Solskjaer’s struggle to find United strength at set-pieces

Manchester United are, at the time of writing, at the top of the Premier League table, having played exactly half of their games for this season. To say that this is an unexpected position would be an understatement  most observers, as well as the Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, probably expected the side to challenge once again for a top four spot, but the peculiarities and weirdness of this season have meant that they have to be considered as bonafide title contenders. This has been an impressive turnaround from the start of the season, when a few shock results, including a 6-1 thrashing at home by Tottenham Hotspur and former United manager Jose Mourinho had seemed to have put Solskjaers job on the line, coupled with elimination from the Champions League at the group stage. However, the Red Devils have put together a stunning run of form since then, having not lost in the league since November, and unbeaten away from home now for 17 matches, going back to last season.

That is not to say that United are cruising along  there are still quite a few issues within the squad and team, but that is true of all of the potential title contenders, which has helped make this one of the most open title races in years. From a United standpoint, one persistent issue, going back to last season, is their performance at set-pieces. Despite having the likes of Harry Maguire, Eric Bailly, Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay in their ranks, the Manchester club have often struggled to defend set-pieces, especially corners. While they have not allowed too many goals from such situations directly this season, there have still been quite a few moments of chaotic defending which could have been taken advantage of by opponents. This will be an area for Solskjaer to look at and work on, since set-pieces can easily make the difference in tight games, and could therefore be a big factor in the title race later on this season.

The Setup

United, like most teams in the league, go with a mix of man-to-man and zonal marking when defending corners and free-kicks. They usually place either the striker or the attacking midfielder at the near post, with three players at the edge of the six-yard box to defend those zones, and then four to five players picking up opponents, usually staggering in a line between the six-yard box and the edge of the penalty area, with their starting position being around the penalty spot.

One of the problems with this is the player stationed at the near post. It has usually been either Bruno Fernandes or Anthony Martial, with Mason Greenwood also placed there when he plays. None of these players are great in the air, and while the logic may be to get them away from central areas where they would be unlikely to win aerial duels, it still means that United often allow corners to come through the near post area as a result. However, we have seen this side of things improve in recent weeks when Edinson Cavani has been placed there instead. The Uruguayan is good in the air, and has noticeably improved Uniteds defensive robustness at the near post while defending set-pieces.

It is also instructional to look at the kind of areas where opponents have been delivering their set-pieces into, and the locations of their shots from such situations.

The above image, taken from Instat, shows the location of every set-piece delivery that United have faced this season. We can already see that a large number of these have ended up in Uniteds six-yard box, which is an extremely dangerous area to concede such deliveries to. The next image will show only the shots and goals from such situations that United have conceded