Dundee United to look for more rewards from set-pieces

Here’s a stat for you — the William Edjenguele header that earned a point at Hibs on Sunday was the first time this season a Dundee United corner has produced a goal.

Yes, it’s still early days in the campaign and it also has to be pointed out that, as a passing side, the Tangerines vary their corners, and set-pieces in general, meaning not every one of them is simply lumped into the penalty box for the big men to contest aerially.

That said, a fair few have been sent over directly and, with more than 70 corners being taken in the games running up to that capital encounter, the lack of a return has been a disappointment.

And it’s worth bearing in mind there is enough height in the squad at Tannadice to expect them to be a threat from such situations.

After the game it was not surprising, therefore, to hear gaffer Ray McKinnon express his delighted with the quality of the big Frenchman’s header.

He also revealed over the course of the week leading up to the game extra work had been done on set-pieces — both for and against.

That shouldn’t be taking a signal from now on every dead-ball from approaching the halfway line forward is going to be pumped into the danger area.

And from open play United will continue to utilise the creative talent of men like Tony Andreu, Nick van der Velden and Scott Fraser and get the ball down and pass their way to scoring opportunities.

But with that strength in the air of Edjenguele and the presence of others like Mark Durnan, Lewis Toshney, Frank van der Struijk and even Van der Velden, should he not be taking the kicks, it would be nothing short of folly to try to use that power as well.

Corners and set-pieces are, after all, an increasingly-important factor when it comes to the difference between success and failure in the modern game.

So it’s often said, though, using the example of past United sides, it can be argued that’s always been the case.

As much as the great Tangerine teams were renowned for the quality of their European-style football, over the decades the option of hitting the big man with a high ball has been available.

From as far back as Andy Gray in the 70s, Davie Dodds in the 80s then, albeit for a brief period, Duncan Ferguson in the 90s, corners and free-kicks have been a valuable source of goals.

And let’s not forget the contribution on that score Edjenguele’s defensive predecessors down the years have made.

It’s hard to imagine a more worrying sight for any defence than legendary skipper Paul Hegarty making his way forward to take up position around the penalty spot to await a perfectly-flighted Eamonn Bannon corner coming over.

During his long United career Heggie had ample support from fellow defenders like John Clark and Richard Gough and, before and after his time, there were other similar threats.

The great Ron Yeats, both at United and Liverpool, was at times impossible to stop when high balls came in. Moving more up to date, during his three years at Tannadice from 1998, Canadian international Jason de Vos, if not a frequent scorer, helped with the yield of set-piece strikes just through his physical presence.

Returning to the current side, the clashes so far in the Championship this term have shown it’s a league where dogged opposition defending means goals can be hard to come by.

So even a handful more of goals like the one provided by Edjenguele on Sunday could prove the difference between success and failure over the course of a long hard season.