Corner kicks are always greeted with a thunderous roar. They bring hope, however hopeless
they actually prove to be. Statistically, corners are football’s least
effective set-piece and are in a worrying state of
decline. Since 2000, across Europe’s big-five leagues, they have led to a goal just 3.3
percent of the time.
4 in 10 corners don’t clear the first man, 16 percent result in an attempt on goal, just
7 percent end up on target and, perhaps most
damningly, only one in every hundred leads directly to a goal.
Arguably the biggest casualty of the Premier League era is the corner.
It was a potent threat in England’s old Division One. Beefy centre-backs, like Manchester
United’s Steve Bruce would charge forward, providing a regular threat to goal.
Since the post war era until the inception of the Premier League in 1992, corners created
goals 6.5 percent of time. So why has that number more than halved?
The simplest theory is defenders have become more astute, especially since the advent of
video technology. They know what’s coming and can practice resisting it in training.
Teams also commit less players forward to prevent being hit on the counterattack. This
is a slightly irrational fear, since only 7 of
the Premier League’s 56 fast break goals came from
corners last season. Nonetheless, whereas Arsenal’s 2003-2004 ‘Invincibles’ averaged
almost 6 attackers inside the box per corner, by the time Arsene Wenger left in 2018
that number had dropped to under 5. But the problem runs deeper than just savvier
defenders or less cavalier attackers. It can also
be pinned on the irrational rise of the out-swinging corner. Of the 120 goals scored from
corners in the Premier League last season 48 came from outswingers. Yet they accounted
for 62 percent of the 3,911 taken. This is statistically
mirrored in Spain, Germany, Italy and France.
Outswinging corners have less pace and more velocity, providing defenders with extra time
to deal with danger. Even if the attacker wins the ball they tend to be further from
goal and it’s tougher, with a higher (and often lofted)
ball-flight, to generate power. There are ways to combat this, like a longer
run ups from outside the box, or heading the ball firmly into the ground first, but these
two trends have faded from fashion. Inswinging corners have their own issues.
They come with greater risk but much bigger rewards. The ideal delivery is to whip in
the ball at a lower, inviting angle just past the penalty spot, leaving onrushing goalkeepers
in limbo. But inswingers have no margin for error: almost 55 percent failed to clear the
first man in the Premier League last season.
Some of the league’s biggest teams appear to have also forgotten the optimal delivery
zone, instead aiming for the spot between the penalty
spot and six-yard area. To be effective here, a drilled cross is usually required and that’s
far simpler to execute in open play from more beneficial angles and in a less congested
box. On paper, Manchester United, Tottenham and
West Ham were the most wasteful last season. In fact, the trio managed just
four goals collectively using this tactic. Tottenham’s Cristian Eriksen was the biggest
individual offender. 66% percent of the Dane’s corners were cleared at the near post and
his crossing accuracy was a miserable 14.4 percent.
The top teams at inswingers in 2017-2018 were Arsenal, Manchester Cit,
Chelsea and Bournemouth. They not only scored 19 goals between them, but saw
over 10 percent of inswingers lead to a shot on target.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has always favoured the inswinger. They accounted for
52 percent of his corners at Bayern Munich between 2013-2016 and 55 percent of those
during his Barcelona stint between 2008-2012, thus bucking the trend and leading to 41
goals in the process. Under Pep, City’s return of 8 goals from
284 corners last season was also much improved. Before he joined, City had the fourth-worst
return from corners, managing a goal every 81
compared to one every 35.5 now. Guardiola is also an advocate of the much- maligned
short-corner. Since 2000, it has led to more goals, chances and shots on target than any
other typeof delivery. Short-corners, especially when taken quickly,
offer better angles for both out- and inswingers. They have a higher success of
beating the first man and give attackers time to make unpredictable and quick movements,
forcing defenders to react more quickly. But ultimately the success of any type of
corner is determined by quality of delivery. Bizarrely, in the modern game, a number of
top clubs don’t do their corner takers any favours, providing them with an slender run-up
zone. For instance, the touchline at Old Trafford is on a slope, while Tottenham’s
new 1 billion-pound stadium has just a foot of turf
available before a steep decline towards the advertising boards.
The perfect corner can be assessed on both the the area the ball was placed and, regardless
of delivery, whether the end result led to a meaningful chance or goal. Using this criterion,
Pep Guardiola argues the best corner taker in the Premier League is James Ward-Prowse.
But the Southampton midfielder’s numbers are actually quite uninspiring with just 8
assists from 247 corners, although his crossing accuracy
is a respectable 28 percent. Based on players with over 150 Premier League
appearances, the most valuable Premier League corner takers are Cristiano Ronaldo,
Cesc Fabregas , Ryan Giggs and Chris Brunt.
Part of this quartet’s success is varied ball placement. Football’s ‘Millennium’
fad is to put the ball as close to the outside of the corner
arc as possible. This allows for the longest possible run up and the white line also provides
a point of reference for impact. But it can lead to predictable delivery.
This still works fine for inswingers, but outswingers actually have slightly more success
when the ball is placed nearer to the flag. So, the key to taking better corners: use
inswingers, move the ball-placement back and commit an extra player to the box. As for
those vilified short-corners, they’ll probably continue to get bad press. But as statistical
analysis improves and becomes better accepted, affording defences an advantage in preparation,
they just might be the corner’s best hope of
staying relevant.