Celtic need to sort out woeful set-piece problem this summer

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One of the most frustrating aspects of the season has been Celtic’s set pieces.

The Hoops have so many creative influences in their ranks, and from open play, there haven’t been many issues.

Odsonne Edouard is closing in on 20 goals, with the likes of Ryan Christie, James Forrest, and Callum McGregor all chipping in with important strikes this term.

But there is no denying our set-pieces have been a huge cause of frustration.

One glance at our corner-kick stats since Neil Lennon came in the door is a sign of that. We’ve now had 50 corners since Lenny came in back in late February (BBC stats). Incredibly, we haven’t scored directly from any of them.

So far in 2019, Celtic have scored directly from just one corner. That’s despite nearly having a total of 120 corners since the start of the calendar year.

That shows that this was a problem that’s been going on well before Lennon’s time. But there are a few things Lennon could perhaps do between now and the end of the season to get some productivity from our cross-balls.

Firstly, we need to rotate our set-piece takers more often. Christie, as creative an influence as he is from open play, simply doesn’t have the quality of crossing our free-kicks and corners require.

Callum McGregor is also a frequent taker of set-pieces for Celtic, but we need to keep trying other players out to mix things up.

How to make our cross-balls more effective?

Secondly, one of our biggest problems from cross-balls comes in the form of over-hitting it. On two notable occasions against Livingston last Saturday, Christie’s crosses went just over everyone in the box, and over to the back post.

If Celtic would allow one of their players to simply stay at the back, then these deliveries could be beautiful ones. Too often our players run into the same crowded area, and even when we win a header, it’s barely a clean one given the pack of players in the one small area.

Lastly, how often do we see Celtic trying different corner-kick routines? It’s one of the more rarer sights in football, but it can be extremely effective as a surprise factor.

There’s no reason why the likes of McGregor, Christie, or even Edouard couldn’t just hang back and have a clear pop at goal from a low cut-back more often.

In the summer, Lennon, or whoever the new manager is, could just do with having a real look at this area. It continues to be a big source of frustration, with set-pieces seemingly meaningless for us nowadays.