How does this Danish team become the cradle of European set-piece coaches in 10 years

Given that Danes are obsessed with coffee among the best in Europe, it is no surprise that almost all staff at the Sino-Jet Football Club go to the rest area of ​​the training center multiple times a day.

There, they not only have coffee, but also see the most important chart of the club, which is directly above the coffee machine.

However, this chart is not the Danish Premier League standings (China and Japan have won four Danish Super League championships since 2015), but a chart showing the number of goals scored by China and Japan using set pieces.

Premier League Championship teams are now "rolling" set pieces tactics

On October 2, China and Japan will go to England, where corner kicks and out-of-bounds tactics are once again prevalent, and will play against Nottingham Forest in the UEFA Cup.

Settings tactics are now very popular in the Premier League, with Aston Villa's Austin McPhee and Arsenal's Nicholas Jover now both well-known set pieces coaches.

In the summer of 2024, well-known sports reporter Romano revealed that Chelsea paid 750,000 pounds to Brentford as compensation for their poaching of "Belle Bees" set-piece coach Bernardo Cueva.

Michelle Arragona recently joined the Championship team Ipswich from the Central Japanese transfer to China and Judland as a set piece analyst. He remembered his idea at the time that "this will shock the transfer market."

"Chelsea does understand this, especially in the Premier League, where each position can bring a million pound difference, which is why they are starting to focus on every possible small gain," Arragona said.

Jetland, the cradle of set pieces coaches, however, no matter how much England's teams now attach to set pieces tactics, they must also admit that in this regard, Jetland is at least a decade ahead. Settings tactics have been a major feature of the team since Matthew Benham acquired a majority stake in the Sino-Jetland Club in 2014.

They won the Danish Super League four times and had one thing in common - their set-piece goals scored at least 10 more than set-piece goals conceded. Their last time they won the Dan Super League championship was in the 2023-24 season. Benham had sold the club in 2023, but the focus on set piece tactics has not been lost.

This feature that was once unique to them is now popular throughout Europe, but if you have heard of any set piece coach suddenly gaining fame, then there is a good chance they have "graduated" from Central Jedland before taking their current position.

The set-piece coaches of many European teams are "alumni" of Sino-Jetland. Jacob Larson, director of football at Sino-Jetland, said: "We have invested a lot of energy to cultivate a lot of talents, so I think it is natural for some talented employees to leave."

First of all, the set piece coach. In the Premier League, Villa has McPhee, and Martin Mark joins Newcastle for the same position this summer, and Arsenal's Jover has previously worked informally in the Sino-Jetland for some time. At the national team level, Maz Butgeret is the German set-piece coach, while Lars Knusen currently coaches the Denmark U21 national team, and he served as the set-piece coach for one season at Leicester City in 2022-23.

There are also set pieces analysts. Carles Safonte played for Manchester City's first team, while Mark Orti Esteban was still at Brentford until February, and he now plays for the New England Revolution. Jose Rodriguez Calvo switched to Real Sociedad from Villa this summer.

Aragona explained that the roles of set pieces coaches and set pieces analysts are often confused. Their roles are very different, but they are inseparable, although the dividing lines of different clubs are different.

"We work together in a symbiotic way," he said. "The set piece coach takes care of meetings and training, and then I go to individual players to make sure everything is accurate on the individual level."

"I'll show the players the edits and make sure everything is as real as possible. But the analysts may stay in the office."

In addition, Arragona analyzes opponents and post-game videos every day and works with the head coach to develop game strategies.

90% of set pieces are placed on the offense. The home court of Jedland is in Heining, a city with a population of only 55,000 in western Denmark, and their training base is in the small town of Ikester, which has a population of only about 20,000.

They know they are not stars, so they must "innovate". Larson told reporters that they initially just wanted to develop talents, but the ambitions of Sino-Jetland have caused a blowout of set piece tactical talents. "We hope to win the championship in Denmark every year."

set-piece quickly became a feature of the Chinese and Japanese team.

"When I play, [settings] always go through the last 10 minutes of the last training session before the game," Larson explains. "We try two different free throws, that's it."

"Now we try to incorporate these into every training session and find creative ways to discuss how to activate players and let them enjoy set pieces, just like everything else."

However, although fancy routines come to mind, including complex coordination and exaggerated movements, Arragona believes that this is a "common misunderstanding" about set pieces tactics.

"People always think, 'Oh, we have to develop different tactics for each game based on the opponent's weakness,' but that's not the case," he said. "Targeted tactics can help you win a certain game, but if you want to build a tactic that is stable and maintains its best shape for a few years, it has to be replicable."

The emphasis on set pieces by the Chinese Jutlands runs through the club. Rooney Dulin is responsible for the youth team's set piece training, and there is a coach in every age group responsible for the set piece training.

"At the academy level, we look at every player and think, 'Can we give him some special advantages in setting pieces?'" Larson said.

"Some specific situations exist, but we are a talent-focused club. We want to communicate with the players and try to give them freedom so that they can think independently and propose their own ideas and solutions in the game."

Of course, different clubs have different focus on defense and offense.

"Our set piece tactics ratio is about 90% used for offense and 10% for defense," Arragona explained about the Central Japanese team last season.

They fell behind Copenhagen Football Club by one point and lost the Danish Super League championship in the 2024-25 season.

"We really never conceded the ball on set pieces, so our idea was 'If everything goes well, why should we focus on the set pieces on defense?'"

Larson readily admitted that set pieces play a major role in signing negotiations. By Danish standards, the Chinese and Japanese teams are rich and powerful - they spent 36.6 million euros to sign in the 2023-24 season, setting a national record in Denmark.

Larson said that there is no minimum height requirement for the introduced new players, but this indicator will be considered together with attributes such as heading ability, long-distance throwing ability and free kicking ability.

Family is more important than football

Larson said that compared with other Danish teams, Sino-Jetland plays "personalized football".

"Our game pays great attention to players' physical fitness and personal standards. Other teams have more complete systems and their game structure also pays more attention to teamwork. We pay more attention to individuals, but our family spirit unites us."

This culture is one of the four pillars of the Sino-Jetland region.

"Outside, you'll see a proactive club that works very hard to recruit new players and gets the best in Denmark," Larson added, "but when you get to know it, you'll find some very soft values."

They run a school for teenagers to go to school while training, and Arragona praised the work-life balance achieved by the Danish club.

"When I first arrived in Central Japan, everyone told me: 'Your job is important, but your family is more important. If you need to do something with your family, don't come to work.' Here, the balance between work and life is perfect. In the morning, practice together and have lunch, and everyone goes home. If you call them, you will only go to the voicemail!"

Still, to be successful in football, you need to be indomitable. On October 2, at Nottingham City Stadium, they will challenge Nottingham Forest away in the Europa League under Mike Tourbery. Turbery just replaced Thomas Thomas Berry who was dismissed at the end of August.

Thomas Berry led the team to remain unbeaten 17 games before being dismissed, but they won the runner-up again in the league and could only participate in the Europa League.

This is football, and good-looking data sometimes does not bring ideal results.