Tottenham’s thrashing at St. James’ Park on Saturday afternoon shone a light on many vulnerabilities that Postecoglou’s men must iron out.

One such vulnerability, the defending set pieces, had already been highlighted before but was once again evident against Newcastle. It wasn’t just Fabian Schär’s 87th-minute header that showed this, Spurs didn’t emit any confidence when defending most of the 16 corners Newcastle were awarded.  

Defensive woes have their effects  

Tottenham have conceded nine goals directly from set pieces this season. But this has had the potential to be a lot more, taking the fact that they have conceded 60 chances from dead-ball situations this season, the most out of any team in the Premier League (fbref.com). Guglielmo Vicario is the man to thank for the majority of these chances not being converted but has this obvious chink in Spurs’ armour cost them significantly this season? 

If we compare these stats to other teams, you can find a clear link between them and league positions. Looking at Tottenham’s two rivals for a top-four spot for most of the season, Aston Villa have conceded 11 goals directly from set pieces while Manchester United have conceded 10. It can be argued that set-piece defending can go under the radar in terms of determining performance when you find Arsenal and Liverpool have only conceded five direct set-piece goals each and Manchester City’s two (fbref.com). 

A difference in coaching  

With little improvement seen from Spurs and their defending of set pieces, it does beg the question if enough work is being done on the training ground during the week. Ryan Mason and Mile Jedinak are Postecoglou’s set-piece coaches, with the latter in charge of the defensive side.

Shouldn’t more focus be put on handling opposition set pieces when many teams have found ways to exploit Tottenham in these situations? A special mention is owed to the trend earlier on in the season where teams began placing a man on Vicario during corners, preventing him from coming out for the ball. 

Many fans long for Conte’s set-piece coach Gianni Vio and wonder why Spurs ever let him go. Last season, Tottenham conceded the same number of goals from set pieces as they have so far this season, despite conceding 14 more goals overall. But Vio’s forte was in the attacking side of things, scoring 16 goals from set pieces, joined with Brentford as the second most amount scored last season (zicoball).

While there is no doubt Spurs would have benefitted greatly if Vio had stuck around, the way his friends Conte and Cristian Stellini were dumped and the fact that Postecoglou builds a fresh cohort of coaching staff wherever he goes meant there was very little chance of him doing so. 

A matter of improvement 

Spurs’ struggles on Tyneside rubberstamped the necessity for work to be done on defending set pieces. It has been far too easy for opponents to create chances and goals from something that can be ironed out with just the right amount of focus. The evidence is there for both coaches and players that improvements in this area are critical and if they are made it will do Tottenham the world of good in the long term.

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