Redefining Corners: The ‘flat passing lane’ strategy which sparks innovation – set-piece analysis

Simplicity is one of the principles that most coaches and analysts look for in their set-piece routine, especially at the beginning of accepting the job of leading a new club. Open-play tactics can take time for the players to adapt properly, so coaches rely on set pieces to achieve good results and help them to continue in their jobs.

Yet, even in the realm of set pieces, simplicity is a strategic choice. It takes time for players to adapt to complex routines with specific roles, tailored to their abilities and the defending teams scheme. This strategic approach, not just a collection of ideas, is what sets successful coaches and analysts apart.

In this case, coaches and analysts rely on simple tactics but are also highly effective. In this tactical analysis, we will dissect one of them which is targeting a close area, near the penalty spot, with a direct grounded pass from the taker into the flat passing lane, and how this could be implemented against different defending schemes. Ultimately, we will explain how elite teams defend against this idea with a simple trick.

The beginning of the story

You may watch this scene below many times every game you watch, with the short-option defender standing to be ready for the probable short corner, but did you ask yourself about this defenders reference to standing at this point, not at points 1, 2, or 3, as many teams do?

To answer that question, we need to step back and look at the traditional routines that used to pass the ball to a good shooter to kick the ball into the net. Most of these routines were about exploiting that the defending teams give priority to defending the box, leaving the edge of the box empty, so attacking teams tried to send direct passes, or chipped passes, directly to the edge of the box. This also can happen in several ways to drag the rebound defender away, as in the cases below.

Here, the opponent defends with a man-marking defending system with only two zonal players, which means that the attacking team can control the markers’ movement far away from the rebound zone, so you can see the attackers standing on the far post dragging the markers far from the rebound zone and the near-post zone where they intend to shoot the ball. There is a player who initially stands in the rebound zone to move towards the taker to drag the defender with him for a player who started at the back.