Former Liverpool set-piece coach Aaron Briggs has continued to rue a potential sliding doors moment in the Reds’ chastening 2025/26 season.
The 39-year-old was part of Arne Slot’s backroom staff during the preceding Premier League title triumph but was relieved of his duties just after Christmas last year, with the Reds having conceded 12 times in the top flight from set plays by the midway point of the campaign.
That record didn’t necessarily improve after his dismissal, as the Merseysiders ended the season having shipped 23 set-piece goals in the division, with only three teams conceding more (BBC Sport).
Liverpool scored 19 times from set pieces in the 2025/26 Premier League, and it ought to have been 20 as, from a corner kick, Virgil van Dijk had a goal controversially ruled out in the 3-0 defeat at Manchester City in November, with Andy Robertson in an offside position but harshly adjudged to have been impeding Gianluigi Donnarumma’s view of the ball.
The Reds were only 1-0 down when that incident happened, being wrongly denied what would’ve been an equaliser, and Briggs felt that the momentum of our season could’ve changed for the better had the goal stood.
He told The Athletic: “That was a low point. It was a very grey offside and you think to yourself, ‘If it goes the other way maybe that would have changed our season; maybe the corners would have snowballed’, but the margins are so small at this level.”
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Briggs is quite right to feel aggrieved over that particular decision, as Robertson certainly hadn’t prevented Donnarumma from seeing the ball, nor had he attempted to play it after Van Dijk’s goalbound header.
What if the goal was given (as it should’ve been), Liverpool went in at half-time on level terms rather than 2-0 down, and gone on to secure a big result at the Etihad Stadium, instead of falling to a heavy defeat amid a dreadful run of nine losses in 12 games in the autumn?
It’s a question to which we’ll never know the answer, but despite that moment of injustice, it’s impossible to get away from the awful set-piece concession record in last season’s Premier League, a damning statistic which ultimately cost Briggs his job.
That two of Leeds’ four goals against the Reds last Sunday stemmed from throw-ins suggests that defending set plays is still a major issue for us, even allowing for the caveat of having no senior centre-backs available.
It’s something that Andoni Iraola simply must rectify in the upcoming campaign, and a repeat of the league-high 26 goals that his Bournemouth team leaked from set pieces last term (BBC Sport) won’t be tolerated at Anfield.
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Liverpool along with Bournemouth conceded the most goals in the premier league from set pieces last season, 20 goals.
On the evidence of the Leeds game in pre season this has to be fixed and soon. The premier league is now all about set pieces, if you have a weakness teams will exploit it. Especially Arsenal.
With the players we have it definitely makes defending set pieces much more difficult. Frimpong, Kirkez, Alexis mac allister, wirtz, munez, Rio ngumoha, Elliott, ect. Lightweight players who are not dominant in the Air. You dont win the first ball, it gets flicked on and it’s in the back of the net.
You can coach at it forever but if you lack the physicality and an Aerial presence you will keep shipping goals from set pieces.
We are far too lightweight all over the pitch we have van dijk and that’s it. Leoni and jacquet haven’t been tested yet in the premier league.
Why on earth we keep buying small lightweight players who are not strong enough in our league is baffling. So is having 5 wingers with just one fit central defender who’s 35.
With this kind of planning we’ve got no chance whatsoever. Give Richard Hughes a pay rise.
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