defending corners. effective strategy

Introduction:

The research is on how to defend the corners under a particular strategy. Corner kicks comes under the category of set plays. Set plays can be also called as dead ball situation or set-piece. “A dead-ball situation can be defined as any time in a match when the ball is put into play after a stop in the action” ( Bangsbo and Peitersen, 2000, pp. 87). “There are three main categories of set piece: (i) Free-Kick directly or indirectly resulting from a foul, (ii) Corner Kick, and (iii) Throw-in” ( Bidzinski, M., 1996, pp. 111). Teams which are not good in open play situation, will concentrate more on set plays and will try to make use of it efficiently. A Corner kick is given when ball played outside the byline by the defending team and the corner will be awarded to attacking team. A strategy should be used by the managers to defend the corner, which will depend upon the players he is having in the team. There are three strategies used by the managers to defend the corners; they are (i) Man for man Marking, (ii) Zonal marking and (ii) Mixed marking (Combination of both Zonal and Man marking).

Man for man marking:

“In man for man marking each player in defense uses personal marking on a predetermined opponent” (Ceccomori, M., 2004, pp.104). A sweeper with a free role in this system will offer a good strength, incase if a player struggles to mark his opponent, the sweeper will offer the help to him. However it is always safe to choose right marker for the right player. However there is a big disadvantage in Man for man marking is, the marker will be always marking the same player wherever he goes on the field during set-plays, and there are chances for unmarked player to get into the space and scoring a goal.

Sankar Ram Balasubramanian Written Assignment LEI253 2013-14

Figure 1 Man for Man Marking (Mokbel, S.,2012)

Example of man for man marking strategy used by Chelsea during defending corners against Corinthians in Club World Cup final in 2012.

Zonal marking:

“In zonal marking, each player is responsible for the zone of the field that has been assigned to him” (Ceccomori, M., 2004, pp.102). "But it's only more effective if it's covered comprehensively and players understand not only their roles but the roles of others." (Wilkinson, H., ) And moreover there need to be proper communication and understanding between the teammates and in this type of defending, player needs more concentration to read the game and act accordingly. Liverpool were successful in this strategy under Rafal Benitez period except one season, they were in top 4 consistently. ( rafabenitez.com)


Figure 2 set piece conceded by Liverpool from 2004-2010 under Rafa Benitez management. (rafabenitez.com)

Figure 3 Zdenek Zeman (Roma) Zonal Defence for a corner.

Mixed Marking:

Mixed marking means the combination of both man for man marking and zonal marking, i.e. one or two players will be assigned to mark a particular player and other rest of the players will be assigned a zone, and they are responsible for the opponent whoever in their zone. This strategy is safer, incase if the opponent get past the marker and get towards goals, zonal marker will be there to defend. However this needs more concentration and


communication within the players and they need know their roles, if anything missed out then team will be in trouble. Usually this type strategy is used with a view of immediate counter attack once the team gets the ball.

Figure 4 Mixed Marking

What types of crosses we can expect from an opponent, (i) In-swing cross (ii) Out-swing cross (iii) Short corners. In-swing and Out- swing crosses are most common types of cross and at times, some teams might prefer to take short corner if there is too much of defenders in the box or their players got marked tightly. Now let’s see where crosses can be placed? (i) Cross to near post, (ii) Crosses to far post (iii) Crosses to Middle part of the penalty area, (iv) Crosses to the edge of the box. Crosses to near post and far post are the most dangerous balls usually, as both places will not be marked with more attention, as the players will be giving more attention towards the middle part of the penalty area, where usually opponent will be in more numbers. Crosses directly to the edge of box is very rare but, this type of cross will be played only when the player in the edge of the box is totally unmarked by


the opponent. So when we are using a strategy, we should make sure that we cover the basics of the play i.e., putting players in all these areas.

Figure 5 In-swing corners.

Figure 6 Out-Swing corners.


Figure 7 Short Corners.

Figure 8 Corner to edge of the box.

I’ve chosen a particular strategy, with the explanation of tactical, key positional arrangements, roles and responsibilities of each and every player alongside with advantage and disadvantage of the strategy.


MIXED MARKING

I’ve planned to go with for mixed marking as I’m finding some good advantages, when compared to other two types of markings. Both man for man marking and zonal marking can be easily destroyed by the opponents, if they come up with a good idea. For example in man for man marking, if the opponent went unmarked in the edge of the box due to more number of opponents in penalty area, then he has more chance of scoring, either by getting into the 6 yard box or directly scoring from edge of the box. In Zonal marking, opponent has more freedom to attack the ball, and incase if two players of same team attack the same zone, it will be hard to mark by the player who is responsible for the zone. But in mixed marking there will be both man for man marking and zonal marking, and even if the player left unmarked, player who is in zonal marking will be there to defend the ball as there will be players in main 3 parts of the zone and there are will be less chances for conceding the goal. I’m going to place my strategy under 2 different situations.

(i) When the match is in the equal stage i.e., (draw) and during winning stage

(ii) During loosing stage

DURING EQUAL STAGE AND WINNING STAGE


Figure 8 Mixed Marking in equal stage and winning stage.

Players are positioned in this shape during when the match scores are equal, i.e. 0-0 or 1-1. It is always important not to concede a goal when we are either in the winning stage or during scores are equal, corners is where one can easily concede a goal, if we dint go up with a good strategy. So it’s always to be safe if we go up with a defensive strategy during these situations. In this strategy 3 defenders will act as zonal markers and 4 players will act as man for man markers where as one player will at the edge of the box to prevent the second ball from the opponent and one player placed in the near post, where as one player goes front to pressure if they take a short pass. Once the ball is cleared from the corner, all players will move up to put pressure on the opponent.

Roles and Responsibilities of each and every player:

Number 10 (N10) – His duty is to run down and put pressure on opponent during short corners. If there is any miss time header from the defender, ball


has the chance of coming towards him, so he is placed there. If the ball is with the opponent even after the corner taken, ball will be played to the player who took the corner as he will be in the side where he will be left with more space to cross the ball, in order to prevent the space, N10 will be there. N10 will attack only when he or his team mate has the ball.

Number 2 – His role is to stand inside the near post, in order to prevent a direct goal from an in-swinging corner. He is not only responsible for preventing the direct goals, even covering as much as space he can in the goal line, however not by obstructing the view of a goalkeeper. He needs to clear the ball away from the goal line. Once the ball is cleared away by the defenders, he should immediately move up and he should make sure that he is not making the opponent playing onside by staying behind.

Number 7, 6 and 3 – They are zonal markers, they are responsible for their zone. Number 7 is responsible for the near post and Number 3 is responsible for far post, whereas Number 6 will take care who ever playing in that zone. Number 7 is placed there in order to stop flicking headers from the opponent, so whoever comes in the near post he should not allow them to do so. Number 6 role is to attack the ball and clear away if it is coming in his zone, he will also ready to take others responsibility, if needed. Number 3 role is to take care of the far post, he will stand 3-4 yards away from the goal line, if the opponent comes from the far post he should take care of him, as it is his zone, if it is played to near post, he will move to inside of the far post line to prevent the goal.

Number 8, 4, 5, and 9 - Their role is man for man marking. Number 4 and 5 will mark their tallest players, i.e., who are potentially big aerial threats, while 8 and 9 will mark striker and mid-fielder, incase opponent plays 2 strikers then they will mark both the strikers. They are responsible for their man; they should not leave them unmarked and should not give space for them to attack the ball.


Number 11 - His role is to mark the player who is at the edge of the box, he should not give space for the opponent. He should also prevent the opponent from playing second ball to their teammates. His responsibility is to put pressure on the opponent immediately when the ball is cleared in order to regain the possession and counter attack them.

Number 1 – He is the Goalkeeper. His role is to communicate with the team effectively and when he gets the ball he has to distribute the ball perfectly to his teammate. He is responsible to place himself and his teammate in the right position. He is responsible to come and collect the ball, if it is near 6 yards.

STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS IN THIS STRATEGY:

STRENGTH:

(i) Players are positioned well and there is good number of players to defend the ball, so we won’t get outnumbered by the opponents.

(ii) Tallest players or the big aerial threats has been tightly marked by two center backs, so which reduces their big threat.

(iii) Even the short corner is prevented to some extent as a player will put pressure there if it is taken.

WEAKNESS:

(i) Fully defensive strategy to stop from scoring. Lacks in attacking option to counter attack them.

(ii) It is hard to win possession back, as all the players in the box to prevent the goal, so even if ball is cleared, the opponent is going to attack us again.

DURING LOOSING SITUATION


During loosing situation I’m going to keep 3 zonal markers, 3 Man for Man markers, one man in outside the D-box and a striker and a winger in the half-way line. There is no man standing inside the near post, however a player is nearby to near post. As we are in the loosing situation, this strategy is set up defend effectively and with a view to counter attack the opponent, so if we defend the corner perfectly, we can attack them efficiently. However there is a huge risk involved in this, as there is less number of defenders inside the box to defend the ball.

Figure 9 Mixed marking during loosing stage.

If team wins the ball, it will be played directly to either number 9 or to number 11 player, with number 10 and number 7 will follow the attack quickly.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Number 10: His role and responsibility remains the same.

Number 2, 6 and 3: He will standing in the near post, he has two roles now, if the ball is played to near post, he needs to prevent the flickers, if it is


played for the crowded area, then he should move himself to the near post goal line to prevent the goal. Number 6 role has a high role now, as there is a player left unmarked at the edge of the box, he should be more aware of the unmarked player who might get in and give some trouble. So number 6 is responsible to attack the ball if it is in his reach to do. Number 3 has to take care of far post players and he has same roles and responsible as Number 2 do.

Number 8, 5, and 4: All three players is up for man for man marking, each of them will mark the tallest or potential aerial threats, and they will mark those players tightly and won’t give space to attack the ball. They are responsible for their players. They need to clear the ball away from the danger zone.

Number 7: His role is to mark the player at the edge of box, and he is responsible to prevent the second ball from the opponent. If he gets the ball he needs to play the ball to Number 11 and Number 7 should also go for attack.

Number 9 and 11: They are not involved in defending the corner; their role is to wait for the ball, which will be played when their teammates wins it. Their responsibility is to attack their opponent as soon as they get the ball.

Number 1: His role and responsibility remains the same, but he has to be more aware and need more concentration as there are less number of defenders. He needs more communication and he needs to be quicker in distributing the ball.

STRENGHT AND WEAKNESS:

STRENGTH:

(I) Key players are tightly marked by the players who are good in aerials.


(II) We can easily counter attack them as there good options for the attack.

WEAKNESS:

(I) Less number of defenders, chances of players leaving unmarked.(II) Zonal players Number 2 and 3 have dual roles, so they need to read

the game perfectly.

CONCLUSION

Each and every strategy has its own advantages and disadvantages. It’s all with the managers, how effectively they use their strategy; an effective strategy will be minimizing the disadvantages and maximizing the advantages. Whatever the strategy we may use, but only by practicing more on it, we can expect a good outcome from it. This research is on how to defend corners; however I tried to take it on a realistic basis by placing winning, drawing and loosing situation where one manager has to deal within a match. A manager should be always in a position to change or work on his tactics little bit during the match based on the situation. Mixed marking is a safe strategy; as the key players will be marked tightly and even if they went unmarked, zonal players will be there to cover them and as well as it will be easy to counter attack on the opponent.

BIBILOGRAPHY


Bangsbo, J. and Peitersen, B. 2000. Soccer systems & strategies. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Bidzinski, M. 1996. The soccer coaching handbook. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: Crowood Press.

Ceccomori, M. 2004. Set plays. Spring City, Pa.: Reedswain Pub.

Misuraca, E. 2012. Example 1 – Zdenek Zeman (Roma) Zonal Defence for a corner. [image online] Available at: http://forzaitalianfootball.com/2012/09/calcio-coaching-zonal-marking-at-corners/ [Accessed: 12 Jan 2014].

Mokbel, S. 2012. Insight: This tactics sheet shows how Chelsea plan to defend corners. [image online] Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2250256/Chelsea-staff-warned-Rafael-Benitezs-tactics-taken-bin.html [Accessed: 12 Jan 2014].

News.bbc.co.uk. 2014. BBC SPORT | Football | Laws & Equipment | Set-piece marking. [online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/rules_and_equipment/4685580.stm [Accessed: 13 Jan 2014].

The truth about marking at Set Pieces. 2011. Rafa Benítez Blog, [blog] 21-10-2011, Available at: http://www.rafabenitez.com/web/in/blog/the-truth-about-marking-set-pieces/32/ [Accessed: 13 Jan 2014].


defending corners. effective strategy

Documents