What is the the Corridor of Uncertainty?
Football’s Bermuda Triangle is a regular reference point during commentary,
but with little explanation.
So: where, and more importantly what, is it?
Tifo consulted a cliché expert: The Athletic’s Adam Hurrey.
He says that:
“The precise dimensions of the corridor of uncertainty are themselves rather uncertain,
but anecdotal research suggests it straddles the six-yard line.
The term may seem poetic, but it's accurate: when a cross enters the corridor of uncertainty,
goalkeepers are unsure whether to stay on their line, and strikers are urged to "gamble".
Everyone else simply holds their breath.”
Although it’s become an established part of football’s dictionary,
it’s actually a term borrowed from cricket.
When a bowler delivers a ball into the corridor of uncertainty, it’s into an area just outside
off stump, which leaves a batsman struggling to decide which shot to play in response,
or whether to play one at all.
It’s the equivalent, perhaps, of a baseball pitch which flirts with the outside of the strikezone.
In other words: a location which teases and tempts the batter,
forcing a split-second decision about whether to swing or not.
In football, it means something different, even if the concept is the same.
Consider an opportunity from this angle:
From such a position, the player with the ball may choose not to pick out a teammate,
aiming instead for a ‘corridor’ of space between the forwards, defenders and goalkeeper.
And if that cross is accurate, if it’s hit with enough pace and with the right
angle, the result is a ball which nobody really knows what to do with.
The attacking players do, that goes without saying,
but it puts those defending in an enormously uncomfortable position.
For instance, it’s generally expected that a goalkeeper should
have responsibility for anything that enters his six-yard box. As a result,
a cross within that territory doesn’t so much involve a split-second decision,
as it does a mechanical response that has been drilled on the training pitch.
Similarly, a ball cut-back closer to the penalty spot would clearly be the domain
of the centre-halves, all of whom have exactly the right body position to make a clearance.
The area between the two, however, is much more ambiguous. It’s a no-man’s land within which a
well-positioned cross can create doubt over who is responsible for what, which can lead
to impulsiveness and bad communication, both of which of course favour the attacking side.
Additionally, though, a cross into that area generally also forces defenders to turn and face
their own goal. It puts them in a riskier position from which to affect a clearance. It prevents them
from being able to see what’s happening around and behind them. And it creates a situation from which
any slice, dangled leg or mis-timed header can have potentially disastrous consequences.
And the temptation factor is important,
too. Just like the batter who impulsively swings at a pitch that he can’t hit properly,
it’s very difficult for a defender not to prod at a cross which is heading quickly across his goal.
It’s far more perilous though, such are the dangers of the corridor of uncertainty.