The Manchester United set-piece secret weapon that is perfect for the Premier League

Man United scored from a set-piece again as they beat Aston Villa 3-1 in the Premier League at Old Trafford.

Michael Carrick was full of praise for Jonny Evans after the former Manchester United centre-back came up trumps again with a set-piece routine that delivered a goal against Aston Villa.

In a Premier League campaign where set-pieces have taken on added importance, United have turned them into a strength. That started under Ruben Amorim, and Evans has picked up the baton from Amorim’s assistant, Carlos Fernandes, to make sure they have remained so.

First-team analyst Kaita Hasegawa has remained a constant, watching clips to help devise set-piece routines, but Evans has taken on the bulk of the work on the training ground to make sure the players understand what is required.

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The extra time United have on the training ground this season has helped them focus on set-pieces, but they don’t always devote time on the grass during the week to routines, often relying on videos and meetings to convey what might and might not work.

Evans is aided by the input of Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro on set-pieces. United have scored four goals from set plays since Carrick was appointed two months ago, and three of them (against Fulham, Newcastle and Aston Villa) have been Fernandes sending in crosses for Casemiro.

Carrick said the 31-year-old Portuguese and the 34-year-old Brazilian have a “great connection”, which is an advantage when it comes to set-piece routines. Casemiro is United’s biggest threat in the air, and five of his seven goals this season have been scored with his head, so he is an obvious target for Fernandes to hit.

It is certainly proving a fruitful partnership and an excellent route to goal for United, in a season that is being defined by man-to-man marking and the difficulty of creating chances in open play. The two Premier League games that kicked off at the same time as United vs Villa on Sunday ended goalless.

“It depends really,” Carrick said when asked about the work that goes into set-pieces. “It’s a funny thing because I think sometimes you score goals and everyone thinks all of a sudden you’ve just been training set plays all week, or you’ve been working on a certain thing all week.

“Sometimes you don’t necessarily always work on it, but there are certainly meetings and understanding, and maybe it’s not always pitch time, but Jonny [Evans] spends a lot of time.

“And then giving the players a lot of responsibility as well, and what they feel and what they prefer to do as well, I think is important. At the end of the day, they’re the ones who have got to take that action on and the experience that they’ve got in and around that, I think we rely on them as well.

“Jonny’s doing great with all that and working with the players and as I said, Bruno and Case have got that understanding and Harry’s [Maguire] a big threat for us in the box as well. It’s proved to be successful for us in recent games and we need to try and keep pushing for that.”

The challenge for United is what comes next with set-pieces, not only in terms of the make-up of the coaching staff next season, but the players involved in the routines.

Fernandes now looks more likely to stay at Old Trafford, but Casemiro is leaving at the end of the season and Maguire is yet to sign a new contract. Take both of them out of the starting XI and the set piece threat is diminished.

Matthijs de Ligt had success in attacking set-pieces earlier this season but is now close to four months out with a back injury. Neither Lisandro Martinez nor Leny Yoro have offered much threat in the air at corners.

That is a concern to consider for next season, but for now, United look threatening whenever they have a corner or an attacking free-kick. It is usually Fernandes trying to find Casemiro and although the opposition are forewarned, stopping is proving harder to do.