Manchester United officially finished the 2022/23 Premier League season with the poorest attacking set-piece record.
United scored just five goals from set pieces in the league throughout the entirety of last season and that was the fewest in the top flight, with relegated sides Southampton, Leeds and Leicester all scoring more from such scenarios.
Liverpool led the way with 17 league goals from set-pieces and there's recognition at the club that it's an area for improvement, something which Erik ten Hag is understood to be involved with ahead of the new campaign.
Although Eric Ramsay joined the backroom staff to take charge of set plays in the summer of 2021, it's understood the coach has taken on a much wider role since the arrival of Ten Hag and he is no longer solely responsible in that area.
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Sources have described Ten Hag as 'much more involved' in set-pieces than previous managers and it's understood to be a collaborative process, which has been enhanced by the hiring of a set-play analyst.
There are now multiple figures responsible for set-pieces and Ramsay has essentially graduated to become a first-team coach, meaning he takes the majority of training sessions alongside Mitchell van der Gaag and Darren Fletcher.
All the coaches work with the set-play analyst, not just Ramsay, and work is underway on improving the team's threat. Ten Hag drives the group tactically and Ramsay is one of a group of coaches that echoes his messages.
There are just over five weeks until the opening day of the campaign and five goals from set-pieces is expected to be bettered.
United have struggled to score frequently from set pieces in recent years and they scored just seven goals from such attacking scenarios in both 2021/22 and 2020/21, which followed eight goals scored from set plays in 2019/20.
Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez, the first-choice centre-backs, scored just one goal between them last term and that came when the latter scored a looping header from a corner in a 3-2 defeat against Arsenal in January.
The best return from set-pieces in the last five seasons was in 2018/19 when United scored 12.
