What would happen if clubs truly optimized their set-pieces? With this in mind, Enzo Donis, member of the coaching staff of an African national team and a set-piece specialist, decided to compile statistics on the Big 5 teams that are either most or least successful in converting their set-pieces this season. The first notable finding of his study is that German teams are the most adept at converting set pieces. Bayer Leverkusen leads the league with a ratio of 0.53 goals scored per game from a corner or free kick this season, tied with VfL Wolfsburg. Union Berlin and Stuttgart are third with a ratio close to the top two (0.47). Conversely, the study shows that Spanish teams are less effective in taking corners, like Atletico Madrid or Real Valladolid (0.12 goals scored per corner on average). "In the Bundesliga, we observe 9.64 corners per match on average, compared to only 6.91 in La Liga. This higher frequency of corner opportunities necessarily plays a role in the football culture and therefore in the success of these phases of play." But be careful, it’s not just a question of quantity. "Take Liverpool: they are the team that obtains the most corners in the Premier League (7.55/match), but they only have a conversion ratio of 0.23 from their corners per match. They are ranked 16th in this aspect, despite a high volume of corners." The specialist underlines the importance of the coach in implementing work on set pieces: "Under the mandate of Pierre Sage, with his association with Damien Della Santa, Olympique Lyon was probably one of the most successful teams converting set pieces in the competitions in which it participated."
Brief
Enzo Donis, a member of the staff of an African national team and a CPA specialist, has studied the Big 5 teams most effective on CPA this season / ©DR