Reims are in third place in Ligue 1, having accumulated 13 points after seven matches. They are one point behind Monaco and Brest, the holders of the first and second positions, respectively.
Reims have the third-strongest attacking line in Ligue 1, with 13 goals, after Monaco with 18 and PSG with 14.
However, Reims are the strongest team in Ligue 1 at exploiting set pieces, as they have scored five goals from set pieces in seven matches out of a total of 13 goals—this equals about 38% of all their goals this term.
When it comes to attacking corners, under Will Still tactics, Reims are the highest-scoring team in Ligue 1 this season after netting from three corners.
In this tactical analysis, we will discuss Reims tactics at attacking corners and explain how set-piece analysis helped them to be in third position ahead of big teams like Paris Saint-Germain.
Will Still Tactics Using flicks
They usually use flicks against teams who dont use an extra zonal defender in the flick zone in front of the first defender in the zonal line on the near post or, lets say, teams who dont defend the near post well.
At the same time, the second targeted player who targets the far post to receive the headed pass starts to move late while his first position is in the rebound zone, on the edge of the box, as we will explain.
In the first photo, the opponent is defended by five players in a zonal marking defending system, three defenders in a man-marking defending system, a short-option defender and a defender standing in the rebound zone.
Here, we can note that the opponent doesnt use an extra defender in front of the first zonal defender on the near post to defend the flick, so the Reims plan is to target this area.
In the second photo, the corner routine begins, so the three attackers, whose initial position was in front of the goalkeeper, start to move.
The targeted player moves to the area before the near post, the flick zone, from the near-post defenders blind side while a player blocks the goalkeeper to prevent him from getting the flicked-headed pass on its way to the far post. The other moves to the area that the near-post defender leaves to track the targeted player, as in the third photo.
This movement is for two reasons.
The first one is to get the ball if it gets over the targeted player, and the second reason is to fix the second zonal defender, preventing him from tracking the targeted player.
The second targeted player, who starts in the rebound zone, appears in the fourth photo.
He runs after the green-highlighted headed pass to the far post from the defenders blind side.
The timing of the second targeted players movement is really too important to be away from eyes when every defender looks around him before the cross and the first headed pass, as in the first and the second photos where he is out of the shots, in the rebound zone.
Still, in the third photo, he starts to move after the first headed pass when all defenders focus on the ball in the air.
He gets the headed pass and scores a goal, as shown in the following two photos below.
Using fake flicks to target the near post
They have another idea against teams who defend the near post well by a player in the flick zone and have a player asked to follow the attacker in the flick zone.
Usually, this player is the near-post defend
