Beyond the Box: Deep starts and tactical brilliance in corners decoded with Grenoble Foot – set-piece analysis

Grenoble Foots Team currently occupies the sixth position in Ligue 2, amassing 40 points after 27 matches, trailing the league leaders, Auxerre, by a margin of 12 points, as they hold the top spot with 52 points.

On the defensive front, the teams statistics appear reasonable, given the position they occupy. The sixth position is regarded as having the best defensive line in the league, having conceded 28 goals, a margin of five goals from the team with the best defensive record, Saint-Étienne, who have conceded 23 goals.

On the offensive front as well, their numbers are proportionate to their position, as they occupy the sixth position with the best-attacking line, having scored 35 goals. However, they trail the league-leading Auxerre by a margin of 16 goals, as they have scored 51 goals.

However, we encounter a pause on the offensive front as their significant reliance on set-pieces, especially offensive corner kicks, becomes apparent. They have scored seven goals from corner kicks, accounting for 20% of their total goals, indicating their impact. They are the leagues top-scoring team from corner kicks, tied with Rodez and Stade Laval, each with seven goals.

Upon closer examination of their offensive corner kicks, it becomes evident that they heavily rely on positioning their attackers initially in distant areas, sometimes extending beyond the box. What is remarkable is that this tactic proves effective across various defensive systems, whether man marking, zonal marking, or even hybrid systems. Whats influential is their incorporation of this strategy as part of their routine, with the purpose varying from one situation to another based on the evolving concept.

In this tactical analysis, we will discuss Grenoble Foots reliance on distant positions for their attackers initially and the various tactics they employ to implement this idea. Furthermore, we will explore how they capitalise on each of these routines against different defensive systems.

Far initial positions

Making some or all of the attackers start from far positions on the edge of the box or outside the box gives the runners many advantages if the markers go there or even if they wait inside the box.

If the markers go up, they will be forced to mark the attackers all of this distance, which causes many problems because it gives the attacker the time and space to escape from his marker because the marker cant stick to him over all of this distance. This also gives one of the attackers teammate a huge opportunity to block his marker, which is called a screen.

The second problem is the difficulty for the marker to keep tracking the ball and the attacker simultaneously, which is called a problem of orientation. Lets go into the details.

In the first photo below, the opponent defends with a man-marking defending system with only two zonal players while most of the attackers stand on the edge of the box, leaving only two attackers near the six-yard on the near post at the targeted area and then, they will leave it to empty the space for the white highlighted player outside the box.

In the second and third photos, the targeted player uses his teammate as a screen, turning around him to be away from his marker and avoiding any physical touch, as in the fourth photo.

The plan works because avoiding the physical touch allows the attacker to jump after movement, and the result is a goal, as shown in the two following photos.