We’ll Work As One

[ian1964 10,870]

HELDER BAPTISTA, Pedro Malta and Jose Belman were the three assistants who arrived at Ibrox with Pedro Caixinha when he was appointed as manager nearly three weeks ago – but what roles exactly will they serve?

 

https://rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/well-work-one/

[Frankie 8,890]

Positive stuff this and well worth a read.

 

Sure talk is cheap but I can't wait to see if the actions match the words in a few days time.

[chilledbear 16]

He's an interesting fella, so was Warburton right enough, they can certainly talk.

 

Good luck to him.

[Frankie 8,890]

He's an interesting fella, so was Warburton right enough, they can certainly talk.

 

Good luck to him.

 

Agreed but to be fair to Pedro and his team they certainly seem keen to show they're interested in what the opposition will do and how we will need to counter them.

 

That's something Warburton failed to do and that ultimately cost him his job.

[chilledbear 16]

Agreed but to be fair to Pedro and his team they certainly seem keen to show they're interested in what the opposition will do and how we will need to counter them.

 

That's something Warburton failed to do and that ultimately cost him his job.

 

Certainly makes a change from previous, that and working on set pieces.

[Rousseau 11,629]

This is very pleasing:

 

[tweet]846829291446976512[/tweet]

 

Embarrassingly, the set-piece is the only way -- outside the odd counter -- teams play in Scotland. A foul anywhere near the half-way line and the first thought is to lump it into the box. It's not how the game should be played, but if it is we need to be able to deal with it.

Edited March 29, 2017 by Rousseau

[Uilleam 6,372]

Interesting stuff, but, if it matters, it is still not entirely clear what the 4th -the local- Assistant will do.

[jhunter 0]

This is very pleasing:

 

[tweet]846829291446976512[/tweet]

 

Embarrassingly, the set-piece is the only way -- outside the odd counter -- teams play in Scotland. A foul anywhere near the half-way line and the first thought is to lump it into the box. It's not how the game should be played, but if it is we need to be able to deal with it.

 

set piece execution is absolutely central to football and always has been

 

the site of us being unable to take a throw in properly under warburton told us all we needed to know

[Gaffer 1,665]

set piece execution is absolutely central to football and always has been

 

the site of us being unable to take a throw in properly under warburton told us all we needed to know

 

If a team is not well drilled in defending against set pieces, it can spell disaster. In that regard, I agree that they are important. However, if you consider that the top teams in any any league tend to only score around 5% - 20% of their goals from set pieces, its plain to see why they are very often not such a focus these days. It's therefore reasonable to expect a team to train for offensive free kicks for up to 20% of the time if was being done proportionately.

 

However to achieve a 20% rate of contribution of goals from set pieces, you need set piece specialists. Remember that this doesn't just apply to the player taking the initial kick/throw, it applies to those around them too. We just don't have that capability within the team, so we can choose to spend the time training those skills, or focus on open play. Unless we do that we will operate towards the 5% end of the spectrum. Focussing on improving chances from open play is much more productive.

 

Teams like Crystal Palace and WBA have a policy of signing players that are set piece specialists. In open play they are a decent side, but they are very successful in set pieces with around 50% of their goals coming from set plays. A team's reliance (or otherwise) on set pieces is also therefore a big part of its recruitment strategy. It's also plays a massive part in the way a team's tactics are trained.

 

It's fair to say that Toral is a very good dead ball player, but we have very few receivers capable of making the most of the chances he can create. If set pieces are to become a bigger part of our game, we are going to have to train or recruit for this purpose. Until then, we can train in offensive set pieces but it won't make a massive difference for a long time.

 

PC knows this though, but it won't stop him from quite rightly making us a better organised unit when defending against them.

 

It's perhaps also of interest to note that in amateur leagues, the proportion of goals scored from set pieces increases to between 30% and 80% (believe it or not). I've not looked into this so much, but I imagine this is due to the defensive frailties rather than the ingenuity of the set piece 'specialists'.

Edited March 29, 2017 by Gaffer

[Rousseau 11,629]

set piece execution is absolutely central to football and always has been

 

the site of us being unable to take a throw in properly under warburton told us all we needed to know

 

Yes, corners, throw-ins, free-kicks in and around the box are, but lumping it into the box from the half-way line is unnecessary and just the sign of a team that can't play.

 

However, like I said, we need to be able to deal with it. I agree our performances from set-pieces has been frustrating. Hopefully we can now deal with them and use them better ourselves.