The numbers behind woeful West Ham record and how Nuno Espirito Santo can improve it
West Ham United conceded five goals against Liverpool on Saturday afternoon, and three of them came from corners.
Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister all found the net after dead-ball deliveries, with a deflected Cody Gakpo effort and an Axel Disasi own goal completing the rout.
At the other end of the pitch, the Hammers showed some real attacking intent, both Tomas Soucek and Taty Castellanos getting themselves on the scoresheet in what ended up being a 5-2 defeat.
However, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are still two points adrift of safety in the Premier League, and if they fail to address their set-piece woes quickly, they look destined for the Championship.
West Ham have worst set-piece record in Premier League
Conceding three times from corners against Liverpool would make it almost impossible to get anything from the game for any team, and so it proved for the Hammers.
They were exciting and confident going forward at times, but it was rendered useless in the end due to their inability to defend dead-ball situations.
This is not a new issue either, as according to The Athletic, West Ham rank joint-highest in the Premier League this season for goals conceded from set-pieces (16).
Admittedly, seven of those came while Graham Potter was still at the London Stadium, even though he was only in charge for five games.
However, the East London outfit have still shipped nine set-piece goals since Nuno came in, and as shown by the defeat at Anfield, it is a real problem for their survival hopes.
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West Ham must improve set-piece coaching
Before Saturday’s game against Liverpool, West Ham hadn’t conceded from a dead-ball since January 6, their longest run of the season.
That can be partly attributed to the addition of Paco Jemez to the coaching staff in mid January, who has improved the awareness of the Hammers squad in these situations.
However, Jemez is not a specialist, and it is time for the East London side to address the issue.
The likes of Arsenal and Liverpool have found success by appointing experts in the field, and if West Ham want to fix the problem for good, then hiring a specific set-piece coach is surely the only option.
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