Watching Roma’s last five matches, I’ve counted seventeen corner kicks and nine free kicks in dangerous positions. We scored exactly once from those twenty-six opportunities. That’s a 3.8% conversion rate in a league where the top teams are pushing 12-15%.

Inter Milan didn’t just win the Scudetto last season because of their attacking football. They had Simone Inzaghi working with a dedicated set-piece analyst who mapped out opposition weaknesses from dead balls. Napoli’s got similar expertise on their coaching staff. Meanwhile, Roma treats corners like an afterthought.

The numbers don’t lie. Serie A awarded 2,847 corner kicks last season across all twenty teams. The top five clubs averaged 1.3 goals per game from set pieces. Roma? We managed 0.4 goals per game from the same situations. That’s a difference of roughly thirty-two goals over a full season. Thirty-two goals that could’ve shifted our position from fighting for Europa League spots to challenging for Champions League football.

I’m not talking about hiring someone to run basic drills. Modern set-piece coaching involves data analysis, opposition scouting, and choreographed movement patterns that look more like dance routines than traditional football training. Companies offering specialized analytics for this exact purpose have changed how elite clubs approach dead balls.

Look at what Brentford accomplished in the Premier League. Thomas Frank brought in specialist coaches who turned set pieces into their primary weapon. A club with a fraction of the budget that Roma commands punched well above their weight class because they maximized every scoring opportunity.

The Current Setup Isn’t Working

Our corner routines are predictable. Pellegrini swings it in, everyone crowds the six-yard box, and the opposition keeper claims it cleanly or their center-backs head it away. We’ve run the same near-post flick variation about forty times this season with minimal success.

Free kicks around the box? Dybala steps up, everyone knows he’s shooting, and the wall does its job. When was the last time we scored from a well-worked free kick routine involving multiple passes and clever movement?

The coaching staff’s got plenty on their plate managing overall tactics, player fitness, and match preparation. Expecting them to also become set-piece experts stretches resources too thin. Dedicated specialists exist for this exact reason.

What Good Set-Piece Coaching Looks Like

Teams employing proper set-piece strategy don’t just practice the same routines repeatedly. They analyze opposition positioning, identify weak markers, and design plays that exploit specific vulnerabilities. One week they might target the goalkeeper’s hesitancy on near-post corners. The next week, they’re running a short corner routine because the opposition left-back pushes up too aggressively.

The video analysis alone requires hours of work. Someone needs to study how opposition teams set up their defensive walls, where their markers position themselves, which players switch off during transitions. That’s before you even design the attacking routines.

Physical coaching matters too. Blocking runs, creating space through coordinated movement, timing runs to arrive at the ball’s landing spot—these skills need dedicated practice time with expert instruction. You can’t squeeze that into a fifteen-minute segment at the end of regular training.

The Investment Makes Sense

Hiring a set-piece specialist costs what, maybe €150,000-200,000 annually? For a club of Roma’s stature, that’s pocket change. We’re talking about an investment that could realistically add ten to fifteen goals per season. In a league where fourth place came down to two points last year, those additional goals represent the difference between Champions League revenue and settling for Europa League.

The financial math works out even before you consider the intangible benefits. Player confidence grows when they start converting chances. Opposition teams have to dedicate more defensive resources to marking our set pieces, which creates space elsewhere. The psychological impact of scoring early from a corner shifts match momentum.

Making It Happen

Roma’s management needs to recognize that football’s evolved beyond general coaching covers all bases. Specialization matters. Sports science departments, tactical analysts, psychological support staff—top clubs invest in these areas because they provide competitive advantages.

Set-piece coaching deserves the same treatment. Bring in someone who lives and breathes this aspect of the game. Give them access to the data analytics team, time with the squad, and authority to implement their systems.

We’ve got the players to make this work. Smalling’s excellent in the air. Mancini’s timing on runs is superb. Cristante’s got the physical presence to create space for others. The raw materials exist—we just need someone to organize them properly.

The next international break provides the perfect opportunity. Management could interview candidates, hire someone before the transfer window, and give them several months to implement systems before next season. By August, we’d have a fully functioning set-piece operation that gives us an edge over competitors.

It’s not revolutionary. It’s not complicated. It’s recognizing where we’re leaving goals on the table and hiring expertise to fix the problem. Other Serie A clubs already figured this out. Time for Roma to catch up.