Postecoglou explains why he would feel uncomfortable hiring a set piece coach

Ange Postecoglou has said that he wants all of the team’s skills to work together, which is why he doesn’t want to hire specialists to teach just one skill, like set pieces.

Spurs had Gianni Vio as their set-piece coach last season. The Italian is said to have created over 5,000 different set-piece routines in his career (Evening Standard).

He did what he was supposed to do at Tottenham Hotspur Way. With 16 goals from set pieces, the Lilywhites were second in the Premier League during the 2022–23 season.

Vio kept working at Tottenham and helped Ryan Mason after Conte and then Cristian Stellini were fired. Stellini left the club when Postecoglou took over, but Vio stayed on.

When asked if he would hire a set-piece expert to help with both offense and defense, the Australian told Football.London, “I’ve never had a specific set-piece coach.” Someone has always been in charge of that for me.

“I always think it’s better if that person is on the coaching staff, because then that person is part of how we play football.” I don’t think of set pieces as different from the rest of what we do as a team. We hope it all fits together.

The jobs of Mile [Jedinak] and Ryan Mason have been split between them in this case for attacking and defending set pieces. They worked hard on it with the analysis staff. Every club does, for sure. I know that some people have gone the specialized way.

“That’s just not how I work.” For everything we do, I always try to make it a group effort so that nothing is left out. There is one area where I wouldn’t feel safe bringing in experts. Most of all because of how I work.”

Postecoglou said that having different set-piece practices has been talked about a lot, but the most important thing is still how well the ball gets into the box.

He went on, “Delivery is very important.” It wasn’t a good week. Madders is good at them most of the time, but I thought we had a lot, and I know Mase was upset about that.

“There are always things you can do better, and those guys work on them.” It really does help. Even if you have the organization, you still need someone who can do the work. You don’t need a set-piece teacher if you have David Beckham on a free kick, to use an old example.

Even though Tottenham has given up a few goals from set pieces recently, the team’s defense has been pretty good overall this season, and Postecoglou says Mile Jedinak is to thank for that.

When asked about Jedinak’s effect, the Spurs head coach said, “I coached him, and now he’s his own coach.” He is very organized and follows rules to the letter.

Since he wasn’t out of the game for too long, I thought he had a good idea of what was going on. Plus, he’s a scary guy, mate. I thought that the fact that people are afraid to stand up to him was a good sign.

In Our View

Someone can see why Postecoglou would want all parts of training to be combined instead of being done individually.

However, set pieces are a unique part of the game that are often separated from other tactical aspects. This is why more and more teams are hiring trainers who are experts in set pieces.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply