Improved Zonal defending from corners.

[cynathor]

Hey guys was just watching Klopp on MNF and realised the key problem thats been bugging me. My team concedes a lot of goals from set pieces so I switch to a zonal marking system with 2 men on the posts. However, I often lose out to outswinging or deep cross balls that land between the penalty spot and the 6 yard line. I think there should be an option to deal with inswinging and outswinging corners separately (thus giving two footed players a real advantage if they are set piece takers perhaps) rather than left or right. 

Also Klopp mentioned how he uses 3 defenders on the 6 yard line doing zonal but 3 more players - 2 standing higher and one hybrid near post and zonal for the sort of fast near post flick. He also mentioned he sets the line to be higher for outswingers and deeper for inswingers. Same should apply for freekicks. 

On a side note, FM uses corner defending routine for FK's that are on the sides of the box. This leads to me having 2 guys on the post when I dont really want to and would prefer using an offside based high line. Can the two not be clumped together. 

[Weston]

I too am confused by defending set pieces. How strong is the natural response your team has to opposition tactics if there are no instructions set, and, conversely, how static are instructions that are given?

For example, if I set my defensive routine to have a short option marking player and the opposition doesn't use a short option is that player going to dutifully stand out there for no reason, or smartly change tactics? And if I set no routine and the opposition do use a short option how will I know for sure if a player of mine will react and go out there to mark even if the implemented instructions have him standing in the box? It is for these reasons I've always been scared to set any defensive routines and just blindly hope my team knows how to appropriately respond to different scenarios as they come up.

This may seem to be stretching the topic, but similarly I am also confused about attacking set pieces for a few reasons. If I set the set piece taker hierarchy to have Player A (my center mid) take corners but my corner routine instructs the left mid to take them, which overrides which? This often comes up if I sub on a player who is ranked higher than the current players on the pitch, or if I move the first choice kicker to a new position during the match. It's all very confusing, and makes me feel like trying to make good instructions only opens myself up to more failure that would be avoided with simply letting the team do whatever beyond me designating the set piece taker.

Some clarity and/or guidance on these issues would be a great addition to the game.

[Neil Brock]

Reviewed so locked.