da bwin： This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
da dobrowin： Marcelo Bielsa isn’t one to be coy in a press conference is he?
The Argentine doesn’t shy away from sharing anything and everything while addressing journalists, and this week he revealed one thing that he’s been focusing on in training.
Improving corners
Indeed, the gaffer told reporters that he’s putting a lot of emphasis on trying to score from corners in order to make up for the team’s lacklustre performances in front of goal.
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It’s fair to say that Leeds do need to improve from set-pieces as they’ve scored just twice from dead-ball scenarios so far this term, but Bielsa shouldn’t be wasting too much time trying to work towards what will ultimately be a minimal gain.
Shouldn’t waste time
Contrary to the view that many football fans may have, corners actually aren’t that effective when it comes to scoring goals.
In fact, an article from the Guardian in 2017 states that just 3.2 per cent of balls into the box from this scenario actually lead to a goal.
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With Leeds taking 87 corners so far this term, if they had a goal return that represented the average team they would have scored 2.78 goals from those situations this season.
Bielsa’s side have scored two set-piece goals this term, and both happened to be from corners, so United are only 0.78 goals behind where they should be if we go off of the average.
Of course, the manager will want his team to be above average, but how viable is that for a squad in which only six outfield players stand at 6ft or above and none are over 6 ft 2? It seems like a mistake to focus on an aspect they won’t be able to dominate in.
Realistically, the 64-year-old should be spending more time on the training ground on finishing rather than looking for marginal gains in order to make up for the squad’s lack of ability in front of goal.