Everyone has noticed the importance of set-pieces in this Premier League season and how many matches they have decided, so you will not be surprised to know that many teams like Arsenal, Newcastle United, Liverpool and Tottenham have invested in set-piece analysis by adding set-piece analysts to their backroom staff.
The corner kick is one of the most common types of set-pieces, so we will explain this mysterious part of football analysis and how teams exploit it depending on the defensive system of the opponent.
There are three types of defensive systems at corners: man-marking, zonal marking and hybrid. This tactical analysis will start by dissecting the man-marking defending system and understanding its disadvantages.
The most significant disadvantage of the man-marking defending system in corners is that the opponents can control the movement of the defending teams players by dragging them wherever they want, so attacking teams use this disadvantage to design their corner routines.
Depending on the previous disadvantage, attacking teams have three general ideas with different tactics to design their corner routines: dismarking using blocks and screens, exploiting free players standing in the rebound zone and positional superiority using one of these two principles that we will explain: mismatch and orientation.
Dismarking (using screens and blocks)
In this case, using an example from Fulham versus Aston Villa from 20th October 2022, we see how Aleksandar Mitrović almost scored a goal from a corner only for the defender to strike the ball at the last moment.
Let’s start with how Aston Villa set up to defend the corner. As shown below, they defended with two zonal markers highlighted in green, six man-markers, while Ashley Young, who stands on the edge of the six-yard box, had instructions to go forward to guard against a short corner, if played, along with Leon Bailey highlighted in yellow to be in a 2v2.
Fulham have placed two players inside the six-yard box, four players in a pack — which helps some of them to act as screens — and three players in the rebound zone. When the taker starts moving, Mitrović goes to the far post via a curved run. Meanwhile, João Palhinha (at the front of the pack with a yellow arrow), goes to the near post dragging his marker with him and the remaining two of the pack act as a screen to help Mitrović escape from his man-marker.
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