Set Pieces

I haven't paid too much attention to The Arses corner routine and I don't know if teams attempt to do the following but way back in the day I was taught to try and disrupt or affect the kickers delivery by having a player stand as close as possible to the kicker so that he cannot just float one into the 6 yard area .

 

I would argue we rarely have many/enough players in the box. Flood the area and a drilled cross would be more effective.

 

Just scrolling mindlessly through TikTok when I see Reids himself on Jimmy Bullard's podcast! Top stuff Reids!

 

Cheers! Full version here if anyone fancies a watch!

 

Death of the corner came in Wengers era where he, informed by the stats that only 1 in 20 leads directly to a goal , meant that short passing and crossing from a different angle to disrupt defensive teams set plans would be a better idea .

 

That was brilliant to watch, really interesting - thank you.

 

That’s my commute home sorted! Thanks!

 

Heaven help us when Chak is supposedly the best we've got at them! He genuinely struggles to just beat the first man more often than not. Horrendous.

 

It’s been a problem for years. I really don’t get it.

 

He is uber ***** at corners and free kicks. It's not just that he doesn't beat the first man, it's not even close most of the time.

 

It's heartbreaking, as it really isn't that hard to whip a dead ball in IF you are a professional footballer!

 

If only I could bet on how many corners don't beat the first man

 

Were those the ones which had to be clawed away by the keeper from under the bar? If so, then they looked threatening but really, how many times do people score direct from a corner? Think we've probably had our one for the season with Kayembe on the first day!

 

Interesting how Arsenal are being credited (or discredited) for doing something plenty of teams have done before (often to much derision from the purists who, in the 1980s and 1990s behaved as if being effective at set-pieces was somehow spoiling the beautiful game).

When I was working with GT on his book, looking through the mountain of memorabilia from his career, we found notebooks from the 1970s and 1980s. Hand-drawn corner and free-kick routines sketched out in diagram form. Lots of different ideas designed to make life difficult for the opposition.

One of Watford's most successful routines in the 1980s was the near-post corner, played close to the post and flicked on with the 'eyebrows' (sometimes by Ross Jenkins, but later on more often by Steve Sims or Steve Terry), with players rushing in at the far post.

As Arsenal have worked out with their routine of players massing in a block beyond the far post, the big problem defenders have is watching two things at once. It's impossible to watch the flight of the ball while also watching the movement of the players. Get the delivery right and defences can be hit hard without even knowing where the threat was coming from.

As supporters we often reflect on the ineptitude of the delivery but what I see at Watford is an absence of clear ideas or variation.

Being good at set pieces isn't just about what you do with the dead ball. It influences what the opposition does in other small but significant ways too. Arsenal won 13 corners to 0 against Man United and a friend of mine who was at the game said the momentum shift influenced the game in so many ways. United started doing things to try to avoid giving away corners, often not terribly well, and that created alternative opportunities for Arsenal.

Certainly that's one of the things that Watford were very good at under GT in the 1980s. They built pressure simply because the opposition was also concerned about giving away set-pieces and throw-ins in dangerous areas and that, in turn, influenced how they defended attacks.

 

Another danger of those well-executed near post corners is that the crucial 'flick-on' didn't always come from a Watford player. The defenders tried so hard to get to the ball to prevent the flick-on that they ended up doing it themselves by accident. No matter who got the touch, it was almost impossible for the goalie & other defenders to set themselves for the players rushing in at the back post.

 

Interestingly Monaco tried this in the CL against Arsenal in the week, leaving 3 players up on the halfway line, as expected the result was a much less crowded penalty area! Arsenal only ended up having 3 corners but looked liked it worked pretty well. Wonder whether Arsenal will now come up with a variation to counter teams who start doing this.