harder for players to a decent head on it

Yeah I was thinking this yesterday, a lot of the time we don't even beat the first man. With such height in our team we need balls into the right area, maybe give Willian a chance at it, at times can whip in a swinging ball that causes problems maybe just needs a few more attempts

I would say Willian is one of the worst culprits. Hazard and Oscar seem to be the best of a bad bunch. I actually think Luiz takes good set pieces, problem is 9 times out of 10 he wants to hit them rather than getting it in the box.

Edited April 9, 201412 yr by Remodez

We should of kept De Bruyne for just for set piece delivery 

Or Mata lol

 

Wonder if Salah is any good at them.

Hazard needs to work on them if he wants to become part of the elite. I'd say Oscar on goal is good but in terms of delivery to players not so much. 

Edited April 9, 201412 yr by MANoWAR

Oscar should be taking freekicks, he's good at them. Corners have been woeful from all our squad for a while. Might as well stick Oscar on those. Or Torres...not like he's going to score from it anyway.

I don't remember mata being all that good though, certainly not consistently. When going for goal he was decent, but no better than say Oscar.

Mata had a consistantly excellent delivery which is also a factor in his created chances/key passes stats.

I also think he was at shooting directly, he scored a few and was unlucky on many occasions.

Oscar is capable though, but I agree the delivery isnt always the best.

Lavezzi's deliveries were pretty venemous last night, but you're right, all are quite poor. Lampard I guess is still the best, but he's on the bench most games in any case.

Edited April 9, 201412 yr by Foggy

Shame we sold Kdb he is a very good corner and free kick taker

I'm surprised we are sturrgling so much. From what i remember of Schurrle in pre-season he was delivering some really good balls in to the area. It's something that needs working on for next season that's for sure. Ivanovic, Terry and Cahill are some of the most dangerous players at set pieces, we should be taking advantage of that.

JT is the best striker of the ball at the club. so maybe he should take them. And then run into the box and try and get on the end of them, as he's the best header of the ball as well.

 

Our corners have been sh!te for years now.

Mata was shocking at corners, very inconsistent, good taking shots but most of the time couldn't get past the first post

Lavezzi frees are amazing, whipped in with loads of pace into the right area. Pains me to say it but Gerrard is good too.

I think our best is probably Oscar.

Some are commenting on the first man thing. Honestly I think it is because there is such a fine margin for error.

 

A good corner needs to be low and driven to allow the players in the box to beat their man and score. An ordinary old corner that goes up and down gives too much time for defenders to regroup and clear. 

 

Same with the free-kick that goes into the top tier, it looks awful but it is a very fine margin between that and the Ronaldo/Drogba unsaveable rocket. 

 

Agree on us missing Mata, his delivery from corners and also from close free-kicks was superb. There was a time when Mata lined up around the box particularly on that right side, and he was almost always going to go close, either on target or against the post. 3-2 against United (Clattenburg match) comes to mind as a day he was on fire.

 

However, on the whole from corners in particular I think we are always a threat. Cahill, Terry and Ivanovic are probably the best trio at attacking corners there is. 

Edited April 10, 201412 yr by Spiller86

It honestly feels like our corners have been generally sh*te for about 20 years now, and i truly dont mean that as an exaggeration. If we had a regular decent delivery we certainly have the players to benefit. At the moment id say Frank is the worse culprit, Hazard not too far behind. Always seem to be up and down outswingers too.

And yet, we have the third best record in terms of goals scored from set pieces.  Only Man City and Liverpool have a better record.

 

Set pieces.tiff

our corners are bad, our freekicks and set pieces from frees are excellent.