Arne Slot and Virgil van Dijk made feelings clear on Liverpool set pieces before Aaron Briggs exit

Aaron Briggs has left his role as Liverpool set-piece coach with the Reds having the worst record in Europe so far this term with manager and captain in agreement on the issue

Arne Slot and Virgil van Dijk agreed on Liverpool's recent woes(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA, Getty Images)

Liverpool has made the decision to part ways with set-piece coach Aaron Briggs after a familiar issue plagued the Reds' title defense.

Arne Slot's men have the worst record in Europe's top leagues when it comes to defending set plays and the flaw was on full display once again in the narrow victory over bottom club Wolves on Saturday.

Briggs, who joined Arne Slot's backroom team in 2024 as first team individual development coach before taking up the specific set piece role in the summer. But a mutual agreement has been reached for his exit, with responsibility now falling on the rest of the coaching team.

The decision is no major surprise given Arne Slot and Virgil van Dijk's comments after the Wolves win, as Santiago Bueno scored from a set piece for the visitors.

Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Manchester United, Brentford, Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, Leeds and Tottenham have also managed to exploit the Reds’ weakness over the course of the campaign.

What Arne Slot said

"I know the importance of it, it gets more and more, and that's why we are so annoyed by our current record. It's a big frustration we are where we are this season because when we were halfway through last season [when they won the league] we had not conceded one set-piece [goal].

“Unfortunately, we’re maybe the only team that hardly ever scores from a set-piece, and even worse, we constantly concede.

Aaron Briggs has left Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)

“But then, I think I said two, three or four weeks ago, we have to make sure that when things go against us – [it] could be a set-piece, could be other things – we still need to find a way to win the game. In the last two games we conceded a set-piece, but we were able to win and that hasn’t happened that many times this season.

“That’s, again, progress for me, but it’s obvious there are more things for us to improve and this is definitely one of them. Although, we had a great set-piece – the first one after half-time.

“I think we have been unlucky in multiple situations in our set-pieces; it is 18 games now and we need to improve.”

What Virgil van Dijk said

"There have been plenty of games when we have defended them very well. But the fact is we've conceded too many set-piece goals and we don't score enough," said Van Dijk.

"It's something we have to improve. I would say at least 75% of the time or even more, it's not even about the first contact. It's the second phase that is the killer.

"Is it a mental thing? I hope not. If that's in your head then it's an issue. Personally, it's not in my head."