Deficiencies with Set Pieces

By: Corey | October 13th, 2009

Original article as found at AS.com. Thanks to labomba for the heads up on this article, it was written a week back and although its been in my posts queue, I have yet to get to it.

We all know Real has a few weaknesses, each of which we have seen in fits and starts so far this season. The space on the flanks, the crowded midfield, the simple task of marking our immobile strikers all ring a bell, but the problems the team have had with set pieces seems to be the biggest weakness, and one that is not new to the team. And while set piece organization and defending may be a problem for this team, there is a greater issue in simply clearing high balls, either with the head or foot. AS first pointed to the number of goals conceded by Real from set pieces was an astonishing 57 goals in the previous five campaigns. That averages out to 11 goals a season from set piece situations!

Add to that total 3 this season from set pieces, as well as several in the preseason, and you have to wonder what is going on in the Real defense? Many have pointed to the lack of defensive organization because of the loss of Cannavaro. I rebuke this point by simply pointing to the statistics. Cannavaro played three seasons out of the last five seasons, so while he was organizing the defense 33 goals were conceded from set pieces. Hardly an argument. Another is the lack of height in the Real Madrid team. Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Mahamdou Diarra, and Christoph Metzelder all provide above average height to the defensive core, yet we are still lacking. Another line of thinking is in that the coach does not practice these situations in training, leading to a lack of practice in dead ball scenarios.

On several occasions Real have conceded because their is either no one marking the player who scored, in the case of Renato and Riki, or there is no one on one of the posts. Albiol and Garay have both been exposed as particularly weak in the air, unable to effectively challenge for the ball during set pieces, and in the case of Albiol, to get to the ball first when playing against a more physically robust player such as Negredo and Luis Fabiano. The long term absences of Metzelder and Pepe over the past season was also a problem, and the inability of Gabriel Heinze and Ivan Helguera to clear balls, much less make contact with them, contributed a great deal to that five year total.

Much of the problem with set pieces seems to be the man marking. To often the center backs pick out the tallest players (rightly so), but after that there is a break down in the who-has-who communication inside the box. We saw that Raul left Renato unmarked against Sevilla because he appeared to be playing a zonal marking, standing further out in the box. This failed because the other players who needed to maintain the closer areas to the goal had either pushed further forward already or had chased after the ball that was initially cleared to the wing. The other problem I have noticed is Casillas. He is not very good at claiming high balls, often staying on his line when he needs to challenge for the ball, and he often does not set his wall properly. His lack of command in the area is a problem, despite his seniority (and captainship) on the team.

AS points out that Pellegrini, while coach of Villarreal last season conceded 14 goals in 14 games, 6 of which were from headers. Casillas and Guti had a very public spat about positioning on a corner which was caught on camera. Marcelo, Gago, Ronaldo, Albiol and Garay have all been found wanting in the air this season, and it seems that the problem is a long term one for the team. Of course Marcelo, Drenthe, Gago, Lass, Guti and countless other former players were relatively short. In the case of Marcelo and Drenthe, their inability to win headed challenges and clear the ball effectively has contributed to a good portion of the conceded goals in the past two seasons, and indeed this season these frailties have been exploited yet again. Not only is set piece defending weak, but defending centered balls has been a problem for the team.

Marcelo often is to afraid to challenge in the air for the ball, which Navas found out all to easily. Marcelo rarely jumps for a headed ball, instead planting himself before clearing the ball back wards. Drenthe has a similar issue, watch film and you will see neither jumps for a ball as often as they should and when they do, they fling themselves into the air without keeping their eyes on the ball. Mahamdou Diarra, Sergio Ramos and Pepe seem the only reliable players to clear a ball, while Ronaldo is great in the air, but has already shown that his marking is less the stellar as he was responsible for the second Zurich goal conceded. When it comes to clearing center balls and low crosses, I think the blame lies not only with Pellegrini, but the ethos of the club. We put to much stock in always doing things in an attractive manner, so when a player has a chance to hoof the ball up field he may choose to settle the ball. There was apparent against Liverpool last year when hoffed balls forward were never properly dealt with by Real players, giving Liverpool a second chance to settle and move forward. It was disastrous to say the least.

When in the box, you always clear the ball to wide areas or out for touch, its a simple principle taught to every level of academy player. Yet the pressure to maintain possession and/or play the ball out from the back is often to adhered to in dangerous situations. Set pieces and defensive duties are never treated the same way attacking is at Real, so such problems persist. As Pepe and Albiol play more together, and players like Ramos, Arbeloa and Mahamdou Diarra return to the team on a regular basis to provide height and/or organization, the problem will slowly abate. But we also must look at this as a long term problem that a coach should be working on, and players should pay careful attention to. Centered balls, corner kicks and free kicks belong in only place. The stands. It may not be pretty, but it is better then conceding because no one jumped for the ball.

Preventing centered balls is also a problem that Marcelo and Drenthe are often to blame for. Half the battle is not letting the opposition player get a ball in to the box, but we have let 16 centers on average from the left, five more than on the right. We average 27 centers per game at the Bernabeu and 36! away from home, which is outrageously high for a team like Real. 14 times those centers met the head or boot of the opposition team in 6 league games. The fact that only one goal was scored seems miraculous, but in the case of the Valeron miss against Deportivo, or Casillas robbing Perotti and others, its playing luck and nothing more. Compare those stats to Barca, who allow 17 centers per game at home and no wonder they are winning more comfortably! We are fourth worst at centers allows, ahead of only Getafe, Deportivo and Osasuna. Thats not acceptable for a team that is challenging for the league title.

Tell me what your thoughts are on the set piece/center ball deficiencies that Real has exhibited over the past few seasons.