How Liverpool missed out on their No. 1 set-piece coach target (Dated 2 Jan 2025)
Liverpool are yet to officially appoint a specialist set-piece coach after posting a job advert over the summer, and it transpires that they missed their No. 1 target.
Back in May, it emerged that Liverpool were seeking to follow the likes of Arsenal, Aston Villa and Chelsea in appointing their own specialist set-piece coach.
A job advert was posted on the club’s official channels as well as LinkedIn, only for their search to be paused in September, with first-team development coach Aaron Briggs filling the role.
That comes after Liverpool failed to land their priority target in Feyenoord’s Etienne Reijnen, who was at one point believed to be close to a move to Merseyside.
When Liverpool appeared set to land Reijnen, it was unclear exactly which role he would take up on Arne Slot‘s staff, but it would in fact have involved leading set-pieces.
Speaking to Algemeen Dagblad last month, the Liverpool head coach highlighted the role of his former colleague.
“Etienne Reijnen is still at Feyenoord and I recently read that Brian Priske (Slot’s successor) was full of praise for him,” Slot said.
“The set-pieces are a strength at Feyenoord and Reijnen still takes care of them.”
Feyenoord have scored the fourth-most set-piece goals so far in this season’s Eredivisie with eight, which would be joint-second in the Premier League and considerably more than Liverpool who have the second-fewest with two.
Reijnen’s proposed switch fell through due to work permit issues, with the 37-year-old instead remaining in his position as analyst and technical advisor for the Dutch club, but Liverpool could revive their interest in the future.
That would explain their decision to park any search for a specialist and rely on Briggs to fill the role for the time being.
Briggs’ duties within Slot’s staff are wide-ranging, including leading training sessions and bridging the first team and academy squads, and his time is understandably divided.
That makes it likely that Liverpool will eventually appoint a new set-piece coach and that could come if Reijnen is eventually eligible for a UK work permit.
The club faced so no such issue in acquiring a work permit for Slot and support staff such as Sipke Hulshoff, Ruben Peeters and Roderick van der Ham, who all moved to Anfield from Feyenoord.
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Brian Priske on coach Etiënne Rijnen: the ‘Future of Dutch football’ (Dated 26 Nov 2024)
Feyenoord boss Brian Priske has been beaming with positivity surrounding the work of one of his assistants, Etiënne Reijnen.
The 37-year-old former defender was an Eredivisie stalwart and is currently responsible for the set pieces at Feyenoord. Impressed with the application he has seen so far, the Danish manager predicts a storied future ahead.
Priske himself has been able to draw parallels already. He started his career as a trainer of set pieces at FC Midtjylland. He grew to assistant trainer and later head trainer.
At Feyenoord, he leaves the set pieces to Reijnen, who was appointed a year ago as an analyst and advisor within the Rotterdammers’ technical staff. Speaking about Reijnen, who played for PEC Zwolle, AZ, Cambuur and FC Groningen, Priske gushed:
“I don’t have to worry about the standard situations, because Etiënne does that great. I’m very happy with him. He’s young, but understands football and is very clear about what he wants. Reijnen is one of those trainers for the future of football in the Netherlands.”
Set pieces have been key for Feyenoord this season. Of all the clubs in the Eredivisie, Feyenoord have had the most shots from set pieces (with 71).
Defensively, only Ajax and PSV have had to deal with fewer shots from set pieces by their opponents. FC Utrecht is the only team that has conceded fewer goals from set pieces, namely zero. Feyenoord have conceded just one goal.
