Corner Theory

First, a confession: in 09 I used the corner cheat. Not just a couple of times, either - exclusively. It was one less tactical headache and pretty much guaranteed my team 10+ goals a season, which can make quite a difference.

I've decided that, having scored far less corners than I've contrived to concede, it's time to take a closer look at corners. Not only can the goals scored from them make a difference, but wide free kicks also replicate your corner routines adding further goalscoring potential - if set up correctly.

What's correctly then? There's clearly a lot of permutations but I'm going to try what would make logical sense and see if I can't score from this set piece more consistently.

You can choose: who takes your corners, from both sides; what to aim for; and where the rest of your players will be.

Choosing a taker

As ever, the Corners attribute isn't the only one that should come into play when taking a corner. There is the preferred foot of the taker - to determine out- or in-swinging delivery, his technique dictates how well he generally strikes the ball, his creativity to spot a possible target, and his decisions if you allow him to choose what to aim for himself.

In-swingers and Out-swingers

Right-footer who takes from the left can naturally curl the ball back in towards goal, similarly for a left-footer taking from the right. If the preferred foot of the taker matches the side he is taking from, the ball can be curled more naturally away from goal. This can be an important part of the delivery of corners. If you are aiming away from the goal, you generally want an out-swinging delivery. If you are aiming closer to the goal, you would prefer an in-swinging corner.

Delivery

There are six options for where you wish the taker to aim - short, near post, far post, six-yard box, penalty area and mixed.

Short

The short corner is useful if you do not have a recognised corner taker on the pitch, have no stand-out options to aim for, you would prefer to maintain possession or are generally wary of a counter attack. Generally, you would want at least one player set to 'offer short option' (see below). Perhaps this player could be good at general crosses, rather than corners.

Near Post

This maches up to two of the options for where your players will stand: near post flick-on and attack near post, discussed below. This is probably the easiest of the deliveries as the ball doesn't have to travel so far so accuracy doesn't have to be sacrified for power and there are also less opposition players to beat. If you find your taker is constantly hitting an opposition player, try aiming here or replace him with someone better.

Far Post

Again, you have two options here: stand on far post and attack far post. This seems like a difficult delivery option because of the power involved in whipping the ball all that way as well the number of opposition bodies in the way and also the keeper to clear.

Six-yard Box

This corresponds to players who will attack the ball from deep. A medium difficulty delivery, somewhat akin to the near post but with the added danger of the keeper coming to collect.

Penalty Area

This sounds quite general as the penalty area is pretty large and incorporates everything mentioned earlier. Personally, I think if it is interpreted more like 'edge of' penalty area, this corresponds more naturally to players instructed to lurk outside the area. I think this is probably one of the easier deliveries as this area is generally not as congested, and the target can be quite large.

Mixed

I see this as the ideal because it means that the player will assess the situation on a case-by-case basis and use his own intelligence to pick a target. With players of sufficient quality, it is always advisable to give them free reign over the details. However, I imagine this requires good decision-making and creativity.

Roles

The most important part of setting up corner routines is giving each player an instruction to carry out. I feel there is a clear distinction between the types of threat posed in each position. There are different categories of role: static and mobile, simply meaning that the player will or will not be moving, respectively; attacking and defensive, which is self-explanatory. It would be wise to have a good blend of each.

Offer Short Option

As mentioned above in delivery, it can be more beneficial to play the ball short and let play continue from there, rather than punt the ball into the box. The player will likely need good passing or crossing as well as good creativity to make the most of the opportunity.

Lurk Outside Area

These players might recycle the ball into the box if a delivery has been cleared, or they might just have a pop at goal. You can make them the focal point by aiming toward the penalty area. These players will have good long shots and the technique and composure to make it count.

Challenge Keeper

This is useful to pin the keeper back and prevent him from coming out to collect a longer delivery. The player will have to be strong and brave but likely not too aggressive because keepers are generally afforded a lot of protection.

Attack Ball From Deep

If a player has good heading, off the ball and acceleration, but lack the jumping or strength to challenge one-on-one for aerial balls, they might be a candidate for attacking the ball from deep. They have a lot of the goal to aim at and their movement can pull defenders out of position, which is important lest your corners become predictable and ineffective.

Stand On Far Post

Personally, I think this is reserved for your player with the most strength, jumping and heading ability. Your Nemanja Vidic, or Nikola Zigic. They needn't be mobile, just capable of fending off the strength of defenders, getting something on the ball and directing it goalwards.

Near Post Flick On

Another static role. However, this is less about attacking the goal and more about creating confusion among the defence. Even a slight touch here can put the defence off their game and create opportunities. As the player isn't facing goal during the delivery, it is unlikely that they will be looking to score directly from this position. With further players attacking from deep, this could be very effective.

Attack Far Post

This is a more mobile role, where the player is looking to break free of his defender and get a free header on goal. I feel this is suited to players who are good at heading and movement, but not necessarily at getting off the ground or beating a defender for strength. Luis Fabiano and Marko Pantelic fit this bill.

Attack Near Post

This completes the tryptich of mobile roles. I think the difference between them is about what you have the personnel for. If you have a taker who can hit the back stick consistently and a big man who can take advantage of that, I think having someone else who can attack the far post will cause a lot of problems for defences as you are preventing them from doubling up on your big target by adding a secondary threat. Conversely, if you have a poor taker, this role is a more likely goal-scoring outlet because he will be easier to hit.

Go Forward

This is extremely generic and I think it is the role equivalent of a mixed delivery: you are leaving it down to the player to decide for himself where to be. Again, this is likely the most dangerous option, especially if the player can adequately cause problems in multiple roles.

Stay Back If Needed

Useful if you wish to have an extra player drop back should the opposition try to overload for a counter-attack. Should he not be needed at the back, I guess he will use his positional default (below) or perhaps switch to go forward (above).

Stay Back

If the opposition are trying to counter your corner, you would be wise to drop definitely one, probably two, possibly three players back to deal with the quick break.

Default

I think this relates to the position of each player but I'm not going to pretend I know.

Combinations

I read once in a coaching book that in-swingers to the near-post yielded the most goals, statistically. I'm sure this is true, but the book didn't mention what percentage of corners taken were aimed to the near-post anyway. This would make sense to me because I view the near-post as being the easiest option for delivery and an out-swinging corner to the near-post is pretty counter-intuitive.

Aside from the 'ideal' of having players capable of deciding how to set themselves up, you can maximise your productivity from corners by either spreading your players across the roles and having a 'mixed' taker or have the taker concentrate on one delivery and overload that option. The latter might not be an option in FM10 because, in my experience, players do not heed to roles when they are overloaded. I couldn't get more than one 'attack near post' player and when I tried two or more, none of them ending up doing it at all. I have, however, seen the AI effectively overload the 'attack ball from deep' option - this seems to be favoured by lower-league clubs because of its inherent unpredictability and the paucity of quality.

The most common set up would be to have your taker on mixed initially, a good spread of players across all four major threats and to go from there. If your player consistently tries to hit the back stick and fails, switch him to something he might actually achieve. It might also be an idea to switch his delivery within a match so that the opposition don't know what's coming next but you can avoid stupid deliveries that the taker can't supply.

I'm now off to experiment and ensure that I've not just talked gibberish for a long while!

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I decided to make a custom view (brilliant addition to the game) on the tactics screen so that I could set up my roles quicker. The first three attributes are for movement, then the required aerial attributes followed by static attributes (strength) and finally long-shots and decisions.

-In the image above the first player is my keeper, he's going to be left on default because he isn't going to add anything to my options.

-Then I've got a player who has acceptable movement but is diabolical aerially and weak in strength. However, as he has good long shots I'll have him lurk outside the area.

-Next I have a good all-rounder, while he might not be amazing in the air he can both find space and challenge for strength, I have him set as 'go forward' for now, but I think he might have a more natural role in challenging the keeper.

-A centre back follows, but he isn't just a lumbering idiot, he has some acceleration and anticipation. I have him set as attack near post because my taker has 14 for corners and I really don't know if that's enough to clear the defence. If so, I might swap this defender to attack far post and the next defender to stand on far post.

-This defender is the big man I was talking about earlier. I have him set to near post flick-on because I have faith in him winning the ball, but his headers aren't particularly accurate.

-This fella is set to stay back if needed. He's not particularly great up in the box but I'll let him decide whether to go up or stay back.

-Decent across the board so he'll attack from deep.

My final three players will stay back, go fwd and attack the far post. That gives me a good spread of roles. My taker, thankfully, is pretty poor in the air so I won't really miss him when he's taking the corner. As he's right footed, I've set him to mixed on the left-hand corners but set him to 'six yard box' on right-hand corners, which should approximately replicate a cross from the byline when the box is overloaded. Hopefully, I'll earn some corners in my next match and make some observations.

- Corner 1:

Everyone appears set up ok, 6 has decided he needs to cover, 16 is lurking and completely unmarked, which is something to consider as an option when taking from the left (instead of 6-yard box). My two go forward players are jostling for space between my attack from deep and attack far post players. As my attack near post defender is double marked (there's a second player under their number 3) I'd be happiest with a cross to the far post where three players could run in and get something on the ball.

However, the taker decides to aim for the 6 yard box, their number 27 anticipates the threat and clears. It only gets as far as my lurker, who recycles the ball and my pacy winger (20) bombs forward into the box. Nothing comes of it, although they are forced into a clearance and I retain possession. I won't change anything yet.

- Corner 2:

The opposition have decided to put someone on my lurker this time. However, it means there's only one man marking my attack near post defender. Again, the far post would be my preferred destination. Thankfully, I get my wish and he aims for the far post. My burly target man slips his marker, catches the player intended to clear it flat footed and puts his bonce on the ball. Sadly, he gives a free kick away for something in the process.

- Corner 3:

From the right this time. Having won a header last time, they've decided to double up on my no. 11. This has left my lurker free, but the taker is instructed to aim for the 6 yard box. From this image alone I don't think we have much chance of getting anything from aiming there. And we don't - they're 27 drops into the space and is one of about five players capable of clearing the ball before my one player 8 has a chance. Although my lurker wins it again and puts it straight back in the mixer, my no. 11 is offside. I think I'll aim back toward the penalty area from the left and see what that's like.

- Corner 4:

Back to the left hand side but exactly the same set up as last time. Taker chooses the 6-yard box and their man marking my near post flick-on defender steps out to clear. I'd have preferred to see the taker aim for the near post there. My lurker did his job again, though, but his ball back in - possibly it was a shot - went wide.

--

Those were the only corners I had during the game and, while I didn't score, I feel like I've definitely learnt something. The opposition seemed initially scared of my player attacking the near post, treating him as a primary danger. They changed their minds once another player had gotten a half chance though. I think that the delivery was generally pretty poor from my taker. In future, I'll decide exactly where he's going to deliver and alternate as I see fit.

Nice post.Will be interesting to see where this gos.

I can't be sure now cause my cb's, and other players have low heading, and jumping. About 14 is the highest, but what seams to work is distraction

You set your taker to aim the far post

Put all your players somewhere, but don't put anyone to stand on the far post

and

set your best heading jumper to attack the far post, with the second best on go forward (he should be the only one doing that)

That way you will have two player's attacking the far post, and their players distracted with your other players.

L.D.: yeah, distraction seems to be a good call. I might try that. Second game in and I managed to score from a corner. I set corners from the right to be to the penalty area but the taker seemed to aim more toward the 6 yard box - whether that was because my lurker was marked or not, I'm not sure. My near post flick on defender managed to peel away from his marker and nod home. Quite happy I've managed to score so quickly after setting them up, but it's really about consistency.

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Two in three now. First corner of a game at home to Chelsea. I had to change the set up because I needed to rotate some off form players out. In-swinger to the near post is missed by everyone, Cech tries to punch it but my back stick attacker moves inside to pounce on the loose ball and hammers it home.

It always seemed to me that giving the players complete freedom on corners lead to little or no fruition. Maybe I'm just pessimistic, but the players always seemed to make the worst decisions when their actions weren't specified or even limited. Not only with crappy players either, my current corner squad of gourcuff/srna kicking and adebayor/mexes/toure heading aren't particularly shabby.

I'm glad to see this topic because corners have become my biggest nemesis in FM10. I simply cannot find anything even approaching consistency in creating danger for the other team. Not goalscoring, because I don't expect to score, but I do expect set pieces to be something that I don't groan when I see my team getting.

But anyway, I seem to have success whenever I change. First I tried a far post overload tactic, with balls to the far post, adebayor standing on far, mexes and toure attacking far, and tevez standing on near for any loose balls (other players were situated out and about for variation). Mexes and adebayor were consistently challenging for headers (which is all I ask) for about 5 games, then the delivery and movement went to (edited: stuff that isn't particularly pleasant). Then I changed it to a near post delivery with mexes on flick on, 'bayor on challenge keeper, toure on stand far and tevez coming from deep. I scored in the first game I tried it, a pivotal winning goal in a City-Utd derby. A single tear of joy rolled down my face. Then, the method generated chances for two or three more games. Nothing afterwards except a wayward delivery that robinho volled in from deep. I'll have to try some more, but they all seem pretty worthless. I am at a crossroads for corners.

Not even half way through and I felt obligated to reply with "Outstanding Post!!!!"

You and I have discussed many a topic over the last year or so and I have to say, this is one of the most interesting.

Great Post and I look forward to finishing it..... don't let me down

ps 1. Don't forget about agility in 'movement', it dictates how quickly your player can change direction. It might be usefull for the attack X post and Attack from deep where they are running in and then have to check their run or change the direction. Might be over complicating this a little, but I feel that it complements your remarks on the movement stats.

ps. 2. For me, what became very evident in your examples is how important mixed with a good decision maker would be. You can imagine how the opposition would be left second guessing almost everytime.

In ex1. the taker spins it out to your lurker. In ex2. the lurker gets marked, so he sets it up to your attack near post man. ex3. Your near post man gets marked up so it gets spun out to your lurker...... rinse and repeat.

What has also occured to me after thinking on your mixed settings statements is that there seems to be a correlation of 'freedom' associated with the placement of the corners akin to the slider settings for many player instructions.

What I mean by this is you have the following:

Specific instructions: Freedom rating 2/10. These ask your player to drop the ball on a specific location.... ie no room for movement in that instruction

Best Header

Far Post

Near Post

Short

You then move onto the more creative instructions:

6 Yard box: Freedom rating 5/10 Basically.... use your judgement BUT it has to go into this little box ie when translated doesnt really offer a lot of freedom, but is more free than the specifics.

Penalty area: Freedom rating 7/10. This is really where you start to see some freedom in where the ball gets placed. However, it is still slightly limited.

Mixed: 10/10. Put it where you want! Total relying on your player to make the decisions based on what he sees happening.

I really like this thread as it is really making me think on setpieces like I have not before.

What would be interesting to know is if creative freedom comes into play when your corner taker is making his decisions.

LAM

Maybe this is a bit too simple but I also feel like a lot of success from corners I see comes from attacking players criss-crossing one another.

I wonder if its possible to create the scenario where a number of players attack the goal together, hoping that some will streak to the far post while others cut back in towards the GK or near post.

Imagine all the times you've seen that "x" movement between two players to screen out the man markers. My assumption is that to do this, they all have to be starting from basically the same place but going to different places.

The question is, how to set that up?

Great thread I look forward too more.

a lot of success from corners I see comes from attacking players criss-crossing one another.

I wonder if its possible to create the scenario where a number of players attack the goal together, hoping that some will streak to the far post while others cut back in towards the GK or near post.

Imagine all the times you've seen that "x" movement between two players to screen out the man markers. My assumption is that to do this, they all have to be starting from basically the same place but going to different places.

The question is, how to set that up?

As i said. You put your best header to attack the far post (it could be the near post too, or something other, but, it seams that in fm10 the far post works best)

to get the criss-crossing you put your striker to go forward. This will make him stand near the defender who is attacking the far post, but the do it a bit differently. The striker goes first, thus pulling the players marking them away from the cb, and then the cb runs in from behind and scores.

I have some success with this, but a whole lot doesn't get in the goal, because i don't have any good jumpers/headers in my team. 14/15 for heading and jumping is the best i have, but the important thing is that he connects with the ball.

All other players to other positions. 1 to challenge keeper, 1 to attack from deep, 2 to lurk outside, 1 to stand on near post, 1 to attack near post, and no one to stand on the far post. That would just put 2 player there, and would make it difficult to score through them.

lam: I think you might be on to something with your interpretation of the 6 yard box and penalty area deliveries. I had set my taker to penalty area but he never aimed for the edge of the box as I had hoped. I'm not around FM at the moment but when I get back to it this afternoon I'll be investigating further.

sorry i add my 2cents but having mixed crossing is the least effective way to score, ive scored 0 goals and i just changed into 6 yard and 1st game and goal

its just interpretation where are facts?

go forward is really bad idea to add too when u mess with all the positions its good when you add go forward to all of those who should go, but not near + far + deep + go forward

This is a corner I set up inspired by L.D.'s "distraction" theory. I have two players back (one is set to 'back if needed'), one lurker (who is marked), two players on attack back post, one on stand on far post, two on go forward and one on challenge keeper. The taker is right-footed so I set him to 'penalty area'.

This corner resulted in a goal- the number 5 on the goal keeper peels backwards into the masses of space afforded him and ends up with a free header. Probably a good thing as his heading isn't great, but when you're inside the 6-yard box you don't need brilliant heading. The keeper gets a hand to it but fails to keep it out. I think that makes it 3 goals from corners in about 7 games, which is a fantastic ratio.

This is a corner I set up inspired by L.D.'s "distraction" theory. I have two players back (one is set to 'back if needed'), one lurker (who is marked), two players on attack back post, one on stand on far post, two on go forward and one on challenge keeper. The taker is right-footed so I set him to 'penalty area'.

This corner resulted in a goal- the number 5 on the goal keeper peels backwards into the masses of space afforded him and ends up with a free header. Probably a good thing as his heading isn't great, but when you're inside the 6-yard box you don't need brilliant heading. The keeper gets a hand to it but fails to keep it out. I think that makes it 3 goals from corners in about 7 games, which is a fantastic ratio.

3 goals in seven games? That is a much more realistic return than 09, did the three goals all arrive via the same instructions Zdlr?

3 goals in seven games? That is a much more realistic return than 09, did the three goals all arrive via the same instructions Zdlr?

Actually, I've just counted back and it's 3 in 6! And all three had different instructions... The first two are described in post #5.

4 in 7...

Two mobile and aerial threats attacking the near post, one strong player on the keeper, one aerial threat standing on the far post, two go forward, two lurkers. Taker set to 6-yard box. This is exactly where the taker aims, too. Right on the edge of the 6-yard box, slightly toward the far post away from the centre. A race ensures between my 27 and their 9 - my 27 wins and I score the fourth corner in seven games.

Altogether, this was my fifth corner of the game but first of the 2nd half - and I had just changed it at half-time because four attempts had yielded very little. I think the key is to switch things around and keep the opponent guessing.

However, you'll notice from the screenshot that I decided I didn't need two people back so they'd stuck an extra man up front in case a counter was on.

Zd, so you change your corner routines often?

This is a corner I set up inspired by L.D.'s "distraction" theory. I have two players back (one is set to 'back if needed'), one lurker (who is marked), two players on attack back post, one on stand on far post, two on go forward and one on challenge keeper. The taker is right-footed so I set him to 'penalty area'.

This corner resulted in a goal- the number 5 on the goal keeper peels backwards into the masses of space afforded him and ends up with a free header. Probably a good thing as his heading isn't great, but when you're inside the 6-yard box you don't need brilliant heading. The keeper gets a hand to it but fails to keep it out. I think that makes it 3 goals from corners in about 7 games, which is a fantastic ratio.

You have to move all your players from the far post part of the pitch. Only your 2 best headers should be there. One on attack the far post, the other on go forward. Move everyone someplace else. No one standing on far post.

You have to move all your players from the far post part of the pitch. Only your 2 best headers should be there. One on attack the far post, the other on go forward. Move everyone someplace else. No one standing on far post.

Well the way I set it up yielded a goal, not sure there can be much argument with an outcome like that

so you change your corner routines often?

I give the routine three attempts in a game and then I change it if it hasn't scored.

Well the way I set it up yielded a goal, not sure there can be much argument with an outcome like that

I scored a hattrick by Lovren. Dinamo Zagreb player. Maybe 14 for jumping and heading. Trust me, you are only making it difficult by putting your players there. Not only your players, but the opponent players too. Just look at the picture you posted. How can that be good for a player who is trying to score???

I scored a hattrick by Lovren. Dinamo Zagreb player. Maybe 14 for jumping and heading. Trust me, you are only making it difficult by putting your players there. Not only your players, but the opponent players too. Just look at the picture you posted. How can that be good for a player who is trying to score???

Fair enough, I'll give it a go

I scored my 5th in 9 games not long after - from a different set up tho - it was an equaliser away that gained me a point that otherwise didn't look too likely. I have five games left in the season and I'm hoping that I can get another two corner goals at least. Considering I had only scored a couple of corners in the ~25 games I'd played, I'm seeing some much better routines. There was even one where the taker finally knocked it back directly to the lurker who controlled it onto his stronger foot but, rather than take a long shot, he fed one of my attack from deep players who layed it off to his attack from deep partner who, sadly, blazed it over the bar. It would have been a magnificent set piece if it had gone in, but at least now I look forward to getting a corner instead of viewing them as a complete waste of time.

I need to get to the same level with my free-kicks because, without a Beckham/Ronaldo, it seems that aiming for a header might be more productive.

Very enlightening! I'm getting a bit annoyed with my corners as I get loads of them each match but I'm ridiculously poor at them. I can't wait to put some of this theory into practice and see if I can conjure up a few more goals I otherwise wouldn't have had. If you're going to look at free kicks in the same way, I'd be very interested in those results as well.

Very enlightening! I'm getting a bit annoyed with my corners as I get loads of them each match but I'm ridiculously poor at them. I can't wait to put some of this theory into practice and see if I can conjure up a few more goals I otherwise wouldn't have had. If you're going to look at free kicks in the same way, I'd be very interested in those results as well.

Thanks, Ainu. I've been very pleasantly surprised with the results I've had from this investigation. I whole-heartedly recommend creating a custom view akin to the one at the end of the original post. I've added a few more attributes to it: agility (lam's suggestion), corners and technique. It's just a real shame that this view isn't available on the tactics screen during a match - and viewing a player's profile while the match is in progress has resulted in a few crashes for me.

I'll probably take a look a free kicks and perhaps make a new thread for them.

I found that the key is to put your right footed corner taker to do the right side, and lefty from the left side. That way he almost always hits the player attacking far post.

Just signed one cb with 19 for heading and jumping. Goals ahoy!

I'm interesting in using your theory L.D.

Can you give specific instructions on what to do pls? I don't understand much in corner taking and such and I always leave them as default.

Right now the only thing I'm doing is make my CB attack near post and make my taker take it near post. This resulted in only 6 goals in 38 games with the occasional own goal by the opposition player.

If you could give specific instructions about what to do and which players should be used (example use striker to challenge keeper, etc) for your theory that would be great.

Thanks

Aim the far post & set right footed player to take corners from the right sider, and left footed from the left

Best header/jumper - attack far post

Striker on - go forward

These 2 are the key.

................................................

These other players are just a distraction, and do nothing, but make the opposition player mark them, and not the one you are aiming at.

Strong cb on challenge keeper

2 players with high long shots - lurk outside the area

1 player - near post flick on

1 player - attack near post

1 player on attack ball from deep

Fullbacks stay back

That's it. Works like a charm.

Thanks mate, will report back and tell you how it goes

Just out of curiosity, how many goals have you scored in how many matches?

Aim the far post & set right footed player to take corners from the right sider, and left footed from the left

Just for clarification..... you are suggesting the opposite of what most peoples standard setup will be?

You are saying:

Right corner = Right foot

Left corner = Left foot

ie.... outswinging?

LAM

That way ball will hit player straight to the forehead

just rating this thread

I just conceded twice from corners in a single game. Not good.

This was how the opposition set up:

The ball went to the six yard box and, with no player on the near post or keeper, their striker moved forward from the far post and headed in. This was repeated for their second goal, and is shown below:

He was 5ft 10in with 8 jumping, while i had him marked by my 6ft 3in centre-back with 16 jumping on him - i think the key was that he had good off the ball movement, 14, and lost his marker on both occasions (my centre-back has 13 marking).

Just for clarification..... you are suggesting the opposite of what most peoples standard setup will be?

You are saying:

Right corner = Right foot

Left corner = Left foot

ie.... outswinging?

LAM

Yep It's like a Tyson knockout. Now i have that Ukrainian dude Kristovs or what the hell his name is. 19/19 jumping, heading I have to look at how many am i scoring, but it's regular.

If you have inswinging corner goalkeeper might collect ball but if it's the other way then the ball is going away from him and he wont go for it. That increases your chances for wining the ball.

I am having a decent amount of success with this. Funnily enough though, Crouch isnt to hot at these, I guess he is a little to marked!

Bassong does fairly well, however with 15 in heading, he is making some howling misses! But the good point is is that there are plent of opportunities.

LAM

Just for clarification..... you are suggesting the opposite of what most peoples standard setup will be?

You are saying:

Right corner = Right foot

Left corner = Left foot

ie.... outswinging?

LAM

not all times, some players with low technique dont curl the ball and its straight which is pretty dangerous too

I was debating changing to out swinging corners, a lot of the above comments really made sense. I know I've scored a few this season in all competitions but when I looked at the statistics, I have scored 11 corners in 35 league games, I think Carragher has like 8 goals and a few own goals in there. I do waste a fair few corners even from Stevie G and VDV but I suppose thats the reality of corner taking, evrey corner taken is never spot on so these inswingers are staying for now..I like this realistic ratio

Scored 2 against Milan yesterday. Now i'm playing around with it to see can it get better

I tried it...my players are getting their heads to the ball but they just cannot get it into the net, it's either over or straight at the gk. I have some players with quite good heading and jumping attributes, like Dzeko, Bassong and Crouch.

I tried it...my players are getting their heads to the ball but they just cannot get it into the net, it's either over or straight at the gk. I have some players with quite good heading and jumping attributes, like Dzeko, Bassong and Crouch.

Can we please make a distinction between L.D.'s specific instructions and the original post's holistic approach, I feel that the point of this thread is being narrowed somewhat.

I tried L.D instructions.

ZdlR,

Just a few questions..

So you rotate/recycle each new corner routine after three attempts if they have not scored? Do you ever go back to the ones that previously did score?

How effective is your player who lurks? With Guthrie taking your corners i'm assuming you're Newcastle but without bringing specific players into this do you have or would you think that by having a player with good decisions, creativity and long shots would be best suited for that role. In your first few examples i saw that this player got a number of chances after the first phase and nothing really came of it.

And lastly, have you looked into defending set pieces? I saw that you're thinking of looking at free kicks next but was wondering if you were solely looking at the attacking corner.

Cheers

So you rotate/recycle each new corner routine after three attempts if they have not scored? Do you ever go back to the ones that previously did score?

Yes and yes. I start each game with one routine which has a nice spread of players in different positions and if it hasn't yielded a goal by the third corner I switch it round.

How effective is your player who lurks? With Guthrie taking your corners i'm assuming you're Newcastle but without bringing specific players into this do you have or would you think that by having a player with good decisions, creativity and long shots would be best suited for that role. In your first few examples i saw that this player got a number of chances after the first phase and nothing really came of it.

Personally, I think first touch is of paramount importance for the lurker. Numerous times I've seen him fluff the initial control and been closed down as a result. I've never scored from the lurker but it's something I keep persisting with for recycling possession if nothing else. Also, note that patch 10.1 reduces the tendency for the corner taker to target the lurker.

And lastly, have you looked into defending set pieces? I saw that you're thinking of looking at free kicks next but was wondering if you were solely looking at the attacking corner.

Yes. I set them up so I have all good jumpers / strong players on 'mark tall', decent markers on 'mark small', one fast or strong player forward and a player on each post. I rarely concede corners, but it does happen.

This is my set below and i get a fair few goals from it

Key stats in brackets.

The three main players are my big (brave) DC: wheater who attacks far post, DC: Forlin challenge keeper (Anticipation) and Jo with good stats in (Anticipation, off the ball, jumping and Heading)

The Key to the setup is the players on needed they act as foils for the main four so your corner taker should be selected from these players there role in the corner if you take notice is to Mela round the far post i seam to cause the AI a lot of problems with this setup.

I use inswinging Corner takers so right footed from the left and left footed from the right

Corners should be aim to the far post from both sides

Im not scoring an extreme amount of goals from corners, but I think 24 goals in 72 matches of lower league football (level 9&10) is decent enough.

Setup:

DR/DL: Stay back

DC*2: Attack Far

DMC: Needed

MR: Keeper

ML: Stand Far post

AMC: Lurk

SC: Near

SC: Keeper

Most goals from DCs but, sometimes when the corner aint precise or the goalie fumbles, the three men behind(Marking keeper and far post) often gets on the scoresheet.

Im aiming them towards far post with inward swing, but Im gonna try outwards to see what happens.

Any suggestions how to settup attacking and defending corners for this lineup ?

DC-Vidic

DC-Mexes

DL-Chiellini

DR-Sagna

MC-Hamsik

MC-Sissoko

AMC-Kaka

AML-Jovetic

AMR-Jesus Navas

ST-Milevsky

how u got that team?

how u got that team?

Why does it matter? :/

how u got that team?

West Ham 4th season on network !!!

Have just gone 136 games without scoring from a corner, i neally fell off my chair when i did i was that shocked, anyway thanks for posting this info see if it can halp me