How outswinging corners at the near post can catch a defence off-guard – set-piece analysis

We all may hear about inswinging crosses and outswinging corners, knowing that they have become important in each corner routine, or even any set-piece routine, but how and why did it become a big issue?!

There are many tactical differences between them, like the possibility of getting the first touch and the possibility of scoring goals. Still, in this tactical analysis, we will specifically talk about the reason for changing the defending positions according to it and how it could cause a gap on the near post in the case of outswinging crosses.

Inswinging crosses lead more to the near post than outswinging ones, which usually land between the six-yard and the penalty spot or the further area in front of the far post which we will call, in this article, the far area or the far-post area. Hence, defending teams take care of these areas, making the line for the zonal and hybrid system more inclined outwards and also changing the positions of some players. Still, a few out-swinging crosses land on the corner of the six-yard on the near post, which could be surprising for the defending system, and that is what we will talk about in this set-piece analysis.

Distance between players

There are many variables in the two defending schemes against inswinging and outswinging corners that the same team implements, which could cause this problem, but in principle, the attacking team should have an excellent outswinger to deliver the ball around the near corner of the six-yard, as we will explain.

The first variable we will talk about is the distance between players on the near post, so you can note that S.S. Lazio defends by the same numerical scheme against inswinging and outswinging corners in the two photos below in the same match against Juventus in Serie A.

They defended by five zonal defenders, a defender in front of them to get the first touch, two second-zone defenders, a short-area defender and a defender for the rebound in the two cases, but you can note the considerable distance between two players, the first-touch defender and the first second-zone defender, on the near post in the second photo.