Set pieces all the rage in soccer these days

One of the Whitecaps’ favourite tactics is on prominent display at World Cup

“A set-piece orgy.”

That’s former U.S. star, now Fox Sports commentator, Alexi Lalas describing the 2018 FIFA World Cup, a competition that has seen about a third of the goals scored coming from set pieces.

Like never before, teams are focusing in on the potential offered by the set piece. In standard practice, the corner kick, the free kick, and the throw-in have traditionally yielded weak results in producing goals. But work by statistical analysts has driven some coaches toward placing a greater emphasis on this area of the game.

It’s an approach that sees potential for running set plays, like this were the NFL, Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl notes in a recent article.

“(Like) American football, you can build variations out of the same look — the same three-receiver set. Then you’ve got different plays that come out of that,” analyst Ted Knutson tells him.

Knutson runs the data company StatsBomb (he and a handful of other authors share some of their insights on the company’s blog,). In his research, he’s looked at teams like Alex Ferguson’s last two Manchester United squads, which had

the likes of Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie delivering corners and little Patrice Evra sitting in the box as the target.

That’s flipping convention, but “the delivery — sort of a flat delivery to exactly the areas you want — is what matters,” he explains to Wahl. Sound familiar? Elsewhere, we have the Financial Times reporting that counter-attacking teams have been far more lethal than possession-heavy teams.

More than a quarter of all “fast attacks” have resulted in goals, they found.

(The FT’s data source for its conclusion? StatsBomb.)

Looking for goals from counterattacks ... again, sound familiar?

Emphasis on set pieces as well as looking to push for counter-attacks are two approaches that have defined Carl Robinson’s footballing style since he first took Vancouver’s reins in 2014.

Of course, when asked if he takes some personal pride in seeing such emphasis being placed on things he’s focused so keenly on the biggest stage, Robinson demurs.

“Two weeks ago when we were at home to Colorado, people had been saying we need to pass the ball more and I said, yeah, you’re right, we do,” he said. “(But) all the statistics people kept reminding me of was we lost the game.

“We didn’t put the ball in the back of the net, which was irrelevant to us having 25 shots and 75 per cent of the ball. On Saturday, we had probably 35 or 40 per cent of the ball (the Whitecaps had 35) and we had 15 shots and we won the game and people still say ‘Ah, you need to be better at this.’ Welcome to sports, guys.

“No satisfaction. I know what we’re good at. Every team is different. Every player is different. If you want Alphonso Davies to play like (Bastian) Schweinsteiger, you’re not going to get that. Vice versa, if you want Kendall Waston to play like Laurent Ciman, you’re not going to get that either.

Kei Kamara, Robinson’s key offseason acquisition, has seen a lot of playing styles in his career. He’s played in heavy possession-focused systems in Kansas City and in Columbus. He experienced hoof-itto-the-big-centre-forward play in England with Norwich and with Middlesbrough. And now he’s seeing the Vancouver way, where the set piece is king and there’s also a focus on the counter.

“I guess it’s like fashion, it’s going to come back around. Skinny jeans are back in,” he said of the renewed interest in set pieces.