Set piece chaos comes for Everton

It’s been impossible to avoid the narrative about set pieces so far this Premier League season.

From Match of the Day to the front pages, every pundit in the world is talking about Mikel Arteta’s set-piece tactics, the return of long throws, and whether or not all of this is “good” for the game.

More set-piece goals are indeed going in than ever before. Last year, of the 1,115 league goals scored, 215 came from set plays, which is just under 20%.

Of 241 goals scored so far this year, 63 have been set pieces. That’s a little over a 6% increase in the share of goals coming from set pieces. It’s certainly a change, but we’re a long way from running a series of plays up and down the pitch like an American NFL game.

Until last weekend, Everton had yet to experience any of the set-piece madness that’s been running rampant through the rest of the league. Entering Sunday's match against Tottenham Hotspur, the Toffees were the only team in the Premier League yet to concede from a set piece.

Fast forward an hour, and Everton’s perfect clean sheet record was gone, thanks to two corners off the head of Tottenham’s Micky Van de Ven.

But these things happen over the course of the season; on the surface, conceding from a couple of well-taken corners against an organized side isn’t a sign of any greater worrying trend.

However, there is something to be said about Everton’s set-piece scoring. The Toffees have scored only twice from set pieces this season; only Liverpool, Manchester City, West Ham, and Wolves have scored fewer from set plays.

While, as a league, teams are getting a greater percentage of their goals from set pieces, Everton’s share of set-piece goals has gone down.

Last campaign, 12 of Everton’s 42 Premier League goals came from set pieces —around 28%. So far this year, that’s gone down to 22%, or two of nine.

This is while also having one of the taller squads in the Premier League. Even with 6’5 Jarrad Branthwaite out of action, Everton still have 6’5+ outfield players regularly on the pitch with Beto, Thierno Barry, and Jake O’Brien.

Add to this that Everton also have the Premier League's most fouled player, Jack Grealish. Combined, this should spell regular set-piece scoring, but it hasn’t.

It’s worth noting that, unlike last year, Everton do not have a staff member devoted to set pieces. Charlie Adam joined David Moyes’s staff as set-piece coach back in January, but left the club over the summer to pursue a role as a full-time manager.

Whether or not his departure has led to a decrease in emphasis on set-pieces in training is unknown. But for a team that seems well equipped for the league's most fashionable trend, Everton haven’t yet joined the party.

Perhaps it’s time for David Moyes and his staff to reconsider bringing in a set-piece coach to help capitalise on his squad's strengths, as goals from open play are proving harder to come by.

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