One key area Erik ten Hag must address if Manchester United are to challenge for the title

Many accept that United made positive strides under new boss Erik ten Hag last season. Under the Dutchman, the Red Devils accumulated 17 more Premier League points than they did in the campaign previously, qualified for the Champions League, secured their first major trophy in six years and were only stopped from doing the domestic double by rampant neighbours Manchester City.

Despite this, though, the gap from them to the Premier League champions finished at 14 points, highlighting there’s still a significant gulf between where United currently are, and where they want to be.

Strengthening the squad this summer will be crucial to closing that gap, but there are other areas Ten Hag could, and should, be looking to maximise to try and squeeze every point out of his team. And one of those is improving their efficiency from dead-ball situations.

It wasn’t so long ago that the importance of set-pieces was overlooked, seen as a weapon for teams who lacked the ability to create goalscoring opportunities from elsewhere.

Yet, with the margins at the top so tight, many top clubs have made it a primary focus to increase their output from dead-ball situations.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta hired specialist Nicloas Jover in the summer of 2021 to boost his side’s set-piece efficiency, having been impressed by the Frenchman’s work at City while both operated under Pep Guardiola, while Guardiola himself poached set-piece analyst Jack Wilson from ‘fine margins’ experts Brentford late last year to help bolster his side in that department.

It shouldn’t be a huge shock then that both teams made up two of the Premier League’s top four for the most goals from corners last season (Arsenal 12, Man City 10).

Such moves for specialists in this field have become common behind the scenes, and the underlying numbers from last season capture that four of the Premier League’s traditional ‘top six’ rank inside the Premier League’s best five for goals from set-pieces last season.

United, though, are lagging. They did hire a set-piece coach two years ago in the form of Eric Ramsey, who previously worked at Shrewsbury Town and with Chelsea's Under-21 side before being recruited by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to work on individual development and the club’s set pieces. Ten Hag opted to keep Ramsey when he arrived at the club last summer, yet it could be something he might reassess if there are no drastic improvements in this area

That’s because last season, Manchester United scored just three Premier League goals from corners and registered just five set-piece goals in total. Both of those ranked bottom in the division. They also ranked third-bottom for shots generated from dead-ball situations (58). 

Improvements in this department won’t, in isolation, close the gap to the sides capable of fighting it out for the Premier League title. Yet if United do add greater quality to the squad this summer, then combining that with more goals from dead-balls could be key to strengthening their push toward a realistic Premier League title challenge next season.