Shortly after Jurgen Klopp’s emotion-fuelled Anfield farewell in May, Liverpool posted a job advertisement for a first-team set-piece coach on social networking site LinkedIn.
Promising a “competitive” salary — and 25 days holiday — they described the ideal candidate as someone who could maximise output through “thorough analysis, meticulous planning, and the ability to expertly coach both offensive and defensive set-piece strategies.”
Four months on and despite a stack of applications, it is a position that officially remains unfilled. And it will take a compelling CV to change that given the impact of the coach who has since embraced that particular responsibility.
When Aaron Briggs was added to Arne Slot’s backroom staff in early July, he was effectively Vitor Matos’ replacement. As first-team development coach, he was going to be the key link between the academy and the senior set-ups.
But his importance to the Dutch head coach goes way beyond providing coaching and guidance to the club’s most gifted youngsters. Under Klopp, it was Peter Krawietz who took the lead when it came to set-piece routines and now it’s Briggs who works closely with Slot’s analysts to try to find chinks in an opponent’s armour.
Tuesday’s commanding 3-1 victory over AC Milan in their opening Champions League clash at San Siro was testament to their attention to detail.
It was no coincidence that when Ibrahima Konate equalised and then captain Virgil van Dijk nodded Liverpool in front before the break, the two goals had much in common.
Liverpool had identified a weakness pre-match with Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan slow to come off his line from set-pieces. The plan was to take advantage of that vulnerability by putting balls into the six-yard box for Slot’s biggest aerial threats to attack against stationary defenders.
It worked a treat. Konate knew exactly where to meet Trent Alexander-Arnold’s floated free-kick as Maignan flapped and Fikayo Tomori was over-powered by the France international.
Then Kostas Tsimikas turned provider as Van Dijk darted towards the near post to head home the left-back’s in-swinging corner under remarkably little pressure, and with Maignan rooted to his line.
The joyous reaction of Liverpool’s three analysts inside San Siro — Dan Spearritt, Joel Bonner and Jansen Moreno — underlined that a plan had come to fruition. Opposition analyst James French had also done a lot of the prep work prior to the trip to Italy.
Perfecting set-pieces routines on the training pitch is Briggs’ domain and he is proving to be a shrewd appointment. Pedro Marques, who was recruited from Benfica as Fenway Sports Group’s new director of football development this summer, was instrumental in the 37-year-old being targeted by Liverpool.
The duo worked together at City Football Group where Marques was their global lead of football performance. Briggs spent nine years at City, where he rose up the ranks from under-18s performance analyst to senior first-team performance analyst. Prior to joining Slot’s staff, he had held coaching jobs at Monaco and Wolfsburg.
The potential for Liverpool to consistently increase their output from set-pieces is clear. Remarkably, given his stature and technique, Konate hadn’t scored since the FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester City at Wembley in April 2022.
Even Van Dijk, who was making his 50th appearance in Europe for the club, had not found the net since February when he struck in similar fashion to convert Tsimikas’ corner and clinch a dramatic Carabao Cup final triumph over Chelsea. Both centre-backs should be more potent.
“We were disappointed about getting eight corner kicks and not scoring against Nottingham Forest (last Saturday), but we were very close,” Slot said. “We felt with all the work we put in on set-pieces that at some moment we should get the reward.
“It was two very good set-pieces and two very good headers that got us two goals. It was important because I think we were very comfortable on the ball, pressed really well, but in the end you need goals as well.
“We hit the crossbar a few times from open play so we needed set-pieces and it was good to see that we scored them for all the work my assistants and the players put in.”
After being rocked by last weekend’s shock defeat to Forest, this dominant display on Slot’s 46th birthday represented the perfect response. Liverpool kept their heads amid the din after Christian Pulisic’s early opener and took complete control.
The Milan ultras went from displaying a ‘fearless’ mosaic pre-match to whistling and angrily chanting that the hosts “show some balls” as the contest became hopelessly one-sided.
Slot’s personnel changes paid off with Tsimikas recovering from a nightmare start to play an important role in the win, while Cody Gakpo produced arguably his best performance for the club as he tormented Milan with his pace and power. It was Gakpo who burst away down the left to create the third goal for Dominik Szoboszlai midway through the second half.
“We stayed calm and focused,” Gakpo told UK TV broadcaster Amazon Prime. “We have to thank our centre-backs for two great headers. We work on set-pieces before every game and we’re very happy it worked out. Every player wants to play and I got my moment. I really wanted to show myself.”
With Ryan Gravenberch so composed in the holding midfield role, it was a memorable night for the club’s Dutch contingent in an iconic stadium which Netherlands legends like Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rikjaard, Edgar Davids and Patrick Kluivert used to call home.
“This is a special place for Dutch players to play because of the former players that have played here,” Slot admitted. “To put a performance in like this is always nice as a Liverpool player and at a venue like this it’s even nicer. The whole team played well and then the individuals can shine from there.”
Liverpool headed straight from San Siro to board a flight back to Merseyside. Optimism has been revived — in no small part thanks to Briggs and the team behind the team.
(Top photo: Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
