Liverpool’s 2025-26 season has not gone to plan, with an almighty autumn slump derailing the pre-season title favourites as results caught up with poor early performances. December has seen results improve,
but with major question marks surrounding performances still there and concerning.
Amongst their various struggles, one of the areas things have been worst for the Reds has been set-pieces, where they’re joint worst in the league with Bournemouth on the defensive side while also being second-last in the Premier League both when it comes to attacking set-pieces. Put together, nobody’s worse.
Now, perhaps unsurprisingly, the club have chosen to make a change by parting ways with their set-piece coach, Aaron Briggs, who was promoted to the position last season after originally being brought on as a performance analyst and part of manager Arne Slot’s backroom staff but not as a coach.
A specialist set-piece coach was expected to arrive at the time but visa issues prevented Slot’s chosen hire from joining and the decision instead was to make an internal promotion rather than scramble to bring someone else in at the last minute. With Briggs gone, set-piece coaching will fall to the rest of the staff.
Liverpool’s set-piece struggles this season have regularly been highlighted as a problem by Slot, and there is a belief that the club’s dire record on that front has been the primary cause of the loss of seven points in defeat to Crystal Palace and Manchester United as well as the recent draw with Leeds United.
“I know the importance of set-pieces,” Slot recently noted. “It’s impossible to get top four with our set-piece balance, let alone win the league. Defensively, our set-up is the same as almost any other team in the league. And if you look at xG, then you wouldn’t expect us to concede so many goals.
“So you could argue then that if things go back to normal we will maybe not concede as much any more. But after half a season is it still a coincidence that we concede so much more than what you would expect us to concede? That’s a difficult one.”
