Leeds United manager Daniel Farke has addressed their low return from corners in the second half of the season, as the Whites attempt to keep up with Ipswich Town and Leicester City.
Leeds United have struggled to score from corners in the second half of an absorbing Championship season. Their failure to convert dead-ball situations has become a major source of frustration in the club’s automatic promotion campaign.
When asked about their poor output from offensive corners following Saturday’s devastating home defeat to Blackburn Rovers, Whites manager Daniel Farke told Leeds Live: “It has to do with the players on the pitch. At the start of the season, we scored a lot of goals from set pieces, particularly corners.
“Pascal Struijk has frequently been involved, but he is currently unavailable. Liam Cooper was involved but is not currently playing. Sam Byram was involved, but in recent games, I’ve decided to play more with Junior Firpo, Archie Gray, or Connor [Roberts] at right back.
“It also has something to do with your ability to attack corners and wide free kicks.” We have several good players on the pitch, such as Cree Summerville, Willy Gnonto, and Daniel James, but they are not natural set piece threats, so if we start them, we will be missing in height and quality when attacking corners.
“We know the record, and we’ve looked at how many goals Joe Rodon, Ethan Ampadu, and Georginio Rutter have scored from corner kicks over their careers.
“We work on many solutions and strive to accomplish something out of the ordinary. I believe we were near one or two times (against Blackburn), and Ilia [Gruev] had a good chance, but corners are obviously an area where we need to improve.
“I keep this in mind while we work on the transfer market because aerial threats and set piece skills are always crucial. It’s unfortunate that Pascal isn’t there right now, but it’s clear that we need to add a little extra height.
