Manchester United might be struggling for goals from their strikers this season but there is one area where they have looked more potent in front of goal and that is from set-piece situations.

Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire have both scored headers from corners this season, with the former from a short routine and the latter from a direct delivery. Marcus Rashford also scored from outside the area from a corner that was cleared to him.

United threatened from three first-half corners alone in the stalemate at Crystal Palace. De Ligt twice went close from Christian Eriksen outswingers and then Joshua Zirkzee had an effort from an Amad inswinger.

The improvement in the attacking threat posed from set plays is vital to a team lacking goals, with United scoring just five in seven Premier League fixtures so far this season. It can be traced back to the summer appointment of Andreas Georgson as a first-team coach, with the 42-year-old’s remit including a focus on set pieces.

It is rare for a club not to employ a specialist set-piece coach these days, and although Eric Ramsay had some oversight of these situations when he was at United, his focus wasn’t on them as much as you might expect Georgson’s to be. Ramsay, now the manager of Minnesota United, also didn’t have Georgson’s background in an area that has become a real specialism in the game.

United were also lagging behind when it came to using set-pieces to bolster their attacking output. Only Burnley, Crystal Palace, Sheffield United, Nottingham Forest and Brighton scored fewer than United’s nine goals from set-pieces last season and only the Blades created fewer chances.

They were just as poor at the other end of the pitch, conceding 14 times from set-pieces, and again only five teams had a worse record. The room for improvement was obvious.

It should be stressed that these are early days, but the signs are encouraging. De Ligt has looked a threat from corners, and Maguire remains an attacking weapon if the delivery is right. As Georgson settles in, United’s set pieces might become more inventive as well.

The former Lillestrom manager, who left the Norwegian top flight to join Ten Hag’s backroom staff, is already a familiar presence in the technical area every time United get a dead-ball situation. He can be seen organising players and offering advice.

That has become a common sight generally in the Premier League and the rise of set-piece coaches is clear in the profile some of them now have. Nicolas Jover at Arsenal is credited with creating the routines from which the Gunners now pose such a challenge and Austin MacPhee at Aston Villa looks distinguishable but has a reputation as well from his work in the Premier League and previously with Scotland.

Georgson will only reach their level if United’s set-pieces follow the promising trend they have shown so far. He might have moved into management before taking up post at Old Trafford, but he had focused on set-piece coaching at Brentford and Arsenal previously.

Speaking on the Training Ground Guru podcast in 2022, he offered an interesting appraisal of his time at Arsenal and how it could impact now he has returned to an elite-level club.

“If I look back at the first couple of months (at Arsenal) I got it wrong,” he told the podcast in 2022.

“That affected our quality on the attacking side (with set pieces). I came in with, I think, a too big level of detail in the set-piece process. In the beginning it was impossible for the player to take it all in.

“I came from Brentford. They had worked for many years very deep into set pieces and made it part of their identity. I think Arsenal at that point was more of a traditional club in terms of what level of focus set pieces got.

Georgson will only reach their level if United’s set-pieces follow the promising trend they have shown so far. He might have moved into management before taking up post at Old Trafford, but he had focused on set-piece coaching at Brentford and Arsenal previously.

Speaking on the Training Ground Guru podcast in 2022, he offered an interesting appraisal of his time at Arsenal and how it could impact now he has returned to an elite-level club.

“If I look back at the first couple of months (at Arsenal) I got it wrong,” he told the podcast in 2022.

“That affected our quality on the attacking side (with set pieces). I came in with, I think, a too big level of detail in the set-piece process. In the beginning it was impossible for the player to take it all in.

“I came from Brentford. They had worked for many years very deep into set pieces and made it part of their identity. I think Arsenal at that point was more of a traditional club in terms of what level of focus set pieces got.

“I didn’t get it right in terms of how big and flexible to make the set piece process, so we struggled quite hard to be effective attacking wise, but became really strong defensively.

“The attacking process was too detailed, too flexible and too big, because that was the system I was used to from before. I realised that the players at Brentford were used to that, they had done that for many years, and they were not so stressed by the fact that my plan was quite detailed.”

That would suggest Georgson is taking it slow at United, which if so makes the first few months even more promising. United look a threat from set-pieces once again.