Good Morning. It's Wednesday 17th September, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Why have Leeds waited until now to employ set piece coach Statistics released by LUFCDATA paint a stark picture of Leeds United's struggles with set-piece effectiveness. In the 2023/24 season, a mere 10 goals originated from a substantial 276 corners, followed by only 11 goals from an even higher 327 corners in 2024/25. These figures suggest a concerning inefficiency, with less than 4% of corners converting into goals across both campaigns. The situation with direct free-kicks is even more dire; the memory of Kalvin Phillips' stunning strike against West Brom in the 2020/21 season feels like a distant relic, marking the last time a Leeds player scored a direct league goal from such a situation (Gruev's playoff effort, while memorable, wasn't a league goal). This prolonged struggle begs a critical question: why has Leeds United operated without a dedicated set-piece coach since the 2018-19 season? In modern football, where marginal gains can determine promotion or relegation, the absence of such a specialist seems inexplicable. There is no downside to employing an expert to design routines, identify weaknesses, and drill players on both offensive and defensive set-pieces. It's thus particularly perplexing to learn that the club has only now decided to address this glaring omission, four games into the current campaign, after a start that has yielded just one goal and eight efforts on target. Set-piece proficiency isn't just a bonus; it's a fundamental aspect of the game that offers critical pathways to breaking down stubborn defences and securing vital points. The delay in appointing a set-piece specialist represents a curious oversight, potentially costing Leeds valuable goals and points over several seasons, making this belated recognition of its importance all the more baffling. please log in to view this image Pressure was beginning to get to Tanaka last season. Ao Tanaka proved to be one of the bargains of the summer for Leeds United, arriving from Dusseldorf for a mere £3 million and quickly establishing himself as a fan favourite. The Japan international recorded a career-high 43 appearances, contributing five goals and two assists, but has since revealed the immense personal toll of the club's tense promotion run-in. In a candid interview, Tanaka admitted the final two months were "really tough," describing the high-stakes chase for the Premier League not as a race, but as "heaven or hell." This intense pressure manifested on the pitch, with his form dipping towards the season's end, most notably when his error led to a crucial Luton Town goal. The midfielder’s emotional exhaustion was laid bare when he was seen in tears in the dressing room after a vital subsequent victory. Tanaka confessed he was "so nervous" he almost didn't want to play for fear of costing his team points. However, the experience solidified his understanding of the club's stature, instilling a "sense of mission and responsibility" to achieve promotion. He believes his fighting spirit is why he has earned such affection from the supporters, whose cheers have become a source of pride and motivation. After full-time at the Riverside Stadium, Tanaka cut an emotional figure and was in tears in the dressing room due to the exhaustion of the run-in. The midfielder has since opened up on how anxious he felt during this period. He said: “The last two months were really tough. Every week, I played while thinking that I didn't want to play. If I played, there was a chance that we would lose points. I was so nervous that I thought, ‘I'll do anything, just give me three points’. “It's not like a Championship ‘race’, it's more like ‘heaven or hell’. Finishing third and not getting promoted is the same as finishing 18th. And if we get promoted, we'll go to the Premier League, the dream stage of the world. “That's how important it is for the team to get there. Coming here really made me realize just how big a club Leeds is, which is why I wanted to get promoted. “I didn't really understand it before I came here. Not even the history or the atmosphere of the stadium. But once I got here, I really realized that this is a club that has to be in the Premier League. “It's not often you get to play football at a club with such a history. It was my first time playing football at such a club, so I felt a sense of mission and responsibility. “So, even if we came in second or third, it would be a completely different story, and I don't want to experience that tension again, and I don't think I'll ever experience it again.” please log in to view this image
Morning all. The set piece coach situation is alarming but a word of caution. If a player is in his early twenties and can't perform the basics of lifting a ball off a corner then amount of coaching wont improve him at that stage
I remember having a similar conversation with an old poster on here when he was advocating shooting practice during our relegation year. There are always skills to work on, areas to improve, practice and repetition to be done as a professional athlete. What do people think they do all day?!? But you’re not fundamentally changing their ability level. Stating the obvious but attacking Set piece coaching revolves around numerous ploys/decoys/blocks to get your target free/right side of markers… but always requires you have someone who can drop the ball in the right spot.
Set piece coach means someone who dictates changes to what players do for corners, free kicks from certain areas. Bringing new thinking and ideas based upon real data. Tweaking roles…….. ah but that means Farke not being in control of something and I think therein lies the problem
Should say it’s criminal to be 1 of 3/4 prem teams not to have a set piece coach… what do they cost for the value they can add? By definition the other sides who have one are watching what we do and making plans for it. You need to have one just to get parity. I’m as concerned about defensive set pieces as attacking ones… though, arsenal aside, we’ve defended them pretty well. The frustration with arsenal was not that they scored from them, they’re very good at it, but it looked like we hadn’t prepared for what they do every week.
Agreed but hard to plan for them when you use a zonal system and how many times have we seen Gnonto or James or Solomon marking giants?
Not alot to say re Leeds. Alot of negativity around but I've seen us outplay Everton, edge the game against Newcastle and been better than Fulham for 70 minutes at Craven Cottage. Plenty of sides will get hammered at the Emirates. Im absolutely fine with the start we have had. Im fine with how we are setting up. We got unlucky against Fulham. If we got a point then a majority of fans would be very happy. Im not judging on 4 league games. I'll wait for 10-15 games in when things have settled down.
Spot on. We all wanted to see a bit of stardust end of window. We didn't get it. But the most important question to answer so far is can we compete? 3 of the 4 matches say yes. That's really the best we could hope for after our window. Our 1 trick pony manager has changed the formation and made us solid looking and hard to break down. Looks like he's at least a 2 trick pony. Stevie Wonder can see we're going to be more george graham than marcelo bielsa this season, but the goal is to stay up and so far we look like we have half a chance. Obviously i still expect to bleat and whinge regularly. Why else come on here.
I think every player can benefit from coaching in every aspect. You need that objective, outside view to point out where things can be changed. Often the individual isn't aware of what they may be doing wrong / oddly / not as well as they could.
I agree with almost all of this but my one burning question is; where are the goals going to come from? Can’t win games without scoring and the longer this goes on, the more pressure the defenders come under because as we’ve seen a Fulham, it takes just one slice of bad luck or a mistake to lose a game.
Stevie Wonder can see our main problem is missing the first defender and when we finally do that overhit it beyond the far post. Don’t know how you “coach” a player for that?
fulham won without scoring It's true that over time pressure builds on the defence if they know the attack won't score just as pressure builds on the attack if the defence leaks like a sieve. We're clearly not going to be prolific but we've had some chances in every game, it will be what it will be... low scoring games and we just need to come out on the right side of enough of them.
The scoring goals thing is a slight concern to me at the moment, nothing more than that. We've not had a lot of fortune in front of goal when chances have come. Other teams have had less shots but scored more. Villa haven't scored all season. Fulham have only scored 2 goals if you take Gudmundsson off them. Newcastle have struggled on 3 goals but two of those have been against Liverpool. My point is that it is such a small sample size of games to simply conclude that we will score in 25% of our games fir the rest of the season. Its only 4 games. My slight concern will turn in to panic if we have only scored 4 goals in 16 league games. That wont happen. Goals will start to come as the team gels and then we will probably start panicking because we've started letting a few in at the other end. My concern is that it needs to start happening sooner rather than later. Football is a confidence game and we could do with getting a win at Wolves (who have only scored 2 by the way and conceded 9).
