Watching the Villa and Real games, I'm concerned about our set up when defending corners. I was looking for how we adopted Silva's preference for zonal marking and each time we seemed to outnumber the opposition. Then I noticed that all our players were in the penalty area for every corner and when the ball was headed clear, it always came back via a shot or a cross. Seems an odd set up for a counter attacking strategist and will lead to teams throwing more men into the box and blocking the keeper's path to the ball. Hope I'm wrong, but fear we may have the leading stat for goals conceded from corners.
Ah that old nutmeg .... If you have pace then you actually want the opposition to push up as far as possible .... but unfortunately ours hasn't get a work permit
Totally agree with this. Mark the players ffs. Space doesn't score goals. Unless you happen to be playing at home to Reading in 2008.
Sorry but man marking at corners doesn't work against modern tactics ... basically the target's markers just get blocked off
That argument is only valid if the defender allows the attacker to get a run on him - it doesn't apply if the defender is touch-tight to the attacker.
I may be wrong but didn't Hull score the opening goal against us in April from one of our corners (or was it a free kick near the corner flag?). Of course Hull had players who could run quickly with the ball, a player who could put in a cross and a striker who could apply a finish.
Also true in extreme. Could we adopt a more balanced approach. Less 100% man marking, 100% zonal without it causing confusion? The difference with zonal is surely two enemy players in the same zone. Zonal is easy to form a strategy against.
Ever heard of a sandwich? Ever heard of a group parting to let their own guy through? Playing touch tight when you don't even know which direction he will run is questionable at best, at worst he'll go down for a penalty decision. tbf it depends on the opposition but most work on corner routines these days ... a mixture of zonal and marking is probably the best and of course adaptability, i.e. you watch what they do and guard against it next time.