Introduction
In this article, how all 20 Premier League clubs defend corner kicks is going to be analysed in alphabetical order. The analysis mainly focuses on the number of zonal defenders or man-marking defenders, the strengths and weaknesses of the zonal structure, defending against a short corner, line control and the structure of counterattacks.
When I am writing this article, the first 12 league games are played so far. Therefore, there might be some changes after that if you are reading this at the later part of the season. Thank you for your understanding.
I hope you enjoy this article.
Arsenal
Arsenal defend corner kicks with all 10 outfield players in the box and four of them are zonal defenders. The positions of each zonal defender differ depending on not only if it is in-swing or out-swing but also the opposition aims, so sometimes fifth zonal defender is positioned in the near side. First of all, the illustration below shows the basic positions against in-swing deliveries.
Basically, Kai Havertz or Gabriel Jesus is positioned in front of the first post and Ben White, Gabriel Magalhães and William Saliba position themselves around the line of the 6-yard box. Declan Rice sometimes takes over White’s role in the near side. One of the small attackers among Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Jesus or Leandro Trossard often remains high in the box and another attacker marks the opponent outside the box in the ball side. The other four players mark the opposition attackers in the box, so they often need to allow one or two of the opponents to be unmarked, while they marked all five attackers with getting White to mark one of them against Manchester United.
The illustration below shows the basic positions against out-swing deliveries.
Against out-swing deliveries, the three zonal defenders except for the player in front of the first post step higher and the central and far zonal defenders sometimes position themselves even outside the 6-yard box. Additionally, when the opposition deploys six attackers in the box, the zonal player behind the D finds someone to mark. In this case, however, there is no player around the D, so the probability that the opposition secures the second ball there will be higher. In fact, against Tottenham Hotspur, even though it was ruled out thanks to the offside, the second ball was won by the opponent and he could take a shot which was tapped into the back of the net in front of the goal.
Arsenal often tweak the positions of the zonal defenders based on the opposition teams. When it is predicted that the opposition will aim the near side by the analysis, they have an additional zonal defender in the near side and drop the positions of the zonal defenders towards the own goal.
The illustration below indicates how the fifth zonal defender will be positioned.
Mainly Oleksandr Zinchenko or Eddie Nketiah will be assigned to this role and the examples can be found in the games against Fulham or Bournemouth. Against Bournemouth, Nketiah successfully cleared the delivery, but Arsenal conceded the late equaliser against Fulham after Zinchenko failed to clear the delivery towards the near side.
Additionally, when the opposition (is thought to) delivers towards the near side by in-swing, the zonal defenders slightly drop towards the own goal.
Against in-swing deliveries, the near zonal defender White often drops level with Havertz in front of the first post to clear the ball which is delivered over Havertz. He conceded the own goal against West Ham in Carabao cup when he tried to clear the delivery over Havertz and this is one of their weaknesses. The zonal defender in front of the first post positions himself a few yards away from the first post and also tends to follow the opponent running towards the edge of the 6-yard box, so the ball is easily delivered over his head towards the first post. Moreover, the goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale hardly reach the delivery towards the first post and David Raya does not step towards the near side. In addition to their ability, the opposition often blocks the goalkeeper’s movement, so it is tough for Arsenal to defend the first post area.
The way of marking also changes depending on how the opponents dive into the space in front of the goal. When the opponents spread in the box, each defender marks the opponent tightly, but if they position themselves closer to prevent it, Arsenal’s defenders keep the distance between them in the middle of the box and try to mark each attacker after they start to spread towards each destination.
Like this example, when it is difficult to mark the opponents individually, they do not decide who to mark but where they start marking each opponent, so they mark each opponent after the opponents enter the space for each defender. However, it is almost impossible to stop the opponent diving towards the goal with high speed and power. Therefore, in this kind of case, they just focus on making a contact to prevent them from running straight to the destination.
The illustration below shows how to deal with a short corner.
The opponent who comes towards the ball to receive a short corner will be marked by the marker and the zonal defender in front of the goal also steps up to make it a 2v2. When the third opponent tries to receive a pass, the zonal defender behind the D leaves his position to nullify their overload to prevent them from delivering a cross.
After a short corner is played or a second ball is secured by the opposition outside the box, especially the zonal defenders quickly push up the line. Basically, they continue to push up the line until the opponent on the ball becomes able to play in behind and each player tries to restore their original shape.
If Arsenal can secure a second ball, the wingers and striker overlap the ball to play a counterattack, but they tend to play to feet instead of playing into space in behind. Therefore, in many cases, the ball is intercepted by the opposition and they hardly progress into the opposition final third after the attacking transition from defending a corner kick. Additionally, after the goalkeeper catches the ball, he quickly distributes it but mainly towards one of the spare players in a flank by throwing it.
The characteristic of Arsenal is tweaking the shape game by game. Although the first post area is their weakness, they effectively occupy the dangerous area with tall and strong zonal centre backs and the overall balance is quite good. Additionally, as it was mentioned, they tweak their shape or type of marking to adjust the opposition routines, which makes us feel how much they focus on this area of game with analysis and preparation.
Aston Villa
Aston Villa defend corner kicks with mainly all 10 outfield players in the box while they remained two players high around the halfway line against Luton Town, but it is just a plan for the specific game. The number of zonal defenders is in the range of three to six. Firstly, the illustration below shows how to defend against out-swing with the three zonal defenders, which is the minimum number.
The ball side fullback or Leon Bailey positions himself around the first post, Ollie Watkins is at the near side and one of the centre backs such as Ezri Konsa or Diego Carlos is in the middle. Watkins is extremely important in defending corner kicks as he clears the most deliveries towards the near side. In addition to him, the central zonal defender and the goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez can aggressively step forwards to deal with the deliveries towards the middle and Martínez can even catch the ball to shut the attack.
The opponent outside the box in the ball side is marked by Moussa Diaby and the other players mark the opponents in the box. They do not have any players around the D, so the possibility that the opposition secures a second ball there is quite high. Actually, the second ball was won by the opponent there and Villa conceded the goal against Liverpool. After the Liverpool game, however, one of the fullbacks sometimes remains around the D, so it is considered they changed their setup little bit.
Secondly, the setup against in-swing is going to be discussed. It can be expected that the ball is delivered directly towards the first post, so Watkins drops his position by the first post and another player will be positioned at the near side where Watkins defends against out-swing. This time, the illustration below shows the setup with the six zonal defenders which is the maximum number of zonal defenders.
As the illustration shows, their tendency is that Nicolò Zaniolo is at the near side, Boubacar Kamara and Pau Torres are in the middle and Konsa is at the far side. However, in case they want to mark more opponents, Torres or Zoniolo are often assigned to the role of man-marking. Additionally, if the opposition is not likely to play a short corner, Diaby who marks the opponent outside the box often drops his position and defends around the space in the near side in front of the 6-yard box.
As it has been discussed, there is a difference of the number of zonal defenders, but they tend to defend the near side as the priority. The position of Watkins depends on the swing of deliveries and when he drops his position by the first post against out-swing, another defender will be added to cover the space where he defended. The thick defensive structure at the near side is their basic and they adjust the number of zonal and man-marking defenders. Of course, if Villa increased the number of defenders who mark the opponents, the space which can be covered by the zonal defenders will be small. On the other hand, if the number of zonal defenders is increased, it means the number of the opposition spare attackers are also increased. This is the dilemma they have thanks to their flexibility.
Against a short corner, they often try to defend it with only two players. The opponent outside the box in the ball side is marked by Diaby and when the opposition is likely to play a short corner, the fullback in front of the first post positions himself out of the 6-yard box to be ready for it. However, they hardly let the third defender step out to defend a wide area, so if the opposition can find the third player in the ball side, it becomes clearly the opposition numerical advantage.
The illustration shows the routine played by Legia Warsaw in the Conference League. They tried to exploit the overload and play into the box, but it was unsuccessful due to the lack of the quality of the through pass. However, this is one of the best examples how to make the most of the 3v2 overload in a wide area against Aston Villa.
They are really quick to push up their line after a short corner is played or a second ball is secured by the opposition outside the box. They strongly focus on setting the line as high as possible to get an offside, but they are too focusing on that to react a cross in behind and they often delay dropping back. This is the obvious weakness, but of course the reward is great. In fact, they could successfully make everything offside so far, so it is fair to say it is working well.
The goalkeeper hardly distributes the ball quickly after catching it, but after securing a second ball outside the box, they have an option to use Diaby running in behind to play a counterattack. However, there is hardly any support for him, so he is required to solve and finish the counterattack by himself.
The characteristic of Aston Villa is the flexibility of the number of zonal and man-marking defenders with a solid structure at the near side. Even during the game, although it is not sure if it comes from the dugout, they can change the shape and the number of zonal defenders. Their excessive approach such as sticking to defending a short corner with two players or focusing on setting the line as high as possible can sometimes be exploited by the opposition, but it is the evidence of how much they believe their philosophy.
Bournemouth
Bournemouth defend corner kicks with all 10 outfield players in the box and three of them are zonal defenders. The illustration below shows the basic positions against in-swing deliveries.
Dominic Solanke and Philip Billing defend the space in front of the first post and the far side respectively as zonal defenders. One of Marcos Senesi, Illia Zabarnyi or Chris Mepham defends the space in the middle.
In case the opposition has two players around the ball and is likely to play a short corner, the marker of the closest opponent to the ball is positioned around the ball and one of the defenders who usually marks the opponent in the box will move high in the box to mark the opponent outside the box in the ball side.
Against out-swing, the near and far zonal defenders step up around the line of the 6-yard box. The near zonal defender Solanke often clears the ball well, but the central and far zonal defenders sometimes fail to clear the ball by misjudging where it comes, which enables the opponent to head the ball. Moreover, the zonal defenders tend to drop back to cover the goal as soon as they think the ball goes over the heads, so this is one of the reasons why the zonal defenders hardly clear the ball compared with the other teams. The goalkeeper Neto often punches the ball away rather than catching it by stepping forwards aggressively in front of the goal.
Against a short corner, they often defend it with two players in the flank and if the opposition plays it to the space in front of the box, the far zonal defender Billing often jumps out to deal with it as the third defender.
When a short corner is likely to be played, Billing sometimes positions himself higher than usual to be ready for it quickly. However, in case they want to focus on just defending the goal thanks to a lead in a last minute for example, they try to defend a short corner with only two defenders without Billing and focus on preventing them from penetrating the box instead of blocking a cross.
The other players hardly step up quickly but push up the line carefully with focusing on keeping the line. Therefore, when the opposition plays horizontally around Billing in front of the box, the opponent on the ball can take a shot freely and Manchester City scored from this pattern. The illustration below shows the example of it.
Like after a short corner is played, they do not push up the line quickly as they priorities to defend the goal after the ball is cleared outside the box. Additionally, there are no zonal defenders around the D, so a second ball can be won by the opposition around there. Actually, Burnley scored from this pattern this season.
After the goalkeeper catches the ball, he tries to play in behind by a side volley. However, the aim is not to play a counterattack quickly, but progressing it forwards by Solanke holding it up. Therefore, he often waits for a few seconds to give time for Solanke to move higher.
Bournemouth prioritise to defend the goal instead of getting an offside or aiming quick counterattacks. Their approach is solid in terms of defending corner kicks, and this is the characteristic of Bournemouth.
Brentford
Brentford defend corner kicks with all 10 outfield players in the box and four of them are zonal defenders. The illustration below shows the basic positions against in-swing deliveries.
Four zonal defenders are often Christian Nørgaard, Ethan Pinnock, Nathan Collins and Kristoffer Ajer from the near side to the far side. Then, Bryan Mbeumo marks the opponent outside the box in the ball side and the other five players mark the opposition attackers. However, in case the opposition has more than five attackers in the box, Brentford need to let one of them be unmarked. In this case, they often decide not to mark the opponents around the goalkeeper inside the zonal structure. Even when the opposition has only five attackers inside the box, if one of them is around the goalkeeper, one of the defenders do not mark him and stay higher in the box to manage the space around the D instead. Vitaly Janelt or Frank Oneyka often play this role. The illustration below shows the example against out-swing and one of the defenders stay higher inside the box.
As the illustration shows, the opponents inside the zonal structure are not marked. Additionally, against out-swing, the four zonal defenders step higher and the far and central zonal defenders often position themselves outside the 6-yard box. However, this can be a weakness as no one defends the space in front of the back post and the opposition can target at this area by flicking the ball at the near side and tapping it in at the far side. Against this pattern, Brentford aim to make the opponent who taps in the ball in front of the back post offside by setting the line higher. As you can see it in the illustration above, their zonal defenders set the line higher by allowing the opponents inside the zonal structure to be unmarked. This is possible thanks to the goalkeeper Mark Flekken’s ability to defend huge space in front of the goal. He tends to punch the ball away when the ball is delivered towards the space in front of the goal and he can defend the area by himself, which makes it possible to set the high line.
When the opposition plays a short corner, Mbeumo at the edge of the box, Nørgaard in front of the first post and one of the defenders marking the opponent quickly step out the box and create a 3v3 in the ball side.
The opponent who runs past the first post is marked by Nørgaard and even before a short corner is played, he follows the movement. They are extremely aggressive against a short corner and sometimes win the ball back before the opposition manages to deliver a cross into the box after a short corner.
They quickly push up the line and press aggressively around the ball after a short corner is played or the ball is cleared outside the box. Their aggressiveness is one of the best in the league and they even press towards the opposition goalkeeper after the ball is played back. However, this sometimes leads the situation where the shape is stretched. The attackers chase the ball even towards the opposition goalkeeper, but the defenders sometimes cannot follow it, which makes a huge gap between the attackers and the last line. If the opposition target attackers still remain high after the ball is cleared, it can be an overload against the Brentford’s back line, which is one of their weaknesses.
They try to play a counterattack aggressively after a second ball is secured by especially Mbeumo, although the goalkeeper hardly distributes the ball after catching it. If Mbeumo can carry the ball forwards, two or three players overlap him to offer passing lanes forwards, which makes the counterattack more dangerous and speedier.
The one word to describe Brentford’s defending corner kicks is aggressiveness. They aggressively set the line high, press on the ball aggressively after a short corner is played or a second ball is secured by the opposition outside the box and play a counterattack aggressively. This attacking approach for defending a corner kick is the characteristic of Brentford.
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion defend corner kicks with all 10 outfield players in the box and four of them are zonal defenders around the 6-yard box and one of them defends the space around the D zonally. They tend to leave the opponents inside the zonal structure unmarked and focus on marking the opponents who dive from outside the 6-yard box. The illustration below shows the basic positions against in-swing deliveries.
The zonal defenders inside the 6-yard box are mainly selected from the centre backs such as Lewis Dunk or Jan Paul van Hecke, Adam Webster and the tall strikers such as João Pedro, Evan Ferguson or Danny Welbeck. In case there are not enough players from that list, one or two of Joël Veltman, Solly March, James Milner or Carlos Baleba are chosen to fill the zonal structure. The zonal defenders often swap each position even in a single game, but the centre backs defend the middle and far side and one of the strikers defend the near side, but Veltman or March sometimes position himself at the near side.
In case when the opposition does not have so many players who attack the ball by diving towards it in the box, they tend to leave the other opponents inside the zonal structure and mark the opponents outside the box instead. In this case, they do not mark the opponents outside the box tightly but position themselves between the line of the 18-yard box and 6-yard box to manage both opponents and space. The illustration below shows the example against out-swing.
Against out-swing, the zonal defenders in front of the goal step higher. Additionally, as it was mentioned, the players managing the opponents outside the box position themselves between the line of the 18-yard box and 6-yard box, which enables them to defend the deliveries into the box and also react second balls and press the opponents outside the box quicker.
The zonal defenders in front of the goal are tall and strong centre backs or strikers, so the ability of clearing the ball is great. Especially, Dunk often steps up to clear the ball aggressively and it is one of the most important skills of zonal defenders. The goalkeepers Jason Steele and Bart Verbruggen can defend huge space and they can not only punch the ball away but also catch it to finish the opposition attacking corner kick.
The characteristic of man-marking is that they mainly mark the opponent tightly, but against the opponents who set and use a screen, the marker of the main target often bypasses the screen and aims to reach the ball earlier than the opponent or make a contact where the ball is delivered. This means the defender lets the marker be away during running towards the ball, so this sometimes leads the situation where the opponent can head the ball completely without any pressure. Therefore, many oppositions try to use a screen and exploit the far side by delivering the ball over Dunk’s head.
Against a short corner, when the opposition has already two players around the ball, the defender who marks the opponent is positioned himself close to the vertical line of the 18-yard box to be ready for pressing to the ball. Then, as soon as a short corner is played, the zonal defender around the D comes to the ball side to create a 2v2.
They defend a short corner with mainly these two players and if the opposition uses the third player, one of the closest defenders to the ball will step up to make it a 3v3. However, this player often stays inside the box to focus on covering the space behind the other two defenders and preventing the opposition from penetrating into the box as the cover defender.
After a short corner is played or the ball is cleared outside the box, they quickly push up the line led by Dunk. They are really good at defending the space behind them after pushing up the line by being ready for dropping back and the goalkeeper stepping up to deal with a cross in behind.
They hardly play a counterattack after defending a corner kick. Even if the goalkeeper can catch the ball, he often distributes it to either of the open flank by throwing it. When one of the wingers can secure a second ball, he tries to carry it forwards by himself, but it is not an organised counterattack, so he often loses the ball on the way.
Brighton can remain many players higher in the box thanks to the solid zonal structure and the goalkeeper’s ability. So far, they could not create chances after playing a counterattack, so if this part is organised well, it can be their strength as they have so many good wingers who can carry the ball forwards.
Burnley
Burnley defend corner kicks with all 10 outfield players in the box and five of them are zonal defenders. The illustration below shows the basic positions against out-swing deliveries.
Mainly, the first post is defended by one of the defensive midfielders such as Sander Berge or Josh Brownhill or the fullback Charlie Taylor and the near and middle area are defended by the centre backs such as Ameen Al-Dakhil, Dara O’Shea or Jordan Beyer and the defensive midfielder who does not defend the first post. The striker such as Lyle Foster or Zeki Amdouni defends the far side and the winger such as Mike Trésor or Luca Koleosho manages the opponent outside the box in the ball side.
The defenders who mark the opponents mainly mark them tightly, but often swap each marker. Especially against the opposition who swaps the positions of each attacker, they also swap each marker or just make a contact to decrease the power of opponents.
In terms of defending the near side, the near zonal defender defends the space around the edge of the 6-yard box and the zonal defender in front of the first post often steps up to cover the space where the near zonal defender left. Therefore, some oppositions try to lure the near zonal defender out by running through the near side and block the zonal defender in front of the first post in order to create a space at the near side.
Against the opposition who places many attackers inside the 6-yard area, they hardly mark them and the man-marking defenders who now have no attackers to mark will defend the space in front of the 6-yard box. In this case, the fullback such as Conner Roberts or Vitinho defend the space at the near side as the sixth zonal defender.
As the illustration shows, the opponents inside the zonal structure are unmarked and the goalkeeper James Trafford needs to deal with it. However, it is doubtful if he has managed it well so far. It was a typical example which he lost the aerial duel against Arsenal’s Saliba and conceded a goal, but he often fails to punch the ball away well if there are some opponents around him. Therefore, this approach can be based on the manager or set piece coach’s philosophy rather than the individual ability.
Against a short corner, either of the zonal defender at the near side or in front of the first post steps up to make it a 2v2. The third defender will be one of the man-marking defenders.
Against Burnley, many teams try to play a short corner to the player who runs through the first post. As it was mentioned, this movement can be effective to drag the near zonal defender out, but it is also possible to use this player to start a short corner not only as a decoy. Therefore, against Burnley, this type of short corner is played by some teams quite frequently.
After a short corner is played or the ball is cleared outside the box, they push up the line led by the zonal defenders and man-marking defenders step out to restore their positions. There is no defender around the D, so the opposition often secures a second ball around there, but the opponent on the ball will be closed down soon by some of the man-marking defenders who step out quickly. Additionally, they mainly focus on clearing the ball away and hardly try to play a counterattack.
Burnley seem to take an initiative by setting the line high to reduce the available space and this is why they do not mark any opponents inside the zonal structure. However, this is an obvious risk as Trafford cannot deal with the space by himself. Therefore, this approach does not seem to be the best structure for them considering the individual ability.
Chelsea
Chelsea defend corner kicks with all 10 outfield players in the box and basically four of them are zonal defenders, but the number of zonal defenders varies game by game. The illustration below shows the basic positions against in-swing deliveries.
The zonal defenders are mainly Nicolas Jackson in front of the first post, the winger such as Cole Palmer or Raheem Sterling at the near side and Thiago Silva between them. In addition to them, one more zonal defender such as Conor Gallagher sometimes stands between the centre and far.
The near side is protected really well thanks to the strong zonal defenders such as Jackson and Silva, but the far side is often open because there are sometimes no zonal defenders or even when there is an additional zonal defender such as Gallagher, he is close to the middle. Therefore, many oppositions try to exploit the far side. In fact, the goal conceded against West Ham came from the delivery towards the far side.
When the opposition is not likely to play a short corner, the player who marks the opponent outside the box in the ball side drops his position deeply to defend the space in front of the 6-yard box zonally. The illustration below shows one of the examples of the positions against out-swing when the opposition is not likely to play a short corner.
As you can find it in the illustration above, when the opponents outside the box position themselves in the middle lane and they are not likely to receive a short corner, an additional player can defend the space in the near side zonally. However, this defender sometimes stays high inside the box to defend the space around the D instead of dropping back.
Against a short corner, the player who marks the opponent outside the box in the ball side and the near zonal defender will deal with it. They basically try to defend a short corner with two players, but if it is needed, one of the man-marking defenders will be the third defender.
Basically, they try to deal with a short corner with two defenders, but in case the opposition uses the third player, one of the man-marking defenders jumps out to make it a 3v3 after the pass to the third player is played.
After a short corner is played or the ball is cleared outside the box, they try to push up the line quickly, but sometimes they hesitate it or some of man-marking defenders remain behind the line set by the zonal defenders, which makes it difficult to get an offside. The goal conceded against Man City was caused by the disorganised line after the second ball was secured by the opposition. One of the man-marking defenders could not step out as high as Silva and also could not mark Manuel Akanji tightly. If the line were organised well, it would have been offside.
After the goalkeeper catches the ball, he finds a spare player around him and distributes it quickly to play a counterattack. Robert Sánchez can defend huge area and also catch the ball, so he can start a counterattack on many occasions. The main attackers are the winger defending at the near side and Jackson defending in front of the first post. Both players can carry the ball forwards and Chelsea can progress into the opposition final third with a few players thanks to their individual abilities.
Chelsea’s characteristic is the solid structure at the near side. Then, they can play a counterattack quickly with a few attackers and this is one of their strengths, but the line control needs to be improved. The zonal defenders such as Silva want to push up quickly, but some man-marking defenders who marks the opponents inside the 6-yard box often delay, which makes gaps in the line.
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace defend corner kicks with all 10 outfield players in the box and two of them are zonal defenders. This is an orthodox man-marking setup. The illustration below shows the basic positions against out-swing deliveries.
The two zonal defenders are deployed in front of the first post and in the middle. Basically, the striker Odsonne Édouard or winger Jordan Ayew is positioned in front of the first post and the centre back Joachim Andersen or striker Jean-Philippe Mateta defends the space in the middle zonally. Especially Édouard and Andersen can aggressively attack the ball to clear it, so although there are only two zonal defenders, they can defend the space around the first post and in the middle effectively. In addition to them, the goalkeeper Sam Johnstone can punch the ball away frequently, which is also an advantage for them.
On the other hand, there are no zonal defenders at the near and far side, so there is space for the opposition if they can manage to lose the markers. The man-marking defenders focus on surely keeping making a physical contact against each marker by marking tightly. The deliveries towards the near side can be cleared by the first post zonal defender Édouard by stepping out, but it is difficult for them to deal with the deliveries towards the far side because there are no zonal defenders and the man-marking defenders will be force to change their body angles. Therefore, the man-marking defenders does not try to clear the ball but focus on blocking the opponents so tightly especially when the ball is delivered towards the far side.
With two zonal defenders and eight man-marking defenders, they cannot mark all nine opponents except for the taker. However, this usually cannot be a problem because the attacking team often leaves one of nine players around the halfway line to manage risks, so eight defenders can mark all eight attackers in and around the box. This was like a common sense before, but some teams can use this spare player more aggressively. The illustration below shows one of the examples of it.
The pattern which the unmarked player outside the box dives into the open far side is quite effective against this kind of orthodox man-marking setup. At the same time, one of the attackers inside the box drops back to manage the second ball outside the box. This is effective not only against Crystal Palace but also against all man-marking setups.
Another characteristic of man-marking setup is they can mark the most opponents outside the box. With more zonal defenders, these opponents outside the box are usually unmarked, so the second balls towards the edge of the box are often favourable for the attacking team. However, with man-marking setup like Crystal Palace, it is possible to react the second balls outside the box quicker. On the other hand, the opposition can move these defenders marking the attackers outside the box away from the edge of the box intentionally.
Like this, it is possible to drag the defenders out to the corner of the pitch, which makes it easy for the attacking team to secure the second balls around the D. Additionally, this can help for the attacking team to manage counterattacks. The two defenders high in the box can start a counterattack quickly, but from the corner of the pitch, it would be difficult.
Against a short corner, they often defend with two defenders and hardly get the third defender to step out.
After a short corner is played or the ball is cleared outside the box, they continue man-marking and push up the line carefully. As soon as the opponent on the ball is ready for delivering a cross into the box, they start to drop earlier. And they hardly play a counterattack even after the goalkeeper catches the ball and prioritise to restore the positions.
Crystal Palace is one of the teams who defend corner kicks with the orthodox man-marking setup. Therefore, the quality of defending highly depends on the individual man-marking quality. In case of Crystal Palace, the two zonal defenders and goalkeeper can defend huge areas, so it makes their man-marking setup better. However, as there are no zonal defenders at the far side, this area should be defended well by man-marking defenders and the opposition needs to exploit this area well.
Everton
Everton defend corner kicks with all 10 outfield players in the box and five of them are zonal defenders. The illustration below shows the basic positions against in-swing deliveries.
In front of the first and back post, the fullback of each side will defend as zonal defenders and they are often Ashley Young, Dwight McNeil or Nathan Patterson. They tend to cover the goal after the ball is delivered and after the ball is cleared away from the goal, they start to step up.
On the line of the 6-yard box, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, James Tarkowski and Amadou Onana position themselves from the near side to the far side in this order as zonal defenders. Their ability to clear the ball is overall great, but the gaps between these three players can be exploited and some teams try to draw Calvert-Lewin away from his position and use the space between the near and central zonal defenders. In fact, Luton Town could effectively find a player between the near and central zonal defenders with blocking the central zonal defender Tarkowski. However, basically tall Calvert-Lewin or Tarkowski who can defend huge area can clear the ball away many times.
The four man-marking defenders mark the opposition main target attackers, so sometimes they mark the opponent inside the zonal structure but sometimes not.
Against a short corner, the zonal defender in front of the first post quickly steps out.
As it is shown in the illustration, the first post zonal defender often position himself at the edge of the 18-yard box by the goal line to be ready for a short corner. Basically, they defend a short corner with only two players and the third defender hardly come to the ball side or is too late. The goal conceded against Arsenal came from a short corner and actually four or five attackers were involved in the ball side, but eventually the 2v3 underload in the flank was exploited.
After a short corner is played or the ball is cleared outside the box, they quickly push up the line. Both zonal defenders in front of each post sprint to catch up the other zonal defenders after covering the goal. Counterattacks are played after the goalkeeper Jordan Pickford catches the ball. He hardly steps up to punch or catch the ball, but he can catch the ball inside the goal area or a cross in behind the line after the second attack of a corner kick. He tries to find a spare player quickly and distributes the ball by throwing it or a side volley in behind.
Everton’s characteristic is placing a zonal defender in front of each post. Many teams do not have a zonal defender in front of the back post, but Everton give a task of covering the goal to both zonal defenders in front of each post. It shows clear intention to protect the goal as the top priority.
Fulham
Fulham defend corner kicks with all 10 outfield players in the box and nine of them are zonal defenders. Seven zonal defenders defend the 6-yard box and the other two defend the space in front of the zonal structure and mark the opponents if they enter the zone of each defender. The illustration below shows the basic positions against in-swing deliveries.
There are three defenders in line vertically from the first post to the near side, two defenders in the middle, a defender at the far side and another defender protects the space in front of the three defenders at the near side. In addition to them, there are two zonal defenders in front of the zonal structure and their task is mainly making a contact against the opponents who dive towards the goal area. If the opposition targets at the far side, these two defenders position themselves in the far side.
In the near side, the fullbacks such as Antonee Robinson, Timothy Castagne or Kenny Tete and the defensive midfielder João Palhinha are the zonal defenders and Harry Wilson often positions himself in front of three zonal defenders. The centre backs such as Tim Ream, Calvin Bassey or Issa Diop defend the middle and the striker Raúl Jiménez or Carlos Vinícius defends the far side zonally. The opponent outside the box in the ball side is marked by mainly Willian and the midfielders such as Andreas Pereira and Alex Iwobi defend the space in front of the 6-yard box.
The characteristic of the zonal structure is that there are so many defenders around the 6-yard box, so the defending around them is solid. However, the opponent can head the ball in the space away from the zonal structure by blocking zonal defenders in front of the 6-yard box. Not only in the middle but also in the far side, the opponent can head the ball back freely by blocking the far zonal defender. Therefore, it is possible to say that they can defend the most dangerous areas such as the near side or in front of the goal, but they cannot defend the space away from the zonal structure well.
From those less dangerous areas, the opposition aims to head the ball in front of the goal and tap it in because the direct headers far from the goal is less effective. To prevent this, Fulham set the line higher by getting the zonal defender in front of the first post Robinson to step up quickly and make the opponent in front of the goal offside.
Additionally, the two zonal defenders in front of the zonal structure usually just make a contact against the opponents, but if they try to head the ball in their zone, they block the opponents by their backs tightly.
Against out-swing, the zonal defenders position themselves higher. In case the opposition tries to play a short corner, Wilson who is positioned in front of the near zonal defenders or one of the two zonal defenders in the middle steps closer to the ball to be ready for a short corner.
Against a short corner, in addition to the two players in the ball side, the near zonal defender becomes the third defender to make it a 3v3. Basically, they defend a short corner zonally.
As soon as the second defender presses on the opponent at the edge of the box, the widest defender comes inside to close the gap to play into the box. They try to force the opposition to play outside, but Brighton could create a 4v3 overload and penetrate into the box.
After a short corner is played or the ball is cleared outside the box, they push up the line quickly and focus on controlling the line instead of marking the opponents. After the goalkeeper catches the ball, he sometimes throws the ball quickly, but hardly plays in behind. Willian can carry the ball forwards, but he often plays back as soon as the opponents could drop back.
Fulham’s approach is completely zonal defending. They occupy the space in front of the goal zonally and also control the line very well. As it is obvious where they do not to defend, the opposition can target at the space. However, they can cover the weakness by pushing up the line quickly and it is well trained.
Liverpool
Liverpool defend corner kicks with all 10 outfield players in the box and nine of them are zonal defenders. Six zonal defenders occupy the 6-yard box, other two defenders stand in front of the zonal structure and Mohamed Salah remains high in the box. The illustration below shows the basic positions against in-swing deliveries.
The zonal defender in front of the first post, one of the zonal defenders in the middle and the player who marks the opponent outside the box in the ball side are made up of the three midfielders. Each midfielder can play all these roles and it depends on the selection of the team for a game. The left fullback such as Andrew Robertson or Konstantinos Tsimikas positions himself in front of the near zonal defenders and the right fullback such as Trent Alexander-Arnold or Joe Gomez defends the far side. Sometimes Dominik Szoboszlai defends the far side and Alexander-Arnold defends the space in front of the zonal structure, which means they can swap each role. The three zonal defenders at the near side and in the middle are often the striker such as Darwin Núñez, Cody Gakpo or Diogo Jota and the pair of centre backs such as Virgil van Dijk, Joël Matip or Ibrahima Konaté. The two zonal defenders in front of the 6-yard box are one of the midfielders and the left winger. The goalkeeper Alisson Becker can punch the ball away or catch it inside the 6-yard box, but sometimes he drops the ball when he tries to catch it.
They basically occupy the dangerous areas effectively, but the space at the near side is likely to be open and the far zonal defender Alexander-Arnold is often targeted.
The defender around the edge of the 6-yard box often follows the opponent who runs through the near side and the space he left should be defended by the zonal defender in front of the first post or at the near side. However, if the zonal defender at the near side is blocked or the quite small zonal defender in front of the first post loses the aerial duel, the opposition can create an opportunity to flick the ball at the near side. Additionally, the opposition can target at the far side because the far zonal defender Alexander-Arnold often loses the aerial duels or is easily blocked.
Against a short corner, Salah quickly comes to the ball side to create a 2v2 and the third defender will be the left fullback in front of the first post. The illustration below shows how to deal with a short corner.
Basically, they defend a short corner with two defenders and the third defender will step out if necessary. They quickly push up the line as soon as a short corner is played or the ball is cleared outside the box. However, the midfielders and attackers often try to restore their positions too early, which can create a gap between them and the back line. In the opening game against Chelsea, they conceded the goal by the cross after the second ball was regained by the opposition, which was initially cleared but the second ball was won by the opposition again in the gap between the defenders and the others.
However, the strong focus on stepping up after the ball is cleared creates many chances for Liverpool. They try to create a kind of chaos by clearing the ball high and big in behind and the opposition will be forced to deal with it by running towards their goal. As soon as the ball is cleared, Salah and the other attackers chase the second ball and create a transitional situation, which is favourable for Liverpool. Even a corner kick ends in a goal kick or free kick by the opposition foul, the goalkeeper restarts the play before the opposition team restores their positions to play a counterattack.
The main attackers of counterattacks are Salah and the defender who marks the opponent outside the box in the ball side. However, as soon as the ball is cleared, the two zonal defenders in front of the 6-yard box overlap the player on the ball and the other players also try to catch up the attack up front. They often play a counterattack with occupying each lane effectively, which provides options to play both right and left. When the goalkeeper throws the ball or plays a short pass to either of the fullbacks in each side, the fullback on the ball quickly plays the ball in behind.
The biggest strength of Liverpool is the counterattack after defending a corner kick. The high and big clearance looks like a rugby’s kick and they create chaos behind the opposition players. The Klopp’s men are the best teams in the transition and they often win the second ball to play a counterattack. They defend a corner kick to score a goal.
Luton Town
Luton Town defend corner kicks with all 10 outfield players in the box and basically four of them are zonal defenders. When they want to add one more man-marking defender or the opposition has two players around the ball, there will be three zonal defenders around the 6-yard box. The illustration below shows the basic positions against out-swing deliveries.
The wingback such as Alfie Doughty or Issa Kaboré stands at the edge of the 6-yard box in the near side and the striker Carlton Morris defends the space in front of the goal. The near and far zonal defenders are often the wingers such as Jacob Brown or Chiedozie Ogbene or the defensive midfielder Ross Barkley. The opponent outside the box in the ball side is marked by one of Kaboré, Tahith Chong or Andros Townsend.
They prioritise to mark the opponents who dive towards the ball from the outside the zonal structure, so if there are more than five attackers, they tend to leave the opponent inside the zonal structure unmarked. Or the zonal defender at the edge of the 6-yard box sometimes becomes the additional man-marking defender.
When the unmarked opponent runs past the first post to try to receive a short corner or there are two opponents around the ball, the zonal defender at the edge of the 6-yard box leaves his position to mark the opponent. Therefore, the opposition can plan to attack the near side after dragging this zonal defender away.
The task of man-marking defenders is defending the opponent who dives into this kind of area. However, they often let the opponent free when the opposition deploy the attackers close each other to prevent tight marking, which enables them to head the ball at the near side away from the pressure. On the other hand, against the deliveries towards the middle, the central zonal defender Morris can clear the ball away and the goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski can punch it away.
Against a short corner, the near zonal defender at the edge of the 6-yard box jumps out to create a 2v2 around the ball. The third player would be either of one of the man-marking defenders or the near zonal defender.
When the opposition tries to play around the box, one of the man-marking defenders will step out and when the opposition tries to penetrate into the box, the near zonal defender will defend it as the third defender.
After a short corner is played or the ball is cleared outside the box, they carefully push up the line. They focus on staying in the line rather than restoring the positions. Therefore, they need to defend the second attack with the deep defensive block, which some unlucky moments can happen like the goal conceded against Manchester United. Their principle is basically marking each marker, but it is difficult to keep marking the opponents after the first delivery is cleared away. Actually, they let the opponent head freely in many cases after a cross from the second attack.
In terms of counterattacks after defending corner kicks, when they remain a defender higher in the box, they can play a counterattack and scored against Liverpool.
The man-marking defenders often prioritise to mark the opponents inside the box, but sometimes they remain one of them higher in the box with allowing one of the opponents to be unmarked. In this case, the two defenders higher in the box who mark the opponents outside the box can lead a counterattack after clearing the ball.
Luton have three zonal defenders who mark the space at the near side, far side and in the middle. It is balanced, but the space which is required for each zonal defender to manage is quite big. Additionally, man-marking defenders often lose their markers and let them head the ball freely. However, the central zonal defender Morris can defend big space, clearing most deliveries. Another weakness is defending the second attacks. They remain deep after clearing the ball and they cannot mark the opponents as tight as against first deliveries. As their principle is man-marking, the reason of conceding a goal can be attributed to the quality of players. It is not everything, but it definitely influences their quality of defending a corner kick.
Manchester City
Manchester City defend corner kicks with all 10 outfield players in the box and nine of them are zonal defenders. Six zonal defenders defend the 6-yard box and the other three defenders stand in the space in front of the zonal structure and mark the opponents if they enter the zone of each defender. The illustration below shows the basic positions against in-swing deliveries.
Julián Álvarez or Mateo Kovačić is the zonal defender in front of the first post, Rodri stands between the near zonal defender and first post zonal defender and Erling Haaland defends the near side. The centre backs such as Rúben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Aké or John Stones are the central zonal defenders and the far side is defended by mainly Joško Gvardiol. In front of this zonal structure, Kyle Walker and two wingers are ready for marking the opponents who enter the space of each defender. The opponent outside the box in the ball side is marked by a small attacker such as Phil Foden.
The space in the middle or at the far side is defended by the tall and strong centre backs and the goalkeeper Ederson, but the space at the near side is their weakness as they have already conceded goals from there against Fulham or Chelsea. Basically, the space at the near side is defended by the zonal defender such as Álvarez or Kovačić, Rodri and Haaland who step out to clear the delivery towards the near side. However, the oppositions such as Fulham or Chelsea target this area with blocking these zonal defenders. Moreover, the first post zonal defender often delays reaching the ball, so the opponent can exploit the space at the near side.
Additionally, the three zonal defenders in front of the zonal structure mark only the opponents who try to head the ball in each assigned area, so they hardly follow the opponent running towards the near side, which makes it possible for him to head the ball away from any pressure.
Against a short corner, the first post zonal defender and one of the three zonal defenders in front of the zonal structure step out to make it a 3v3.
The first post zonal defender often becomes the second defender and one of the three zonal defenders in front of the zonal structure defends the third opponent. After a short corner is played, they control the line by making side steps, but they quickly push up the line after the ball is cleared outside the box. They hardly play a counterattack after defending a corner kick and the goalkeeper quickly distributes the ball after catching it to safely progress into the opposition half with restoring the positions.
Manchester City had already conceded similar goals from the near side and this should be improved soon. However, as they can sometimes play with four centre backs, it makes the zonal defending in the middle solid and this is an obvious advantage for them.
Manchester United
Manchester United defend corner kicks with all 10 outfield players in the box, five of them are zonal defenders and there is often a zonal defender higher in the box. The illustration below shows the basic positions against in-swing deliveries.
Bruno Fernandes defends the space at the near side and Scott McTominay or Marcus Rashford stands in front of the first post. In the middle, two of the centre backs such as Victor Lindelöf, Harry Maguire, Jonny Evans or Raphaël Varane or the defensive midfielder Casemiro defend the space. The fullback such as Diogo Dalot or Aaron Wan-Bissaka defends the space in front of the back post. The opponent outside the box in the ball side is marked by Alejandro Garnacho or Antony and Christian Eriksen or Sofyan Amrabat remains high in the box as a zonal defender. However, in case there is no opponent outside the box in the ball side or they prioritise to mark more opponents in the box, there will be no zonal defender around the D.
Against out-swing deliveries, the zonal defenders inside the 6-yard box step forwards.
In this kind of case, there will be no zonal defenders in front of the first and back post, although Fernandes hardly changes his position. The zonal defenders position themselves higher against out-swing, but the goalkeeper André Onana often stays on the goal line and he hardly steps out to claim the ball, although he sometimes tip away the ball towards the back post area.
The characteristic of the zonal defending is that the zonal defenders in front of each post often drop back to cover the goal after the ball is delivered while the central zonal defenders aggressively step up to clear the ball. Therefore, the opposition often target at the space at the near and far side to avoid the central zonal defenders. In terms of the near side, especially when the ball side central zonal defender is blocked, Fernandes needs to step up to clear the ball, but he is not as good as the other zonal defenders. The far side should be protected by the zonal defender in front of the back post, but he often prioritises to defend the goal, so the space is available especially when the delivery is in-swing.
Against a short corner, Fernandes becomes the second defender and one of the man-marking defenders becomes the third defender.
After a short corner is played, it is possible for them to control the line together, but after the ball is cleared, the zonal defenders in front of each post often delays because they drop their positions to defend the goal after the first delivery.
The counterattack after defending a corner kick is led by Garnacho or Rashford who runs from the first post and they carry the ball forwards thanks to their individual abilities. After the goalkeeper catches the ball, even though it hardly happens, he priorities to restore the positions instead of playing quickly.
The characteristic of Manchester United is the hybrid zonal structure. The central zonal defenders aggressively try to clear the ball, but the zonal defenders in front of each post tend to cover the goal. The objective would be clearing the ball towards the dangerous are in the middle but focusing on defending shots from less dangerous areas like the near and far side.
Newcastle United
Newcastle United defend corner kicks with all 10 outfield players in the box and three of them are zonal defenders. However, in the recent games against Bournemouth, Arsenal or Chelsea, they defended with four zonal defenders. The illustration below shows the basic positions against in-swing deliveries.
Basically, there are zonal defenders in front of the first post, at the near side and in the middle while the other players mark the opponents. One of the wingers such as Miguel Almirón, Elliot Anderson or Jacob Murphy stands in front of the first post, the striker such as Joelinton or Alexander Isak or the midfielder Sean Longstaff defends the space at the near side and one of the tall defenders such as Jamaal Lascelles or Dan Burn becomes the central zonal defender. Anthony Gordon often marks the opponent outside the box in the ball side and the other six players mark the opponents inside the box.
The six man-marking defenders tightly mark the opponents in the box, but if there are only five opponents inside the box or they ignore the opponent around the goalkeeper, a spare man-marking defender remains high in the box to defend the space around the D zonally. It depends on a game if they mark the opponent inside the zonal structure or around the goalkeeper, so it seems that they just try to mark the main opposition attackers in the box. The goalkeeper Nick Pope mainly punches the ball away and hardly catches it.
When defending with three zonal defenders, there are no zonal defenders at the far side, so the opposition often aims the far side and Wolves scored from the delivery towards the far side after the scorer won the duel against his marker. After this consequence, Newcastle decided to place another zonal defender at the far side from the next game after Wolves game.
Thanks to the additional zonal defender at the far side, who is often Burn, it is likely to be easy to clear the delivery towards the far side before the opponent heads the ball. It is worth keeping focusing on the number of zonal defenders when Newcastle defend corner kicks.
Against a short corner, the zonal defender in front of the first post becomes the second defender and one of the man-marking defenders becomes the third defender.
After a short corner is played or the ball is cleared outside the box, they carefully control the line. As the zonal defender in front of the first post often covers the goal rather than stepping up after the ball is delivered, they do not push up the line quickly. Additionally, they keep marking the opponents rather than controlling the line, so sometimes the line is not straight and there are some gaps.
After regaining the second ball, they try to progress the ball forwards quickly by playing through to find a teammate overlapping the player on the ball. The player who marks the opponent outside the box in the ball side often wins the second ball and the zonal defender in front of the first post and man-marking defenders quickly overlap him. Even after playing through, the other players overlap the ball again and again so they can progress into the opposition box so quickly as a team.
Newcastle have many tall defenders and the centre backs can clear the ball even with marking the opponents. However, the far side had been open until the game against Wolves, which was targeted many times. Now, they have changed to the four zonal defenders, so let’s see if they continue this.
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest defend corner kicks with all 10 outfield players in the box and two of them are zonal defenders. However, they sometimes defend with three zonal defenders in games such as against West Ham, Luton Town or Sheffield United. The illustration below shows the basic positions against in-swing deliveries.
They have two zonal defenders in the middle and in front of the first post. In the first post, Morgan Gibbs-White or Serge Aurier defends the space and Taiwo Awoniyi stands in the middle. Their positions slightly change depending on the opposition aim or whether it is in-swing or out-swing. The zonal defender in front of the first post can stand a few steps higher from the goal line and the central zonal defender sometimes positions himself closer to the far or near side, not exactly in the middle. The opponents outside the box are marked by Anthony Elanga and Gibbs-White. They basically position themselves higher in the box, but sometimes drop their positions to be able to defend the deliveries as zonal defenders. However, the space the zonal defender can defend is not wide and the man-marking defenders often lose their markers. The two goals conceded against West Ham show the poor defending of corner kicks.
Against a short corner, they get the zonal defender in front of the first post to come to the ball side to make it a 2v2. Their priority is not preventing the opposition from delivering a cross, so they try to deal with it with only two players even afet the opposition uses a third player. However, it is not sure if they do not make it a 3v3 or they cannot make it.
For example, like the situation shown in the illustration above, it is difficult to mark one of the opponents outside the box, so there is an underloaded situation of a 1v2. If there are any zonal defenders, an underloaded situation in a certain area is inevitable. Therefore, this makes it difficult for them to tightly press on the ball after a short corner.
After a short corner is played or the ball is cleared outside the box, they hardly push up the line and keep marking each opponent. Additionally, the zonal defender in front of the first post often covers the goal after the ball is delivered, so he cannot step forwards quickly. As most defenders mark the opponents, the line is not straight and there are some gaps in the last line.
It is their strength of them to play a counterattack after the goalkeeper catches the ball or they regain a second ball, scoring a goal against Arsenal and Manchester United. Odysseas Vlachodimos tends to punch the ball away compared with Matt Turner, but both of them throw or kick the ball quickly to play a counterattack after catching it. The target of long balls is the striker Awoniyi who sprints forwards after defending as the central zonal defender. Additionally, Elanga is great at carrying the ball after receiving the thrown ball or taking on the opposition in the final third in the left side.
Nottingham defend a corner kick with an orthodox man-marking and play a counterattack quickly. Their counterattack is organised well as not only Awoniyi and Elanga but also the other players quickly join the attack up front. Therefore, if they can improve the quality of defending a corner kick, that gives them more opportunities to score goals and reduces the goals conceded from a corner kick.
Sheffield United
Sheffield United defend corner kicks with sometimes remaining one or two players up front and two players are zonal defenders in the box. It depends on the opposition if they can remain the players up front and they are sometimes forced to defend a corner kick with all 10 outfield players in the box without any attackers around the halfway line. However, the defender in the middle or far side, who marks the opponent outside the box tends to be higher to seek an opportunity to go forwards. On the other hand, the defender who marks the opponent outside the box in the ball side often drops his position to defend the space around the near side as a zonal defender. The illustration below shows the example against Wolves when they remained two players up front.
In the first half of this game, Wolves matched their approach to Sheffield United as they placed three defenders at the back to manage the two attackers, but in the second half, they increased the number of the players outside the box, which forced Sheffield United to get one of the attackers up front to come back to defend a corner kick. Against Brighton or Crystal Palace, they just remained only an attacker around the halfway line, so this type would be their basic structure. Usually, Cameron Archer and/or Gustavo Hamer stay higher when defending a corner kick.
In the box, there are two zonal defenders in the middle and a few steps away from the first post. Oliver Norwood is the near zonal defender and Vinícius Souza or Oli McBurnie stands in the middle while the other players mark the opponents.
To be honest, their defending is so poor. The two zonal defenders often let the opponent head the ball earlier than the defenders and the man-marking defenders are often dismarked by the opponents easily. Moreover, the goalkeeper Wes Foderingham often tries to punch the ball away aggressively, but his mistake caused one of the goals conceded against Arsenal. The two goals conceded against Arsenal and the goal conceded by Everton came from the second balls in the box, not the first contact. In these three cases, the opponents could react earlier than their markers. The reason is that Sheffield United’s defenders did not see the ball while marking or lost their markers too easily. These examples showed the poor quality of players in man-marking.
Against a short corner, the zonal defender at the near side steps up to become the third defender.
Basically, they can mark the most opponents except for the taker, so the third defender does not need to step up quickly, but just prevent the opposition from penetrating into the box. Additionally, they hardly step up quickly after a short corner is played and the man-marking defenders keep marking the opponents. Even if the opposition plays back to the halfway line, they are not active to push up the line and their line is not straight as they focus on marking the opponents.
Even though they try to remain one or two players up front, they hardly play a counterattack. The goalkeeper’s lack of ability to catch the ball might be one of the reasons, but even if he catches the ball, he does not quickly distribute it.
Sheffield United have already conceded five goals in the 12 games. This must be improved if they want to survive in the league. However, the quality of individual players cannot be changed soon, so it is going to be tough for them.
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur defend corner kicks with all 10 outfield players in the box. Recently, they have defended with six zonal defenders in front of the goal, three man-marking defenders and a defender who marks the opponent outside the box in the ball side. In the first nine games, they had defended with nine zonal defenders, which the current three man-marking defenders were zonal defenders. Moreover, against Crystal Palace, they defended corner kicks with five zonal defenders and four man-marking defenders. The illustration below shows the basic positions against in-swing deliveries.
The fullback Pedro Porro stands at the edge of the 6-yard box, one of the defensive midfielders Yves Bissouma or Pierre-Emile Højbjerg defends in front of the first post and the other defensive midfielder Pape Matar Sarr becomes the zonal defender at the near side. The middle area is protected by the two centre backs Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero and the other fullback Destiny Udogie is the zonal defender at the far side. The opponent outside the box in the ball side is marked by Son Heung-min and the other three defenders mark three of the opposition attackers if they enter each man-marking defender’s zone.
The zonal structure is extremely solid and the opposition hardly heads the ball first. The space in front of the zonal structure is open, but the header from this area is far from the goal and less dangerous. The goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario can defend wide area and tends to punch the ball away.
Against out-swing, the zonal defender in front of the first post pushes his position up level to the zonal defender at the near side.
Against a short corner, the zonal defender at the edge of the 6-yard box and Son defend it and one of the man-marking defenders comes to the ball side as the third defender. When the opposition is likely to play a short corner, the zonal defender at the edge of the 6-yard box steps out the box to be ready for it before the ball is played.
After a short corner is played or the ball is cleared outside the box, they push up the line so quickly, but the zonal defender in front of the first post Bissouma tends to cover the goal after the ball is delivered, so he often delays catching up the line. They use the line of the 18-yard box as a reference, so they quickly move up to the line of the 18-yard box and stop it. After reaching the line of the 18-yard box, they try to get offside. Son presses the ball even towards the opposition goalkeeper, which keeps the ball under pressure and the other players can push up the line further.
After the goalkeeper catches the ball, he throws the ball quickly, but they do not force a counterattack and try to establish the possession.
Spurs are so solid at defending a corner kick and they hardly let the opposition head the ball comfortably. Moreover, the goalkeeper’s saving ability is exceptional, so it is hard to score against Spurs. One of their weaknesses could be the gap between the line and Bissouma when they try to push up the line. However, to exploit the gap, an accurate ball in behind is required, but Son applies tight pressure on the ball, so it would be difficult.
West Ham
West Ham defend corner kicks with all 10 outfield players in the box and six of them are zonal defenders. The other four defenders are often split into three groups, which are marking the two opposition main attackers, marking the opponent outside the box in the ball side and defending the space around the D. However, the two man-marking defenders often defend the space instead of marking the opponents. The illustration below shows the basic positions against in-swing deliveries.
The fullbacks Emerson Palmieri and Vladimír Coufal stand in front of each post in each side. At the near side, Tomáš Souček becomes the zonal defender and the two centre backs Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd stand in the middle. In addition to them, Lucas Paquetá often defends around the edge of the box, but his position often changes. Basically, he tries to occupy the space where is not defended by the other defenders. When the opposition is likely to play a short corner, the zonal defender in front of the first post leaves his position, so Paquetá drops into this position.
The man-marking defenders in the middle try to stop the opponents diving comfortably towards the ball and Michail Antonio, Edson Álvarez or James Ward-Prowse often play this role. Ward-Prowse or Mohammed Kudus often remains higher in the box, but when the opposition squeezes most attackers inside the 6-yard box, he drops back to the space in front of the 6-yard box. The opponent outside the box in the ball side is marked by Jarrod Bowen.
The weakness of the zonal structure is the far side where even the man-marking defenders cannot deal well. Especially if there are more than two strong targets, one of them will be free. Additionally, if the opponent can manage to head the ball back in front of the goal from the far side, as both zonal defenders in front of the first and back posts cover the goal, there is free space in front of the goal and it cannot be offside. This problem actually caused the goal conceded against Liverpool. The tendency of covering the goal differs depending on the individuals and Caufal often defends the goal while Emerson tends to step up.
Against a short corner the zonal defender in front of the first post becomes the second defender and the zonal defender around the D becomes the third defender.
After a short corner is played or the ball is cleared outside the box, they carefully control the line and focusing on keeping it straight. On the other hand, they quickly play a counterattack by the attackers sprinting and overlapping the player on the ball after regaining the second ball. The goalkeeper Alphonse Areola tends to punch the ball away and even if he catches the ball, he hardly distributes it quickly.
There are so many tall and strong players in the squad, so they are hardly exploited the mismatches. However, the area the zonal defenders cannot defend or the gap within the zonal structure can be sometimes exploited. On the other hand, they are so quick in the transition and the counterattacks are so dangerous.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers defend corner kicks with sometimes remaining Pedro Neto up front and four players are zonal defenders around the 6-yard box. The illustration below shows the example when they remained Neto up front.
The zonal defenders are Nélson Semedo in front of the first post, Matheus Cunha or Sasa Kalajdzic at the near side and the centre backs Craig Dawson and Max Kilman in the middle and at the far side. When Neto stays higher, Hwang Hee-chan marks the opponent outside the box in the ball side and Rayan Aït-Nouri or Pablo Sarabia defends the space behind the D as a zonal defender. However, this player sometimes marks one of the opponents in the box as a man-marking defender.
As there is only a zonal defender in the middle, the gap between these three zonal defenders can be exploited. Moreover, the space at the near side is open, even though this space should be defended by either of the zonal defenders in front of the first post or at the near side. However, the goalkeeper José Sá can defend wide area and catch the ball, which can overcome these weaknesses.
Against a short corner, the near zonal defender becomes the second defender and the zonal defender remaining high in the box becomes the third defender.
If there is no zonal defender high in the box, one of the man-marking defenders will step out, but it is slower than the zonal defender high in the box. After a short corner is played or the ball is cleared outside the box, they carefully control the line and also they tend to stay in the last line instead of restoring the usual positions.
On the other hand, if the second ball is secured or the goalkeeper catches the ball, they try to play a counterattack with Neto who remains outside the box. Even if he needed to come back to defend a corner kick, he sprints towards the second ball to go higher. However, the other players hardly overlap him, so he needs to finish the counterattack by himself.
Wolves is solid so far thanks to the ability of the goalkeeper. They try to play a counterattack with Neto, but it is not collective. Therefore, if other attackers such as Hwang overlap and support him, it would be more dangerous counterattack.
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