What Does a Premier League Set-Piece Analyst Do?

But what’s the difference between a set-piece analyst and a set-piece coach?

A set-piece coach focuses on working with the players, creating drills that help them to learn new routines, teaching them techniques to improve their delivery of the ball, and showing them how to find space in the box. In contrast, a set-piece analyst will spend time studying a team’s set-pieces, finding out their strengths and weaknesses, before presenting this information to the coaches and players.

However, there are similarities. Both are interested in looking closely at set-pieces and the little details that can make a difference. Grønnemark, who has worked in other sports, noticed they were “light years ahead of football in regards to data, analysis, being innovative.” He speaks with data analysts at the clubs he works for to gather information and combines throw-in coaching on the training pitch with video analysis of a team’s throw-ins . Chelsea’s first team coach and set-piece specialist Anthony Barry has looked in detail at over 16,000 different throw-ins as part of research into what makes a successful throw-in.

How Set Piece Analysts Work with the Set Piece Coach

In the Premier League, coaching benefits from the expertise of analysts who can study video and data and interpret the information they see. Set-piece analysts provide insights that help the coach to improve their set-piece strategies.

Chelsea’s goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli has spoken about set-piece training at the London club and the work done by Barry. “It all depends on the opposition,” he said. “There will be teams who do different set-ups and are vulnerable in certain areas. Anthony’s expertise is looking at that with the analysis guys and seeing where we can find an edge.”

Because they’re both focused on the same area, the relationship between a set-piece analyst and a set-piece coach has to be a close one. They need to share ideas and collaborate if the team is to see a significant improvement in their set-pieces.

Watching video clips and looking at data together helps them to discuss in detail how the team’s set-pieces could be improved. The analyst can also aid the coach by providing clips and data to help them explain a routine to the players. 

“You have to watch the last 50 corners you have faced with a specific player standing in a certain position, then you can give that player feedback,” set-piece analyst and coach Mads Buttgereit has told SkySports. “You need to show them exactly what you are talking about, so they can understand.”

Which Premier League Clubs Have Set-Piece Analysts?

The role of set-piece analyst is still a new one. In the recent past, clubs often only had one or two performance analysts who would cover a range of areas, including opposition analysis, match analysis and training analysis. Set-pieces would also fall under their remit. 

But as clubs have learned just how effective analysis can be, they’ve started to expand the number of analysts they empoy and hired more specialists who can focus on particular areas of the game.

Manchester City employed Dylan Jones as a set-piece analyst from 2019-2021, before he left the club to join West Ham as a first team support analyst. In October 2022, City began advertising for a new set-piece analyst to fill the role in their backroom team.

Their rivals, Manchester United, have Tom Green working as a set-piece analyst and Eric Ramsay as their set-piece coach. Both of them were hired by former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but have been kept on under new boss Erik ten Hag.

Bournemouth’s analyst Tom Webber worked closely on set-pieces when Eddie Howe was manager, although according to Training Ground Guru, he now focuses on out-of-possession analysis. Other clubs including Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool and Tottenham have hired set-piece coaches in the last couple of seasons.

When one club gains an advantage by hiring a specialist, other clubs start to follow. As clubs such as Arsenal and Man City benefit from focusing on set-pieces, the demand for both specialist coaches and specialist analysts is only going to rise. 

To get the most out of set-pieces, it’s important to study them in detail at the level that only a professional analyst who knows how to use video and data can achieve. As coaching and analysis become more entwined, it’s likely that more clubs will combine a set-piece analyst with a set-piece coach, and that hybrid set-piece coach-analysts will become more common. Set-pieces are finally being shown the attention they deserve.