Tottenham Hotspur forwards Dejan Kulusevski and Harry Kane have praised set-piece coach Gianni Vio, after the north London side scored their third such goal in as many games on Saturday.
Kulusevski joked that Vio “has to get a payrise for sure” after Kane’s header from a corner saw Spurs beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0.
“I just told him three times that we have to give him more money,” the 21-year-old said. “He has to get a payrise for sure! Shoutout to him.
“He’s very important. He makes a difference, like you can see. At the end of the day, we won on a set piece today so we have to keep working on that. It’s not the funnest thing in the world but it makes results.
“It helps a lot. Three games, three goals (from set pieces) I think, so we have to keep listening to him and do what he says.”
Spurs appointed Vio to Antonio Conte’s backroom staff over the summer, with the Italian previously having worked under Roberto Mancini in the Italy national team set-up.
And that appointment has paid dividends, with Kane equalising late from a corner last weekend against Chelsea and Eric Dier scoring from one in the opening day win over Southampton.
Spurs scored just eight set-piece goals last season in the Premier League, with only Manchester United, Norwich City and Watford scoring fewer.
But their three in three so far this campaign has them top of the set-piece scoring charts, level with Arsenal.
“We’ve been working on them in training,” Kane said after the Wolves game. “We see it as a real opportunity to break the deadlock in games.
“We know how important set-pieces can be in tight games especially.
“We have Gianni (Vio) helping us, for sure the gaffer is involved, all the staff are involved as well. So far so good, but we’ve got to keep it going.”
Spurs failed to score from a corner until December last season, finally ending their drought against Brentford on December 2. The appointment of Conte as head coach after Nuno Espirito Santo’s departure helped turn those fortunes around.
Tottenham are next in action on Sunday, when they host Nottingham Forest.
(The Athletic – Charlie Eccleshare)
