Shosho
Well-known member
- Joined
- 10 Dec 2017
- Messages
- 2,717
I completely agree that there is always room for improvement, and the example about set pieces is a good one. The last world cup saw England dominating set pieces and I expected that teams would be more innovative as a result. But 95% of teams still float corners in and hope for the best. We were further ahead in '96 with the near post Matty Elliott flick on routine!!
Maybe the wage restrictions will focus the thinking of clubs on other marginal gains and we'll see greater investment in coaching, analysis and sports science, and far more innovation to get one step ahead.
Those that already have decent set up will have a head start. We’ve made a good start to the window, targeting 2021 contracts and signing all to 3 years contracts also.
If anyone has Football Manager, check the wages on there for Taylor. They could of course be less but is used by clubs in recruitment to gauge the viability of signings. My guess is that for a year of set piece analysis/routines you would maybe get a single week of Matty Taylor?
Im going off on a tangent, but in 2017/18 Midtjylland scored 25(!) set piece goals. There’s your 20 goal a season striker for a fraction on the cost. A semi productive set piece schedule in place alongside a goal scorer like Taylor and likely we wouldn’t be in the playoffs.