Short corner routines from around world football

Shorter set-piece situations have become more standard in modern-day football as they have the possibilities to create high-value chance creation opportunities. Shorter goal-kicks became standard with implementation of a new goal-kick rule a few years ago and now shorter corners are becoming more apparent in the modern game. As the efficiency of in-swinging and out-swinging corners have become more scrutinised, some coaches across world football have shown their creativity with short corners as the focus of the opposition is on defending the box which allows for a lot of creativity in these situations. This piece looks to analyse some of the more interesting short corner routines over the last few years in world football.

Juan Carlos Osorio’s 3v3 short corner routine

 One of the more apparent short corner routines is the 3v3 routine as teams will normally position two players by the corner flag for a flick and cross situation or to drag an extra opponent out of the box to mark the corner taker or his teammate by the corner flag to provide the illusion of a short corner. During his spell at Atletico Nacional, Juan Carlos Osorio loved to utilize short corner situations as he had three players at the corner flag which attracted three opposition players to mark them. One player was positioned closer to the corner flag with the other player in the half-space as the corner taker played the ball to his teammate by the touchline and made a run around the player who had just received possession to attract his marker and clear space as he received possession to thread a pass for the teammate whose marker had pushed in front of him, allowing him to receive the ball on the turn and square a cross across goal.

Many may think that shorter corner routines are focused on the passing interchanges by the corner flag but the runs and movements of the player in the box are as integral as shown in the situation below. Atletico Nacional have three players in the opposition box against five defensive players as the marking at the beginning of the situation is geared to marking the three players, one defender is focused on closing space at the near post while the other is closing down near post runs as once the ball is played into the box, the defence shifts from man-marking responsibilities to zonal marking responsibilities as one Atletico Nacional player is focused on holding his position at the back-post, the other makes a movement into space at the top of the box where he is unmarked while the other attacker makes a run to the near post before tip-toeing in between the defenders as his run is just a few seconds too late to score a tap-in.

Atletico Nacional had a player free at the top of the box for a shooting opportunity as well as creating the opportunity to tap-in despite conceding the numerical superiority in the box as the advantage of short corner situations is that a team can cede the numerical superiority to the opposition lulling them into a false sense of security as Osorio’s side had two players free in the opposition box. If Atletico Nacional lost possession in the box, they would also have had the ability to counter-press aggressively in the opposition box.

Hansi Flick’s scrambling/delayed crossing routine

 German National Team Head-Coach, Hansi Flick is one of the foremost coaching minds on innovative set-piece situations while his most famous invention was an innovative free-kick situation at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil against Algeria. When he first took over as Bayern Munich Head Coach, he brought some short corner situations with him as he tinkered with 3v3 format while showing that delaying the cross into the box is risky but can be effective as this forces the opposition to mark players in the box for longer than they expected which can allow his players the opportunity to move into space, make runs off the ball and disorient the opposition defence so even the simplest of deliveries to become a higher quality goalscoring opportunity. This is similar to the NFL where a lot of short set-piece situations take inspiration as the quick-passing game has always been famous but with more athletic Quarterbacks and hyper-athletic receivers, scrambling from the Quarterback position puts a greater strain on the defence.

In a routine away to Hoffenheim, Thomas Muller and Joshua Kimmich are positioned by the corner flag, Muller takes the corner by rolling it and running forward leaving Kimmich by the corner flag while Andrej Kramaric gestures for his teammate to mark Muller down the line as Kimmich passes the ball back, further away from the box which would be against conventional wisdom. Bayern Munich play the ball to the other flank as the opposition defence pushes up to the edge of their own box as Jerome Boateng receives possession on the opposite flank to cross to the near post for Corentin Tolisso to poke the ball wide. The movement is brilliant as when the move begin, Hoffenheim have a 4v6 numerical superiority but when the move ends, they have a 6v7 numerical superiority but more importantly, Bayern Munich have a 4v4 in the centre of the box where the three attackers who make runs towards the six-yard box have manoeuvred into space while Hoffenheim have focused on marking the two men holding their run at the top of the box.

With the movement and delayed delivery into the box, teams are forced to choose between closing down at the top of the box or tracking their markers as one avenue will always be open as the onus is on the player delivery the ball to make the decision to cut-back or cross into the box and his teammates to find space. Throughout the move, the four players in the centre of the box are scanning to see where the ball is, who is marking them and to evaluate when Boateng receives possession, so they can make their runs into space. One of the more interesting movements is Tolisso who eventually receives possession and has the opportunity as he scans as once Phillipe Coutinho receives the ball and he is certain Boateng will receive possession, he moves into the with a teammate moving outside him to hold a marker and create space for Tolisso to make a run to the near post to receive the cross. Chance creation from a standard crossing situation, be it in-game or during a set-piece involves a player making a run to the near post, a teammate in the centre of the post and a player making a run to the back as all three players in this situation have found space.

Flick had another short corner situation where they delayed a delivery into the box but did not quite switch the ball as it was in the same game against Hoffenheim. The short corner is taken by Coutinho as Alfonso Davies makes a run out of the box as two Hoffenheim players are moving into the box to provide extra support for their team as at this stage, Bayern Munich have 3 players in the opposition box while Hoffenheim have 9 players defending the box before Benjamin Pavard makes a run into the box while Davide Alaba makes a run from deep into the box as he was meant to receive possession to have a high quality crossing opportunity but the ball was played back to Coutinho who played a pass for Kimmich in the centre to fake like he was going to switch before cutting back and playing the ball to Davies to spread the ball to back to the same flank the original corner was from as the ball was played to Muller for a one-touch pass to Alaba who had a cross blocked.

Although this corner did not result in an opportunity on goal, it was a fantastically drawn up set-piece for Hansi Flick. Davies moving out of the box and the late run into the box from Boateng was phenomenally worked as when the ball reached Kimmich, he had the opportunity to lob a switch ball to the back-post who made a run as soon as he received the ball for a high-quality cut-back opportunity as his team managed to stay onside when the ball went back out. When the ball was worked back into the box, Pavard who also made an early late run into the box was in space near the six-yard box while the opportunity for the cut-back to Josh Zirkzee was available as there were a variety of opportunities for Bayern Munich to have a goalscoring opportunity.

Ecuador and Gustavo Alfaro’s short corner routine

 Jordi Cruyff stepped down from the Ecuadorian National Team job in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic as Gustavo Alfaro took over shortly after. Youth development in Ecuador has been on the rise as they have one of the most intriguing young squads in South America. The Ecuadorian National Team began World Cup qualifying under their new coach in a fast-transitioning 4-4-2 shape built on rapid counter-attacks, targeted pressing and enterprising corner and throw-in routines. Alfaro has since altered to a 4-2-3-1 but Ecuador are on the cusp of qualifying for the World Cup due to some of their early performances under Alfaro. The Argentine Head Coach and his performance analyst, Alejandro Manograsso are pioneers in the use of Artificial Intelligence and technical tools to evaluate game actions as this shows in their implementation of dead-ball situations.

Their short corner routine that leads to the opening goal is intriguing as the ball-far striker makes a run from the far side of the box towards the corner as Uruguay are not expecting the short-corner as by the time the defender marking the near post realises that the striker is receiving the ball, it is too late. Angel Mena, the corner taker, and the attacker trade passes as Uruguay are unprepared for the short corner and send two defenders to close down the attacker and Mena who crosses for Moises Caicedo who side-steps into position to get on the end of Mena’s cross to open the scoring. Ecuador have 5 attackers against 7 Uruguay defenders as once the corner is taken short, the Uruguayan defenders’ attention is drawn to closing down the opportunity as once Mena receives possession, Caicedo steps into a pocket of space in the six-yard area.

The three players at the back-post all make intriguing moves as one of the attackers blocks his marker to allow his fellow attacker to make a run to the back-post while the runner loses his marker because he is held-up by his teammate and the Uruguayan defender. Another Ecuadorian marker makes a curved run to the top of the six-yard box in behind the Ecuadorian striker as Mena can lob a cross to the back-post, play a ball to the top of the six-yard box as if the ball bounces off the post or is saved by the keeper, Ecuador are perfectly positioned for the rebound. Caicedo does a phenomenal job in timing his run and moving into space and holding his run as the ball leaves Mena’s foot before tracking the trajectory of the ball after Mena plays it. With this routine, there is a risk of a goal being chalked off for blocking the keeper, but it does not happen in this situation as this is not Alfaro’s only short corner routine from Ecuador’s early World Cup qualifiers as these matches could be a treasure trove for short corner routines.

Portugal and Fernando Santos’ pre-Euro 2021 short set-corner routines

In the build-up to the European Championships, Portugal took most of their set-pieces from short situations, they would take free-kicks from the top of the box in short situations with little passing sequences, they would take deeper free-kicks in short situations while they would also take corners from short situations. The reason they took corners from short situations was different from the other managers and teams in this piece as during corners, Cristiano Ronaldo was obviously the focal point. Taking corners from short situations allowed Ronaldo more time to move in the box and find pockets of space to receive the ball and have high quality opportunities as well as allowing Ronaldo to drag markers out of position in the box.

The first short corner is at home to France as Bruno Fernandes works a one-two with Raphael Guerreiro as Ronaldo is positioned at the back-post as the duo combine again for the Borussia Dortmund fullback to play the ball to Bernardo Silva. When Silva receives possession, Ronaldo bumps a marker into the central positions as this creates a few yards of space for himself and a teammate at the back-post as Silva crosses the ball into the centre as the player that Ronaldo barges ends up making an interception and clearance as the ball is curling towards the back-post. In this sequence, it is also interesting to watch the movement of the more central player who eventually gets into space for a cross to be played to him as while Guerreiro and Fernandes are working the connection on the flank, he is positioned at the near post as once the ball is played to Silva he begins to back into the centre for his marker to signal to his fellow defenders that he is moving free. He moves behind his teammate who is positioned in the central attacking space as his teammate blocks two opposition defenders as by the time Silva receives possession, he is in a pocket of space in the centre as by the time his marker finds him, it is late in the situation as he takes up a ball-side position and not a goal-side position.

The second set-piece, Ronaldo is more heavily involved in the routine from a central position. The interesting thing about most of the set-piece routines involving the Manchester United striker is that, he would start his runs or his movements from the top of the box or just outside the opposition box. In this situation, he starts at the top of the box before moving to the back-post as once the ball is played short, he moves into the central areas of the box as this routine is supposed to be similar to Flick’s second routine in this piece. As the ball is played short, a player in the ball-near zone of the box begins to move out of the box before making a dart into the box. Portugal generate a flick-on possibility with the player at the near post while Ronaldo takes a few steps back to engage a marker and create some space for a delivery in front of him as there is also an opposition defender blocking the zone in front of him. A Portugal teammate moves into the same area as Ronaldo as they both dart into space at the same time that the delivery is played as they both burst forward with Ronaldo a few steps in front of his marker while his teammate occupies the marker defending the space in front of him and then drops back which leaves Ronaldo in yards of space. As the Portugal defender steps back, he finds himself in space as his defender is focused on defending Ronaldo as he misses the opportunity to volley the delivery at goal.

Ronaldo provides an interesting template for utilizing aerial proficient players from corners, starting their movement from the top of the box and utilizing circular movement before surging into open space created by their teammates to have goalscoring opportunities. This helps them evade marking while creating space for them and other players from either long corners or short corners. Aerially proficient players can not only act as potential goal scorers but can also create diversions for the opposition defence with their movement and the way they attract oppositions defence. In the collage of photos above is a series of movements that start with Ronaldo and four other Portugal players at the top of the box, with Portugal leaving one-player around the six-yard area as well. One player holds his run and makes a movement outside the box while another while two players make runs inside and two players make runs outside. The two players making runs inside and the other player already positioned in the six-yard area allow Ronaldo to ghost from the outside to the near post as it is integral to notice that as he enters the six-yard area, he has been noticed by a French defender but the player originally positioned in the six-yard area provides a crucial block to allow Ronaldo to continue his run to the near post and have an opportunity on goal.

Erik Ten Hag’s 3v3 short corner

 Erik Ten Hag will be one of the most sought-after managers in European football this summer as he has taken Ajax to new heights while being able to create one of the most entertaining teams in world football despite constantly losing players. He has also proven himself to be astute in organizing and implementing set-pieces as a few years ago, in a mid-week Eredivisie home game against Heerenveen, in most of his corners, he had his players overload the back-post which created confusion amongst the opposition defence as it led to Ajax creating a number of high-quality opportunities.

However, in this piece, Ten Hag’s short corner routine away to Heracles from a few years ago will be covered. He would have two players by the corner flag which would draw two opposition defenders to the wide areas while Donny Van de Beek was at the edge of the box in the ball-near half-space while Ajax would have a 4v4 at the top of the edge of the opposition box with one attacker against two opposition defenders in the six-yard area. Daley Blind would also draw a marker to the top of the opposition box as the players by the corner flags would play the ball to each other to trigger Klaas-Jan Huntelaar making a looping run around the glut of players towards the near post with another two players making a run to the near post as the solitary Ajax player also made a run to the near post. Huntelaar then backed into a yard of space as two Ajax players had drawn three opposition players to the near post due to Huntelaar’s double-movement and three Ajax players had 1v1s in the centre of the box.

At the near post, Van de Beek made a run into the half-space to receive possession as one Heracles defender pushed forward to defend him, leaving an Ajax player in space at the near post while two Ajax players in the centre managed to evade their markers. Daley Blind who was outside the box also had a free-run into the box to receive a cut-back due to all the space created by Ajax’ movement while Ajax also had a free man at the back-post. Van de Beek’s cross was blocked but it was still a well-worked movement as Ajax also had a man free at the back-post. Ajax worked this situation well that the worst outcome was the ball being deflected out for another corner as this is one of a few short corner situations in this piece that could be improved upon.

Diego Martinez’ 3v3 short corner

Diego Martinez is currently unemployed as he is taking a sabbatical after an impressive tenure at Granada where he implemented a high-pressing style that led to his team punching above their weight in La Liga and the Europa League. He is another manager who will not be short of suitors in the summer as he managed to work an intriguing short corner routine which led to a goal that was ruled out. However, the movement and sequences are important to analyse as they can be replicated for a more successful outcome.

Martinez started with the corner taker as the only player in the wide zone with no players positioned closer to him to receive possession. Granada had six players in the opposition box with a player standing outside the box as they would have a variety of movements inside the box before the corner was taken with one of their players at the near post being shoved away from goal by an opposition defender. Two players then made a movement with one to the centre and the other to the near post to replace their teammate that had been shoved away. This was all before the corner was taken as the attacker positioned in front of the goalkeeper made a run to the near post to receive a pass and lay-off to the player outside of the box who surged to the flank and lofted a cross to the back-post for Granada to score a header. In the process, Granada committed a foul which resulted in the goal being disallowed.

Another important thing to watch in this routine is the movement of the Granada players inside the box as once the ball was laid off for the cross, Granada began to push up, even the attacker who was the furthest inside the opposition box, and was marked so he would not have been offside, pushed up to force the opposition defence to push up and attempt to establish a line. Granada’s player at the back-post moved outside of the box to draw his marker to the top of the box which created a yard of space which was crucial as once the player in front of him evaded his marker and made a run into the six-yard box to the near post, there was a yard of space for a teammate to move into and move to the top of the six-yard area where he eventually attracted two markers, before making the foul while, creating space for a third player to move into that zone and head a free header into goal. The space the player moving outside the box created was influential in the goal while the marker he attracted was a few yards away from the eventual goal scorer as he tried to recover but was too far out of position.  

In this situation, once the ball is laid off, the eventual goal scorer is in a yard of space and would have the opportunity to make a dart to the near post to attract the opposition defenders to the near post and create space for a cut-back for the teammate who moved outside the box. Granada would also have the possibility to play a low cross to the near post as short corners have the possibility to be recycled and repurposed with differing outcomes and sequences, especially with the variation of where the ball is specifically delivered. Los Angeles Rams Head Coach, Sean McVay of the NFL based his offense out of the same formation with subtle variations to create an explosive offense as this mentality can be replicated in short corner routines in football.

Walter Centeno’s quick short corner

 Walter Centeno is another manager who is unemployed as his intriguing style has been covered on this website before. His rotations and utilization of the multi-functionality of players is one of the most interesting facets of his style while he showed a different variation of short corners. Sometimes, the speed of which you take corners is the most important thing as if an attacking team takes a short corner before the defence is prepared, they could have a crucial goal scoring opportunity. For instance, in a home match against PSV Eindhoven in the UEFA Champions League, a few years ago, Bayern Munich took a corner before PSV were prepared and scored before the away side were prepared. Centeno attempted to do the same against Thierry Henry’s Impact Montreal.

Impact Montreal headed the ball out for a corner from a Deportivo Saprissa switch ball, as the opposition were getting organised and while Deportivo Saprissa were getting their own men into the box, Deportivo Saprissa worked a short corner pass while they had two players against Impact Montreal five defenders in the opposition box. One was positioned in the centre of the box, being marked by two men, and the other was positioned at the back-post, off a narrowly positioned fullback in his blind-side. The ball was played to a teammate who lobbed a cross into the box for a curled cross to the back-post as the Deportivo Saprissa attacker made a circular movement behind and in front of his marker to send a headed opportunity over the bar.

This is a situation that can be replicated as teams can train situations from corners or even throw-ins where they switch the ball to the weak side where the opposition can deflect the ball out of play for the attacking team to get into position quickly to piece together an attacking move while the opposition defence gets reorganized. Deportivo Saprissa were prepared to take the corner with only two players in the box while their home advantage proved crucial with the ball-boys being trained to give the ball to set-piece taker quickly. Circular movements are also integral for the attacking team to master as they allow the attacking team to get in front of their marker and into the perfect position to receive a cross. They are as integral in congested boxes as in isolated situations like the one above.

Rodrigo Acosta’s 3v3 short corner

 Rodrigo Acosta is a 35-year-old Head Coach of the Lanus Reserve team as he is a tactically progressive young coach who will be covered on this website in the future. He has overseen a number of players that have graduated from the youth academy to the first-team in one of the teams that has done well to punch above their weight in Argentinean football and continental football in South America. Against the River Plate Reserve team, he had a short corner routine that was intriguing in its planning and execution as it differs from other 3v3 short corner routines in this piece.

Most 3v3 short corner situations have a specific focus on the near post for movement and interchanges while Lanus Reserva overloaded the back-post with six players against four River Plate defenders while the opposition also had two players defending the near post. River Plate would also have two players by the corner flag to defend the Lanus Reserva set-piece taker as well as his direct passing option while Acosta’s side also had a player positioned at the top of the box. Lanus Reserva had the opposition stretched across the pitch with marking responsibilities in and outside the box for this corner. The corner started with a quick one-two between the two players by the corner flag before a Lanus Reserva player made a run from the back-post to the near post to receive a pass and lay-off for a cross to another Lanus attacker at the near post to send the ball agonizingly wide.

The movement in this situation is intriguing from Acosta’s side as Lanus went from having six-players at the back-post to two players at the back-post during the sequence as one of the players was completely free. One of the two players stayed at the back-post to block a River Plate defender as when the lay-off was played, Lanus had a 3v2 numerical superiority in the centre of the box as the goalkeeper and three opposition defenders were marking the near post. Space was created at the top of the box for the player who was positioned outside the box at the start of the sequence, moved inside of the box and was unmarked as Lanus had gone from overloading the back-post into forcing the opposition to overload the near post which created the opportunity for high quality shots at the near post, top of the box and back-post.

Acosta had stretched the opposition at the beginning of the situation as this is a variation of the Erik Ten Hag and Diego Martinez sequence. Lanus Reserva had 4 players in the six-yard box and eight players in the box at the end of this move while they could have scored in a variety of ways, like with a cut-back to the top of the box or looped cross to the back-post like in the Diego Martinez sequence. Overloading the back-post presents a dilemma for the opposition as this is what Ten Hag found out against Heerenveen from a few years ago as the spacing and positioning of players was also very intelligent from the young Argentinean coach.

Huachipato dummy short corner routine

 Huachipato recently got relegated from the Chilean Primera Division as this situation is not a short corner but is a dummy short corner routine where Huachipato fake a short corner to draw markers for a standard corner into the box. Teams can work dummy short goal-kick situations where they draw their opposition by positioning themselves for a short goal-kick before lobbing a pass in between the lines as they can also disorient opposition defences from corner situations by faking short corners.

Huachipato overloaded the near post while leaving the back-post empty as the corner-taker was alone on the flank with no direct passing options. The closest attacker at the near post made a looping run around the opposition defence towards the back-post to create space for another attacker to move to the flank to receive possession from the flank. The attacker who made the original movement stopped in the centre of the box as Huachipato had managed to drag two opposition defenders out of position at the near post as Huachipato then played an in-swinging delivery into the box. The striker who had moved from the near post to the centre of the box then continued his movement to the back post to drag his marker out of position and create space for a striker, who had also made a movement from the near post to the centre in front of the goalkeeper, to step away from goal and towards the delivery in the space created to send a header over the bar.

This is an intriguing routine as Huachipato have outsmarted the opposition with their positioning and movement which is well-timed throughout the sequence, evacuating the back-post at the beginning of the routine and the two attackers making movements towards the back-post is crucial. This sequence also emphasizes the idea of crossing to a spot rather than to a player as crossing to a spot makes it more difficult for the defensive team as defending a space is more difficult than defending a man. The way Huachipato disorient the opposition defence with subtle movements is also intriguing as the movement of the attackers towards the flank shifts the defensive focus on the short corner and the near post with the Chilean side utilizing movement in the box to create space for their opportunity.

Conclusion

 A lot of teams in world football try to apply short corners as they can hold possession on the flank before playing an ill-advised back-pass and ruining the situation, but this piece shows that there is the potential to be successful with short corners. There are possibilities for innovation in this area as all of these examples are applicable and recyclable with different tweaks and rotations. Head Coaches like John Heitinga at Jong Ajax and Fernando Gago at Racing in Argentina are two coaches that utilize short corners regularly while the latter had some poor short corner routines at home to Colon last season and the former seems like a young coach keen on improving this facet of his game. The future of short corners and their applicability will be interesting to see, especially in International tournaments going forward