Remember France-Belgium in 2018, the match was decided on a corner kick... In fact, two seconds before Umtiti's goal, the commentator was shouting: "it will only take one...". That's exactly the value of set pieces. A free kick cross, a header, a goal, end of match.
But you still need to know how to play them. Because you've seen your players' attempts, they're random... Do you need combinations? With pleasure, here are 5!
- Play at the penalty spot
- Combination behind the wall
- Find a teammate behind the defense
- Deflection at the near post
- Use numerical advantage
1. Play at the penalty spot
This combination is played on a free kick. The goal? Send the ball to the penalty spot so one of your players cuts its trajectory to send it into the back of the net. 5 of your players position themselves at the edge of the penalty area (around 15 meters). At the moment of the cross, 4 of them head toward the goal, while one of them will head toward the penalty spot. Note that the taker must send a driven ball as precisely as possible.
Also, your players must respect a few points. They must go full speed to draw in the opposing defense and allow the one cutting to find themselves alone at the penalty spot. Note that this tactic is ideally played on free kicks that are quite far out. Around 30 to 40 meters.
Play at the penalty spot
2. Combination behind the wall
Again on a free kick, this combination has the characteristic of being sneaky and effective. The goal? Pass the ball in behind to an attacker positioned near the wall. Your players all position themselves in the penalty area, except one. This one positions themselves in the wall, at the end closest to the center of the goal. Be careful, if the opposing wall is made up of 3 players or more, your player must stand 1 meter away from it (Law 13 of soccer).
Once your players are positioned, your taker makes it look like they're crossing to their partners in the penalty area. But at the last moment, they make a pass in behind on the side where their teammate is not. This teammate then makes a diagonal run to receive the ball and find themselves alone facing the opposing goalkeeper.
Be careful, your player must position themselves on the correct side of the wall to surprise, stay discreet and make a diagonal run. This player must also pretend to want to interfere/stay in the wall so as not to attract attention.
This strategy is played on free kicks near the opposing goal, between 16 and 30 meters.
Combination behind the wall
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3. Find a teammate behind the defense
This combination is simple. On a free kick, the taker sends a cross in behind to their partners who have beaten the opposing defense for pace.
To do this, the receivers must line up and start high, at least 16 meters out. They go at full speed to get past the defenders and receive a cross in behind, to find themselves alone facing the goal.
Be careful, your players must start at the right moment. If they start too early, they risk being offside. If they start too late, the opposing defenders will recover the ball. This strategy is formidable if you have explosive players or a fairly slow opponent. This free kick is played at least 25 meters out.
Find a teammate behind the defense
4. Deflection at the near post
This set piece combination can be used mainly on corner kicks.
In this combination, all your players position themselves between the penalty spot and the edge of the penalty area. At the moment of the cross, one of the players heads toward the near post to deflect the ball to those who stayed behind. These can then finish the action.
Deflection at the near post
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Be careful, make sure your players understand to position themselves close to the penalty spot and stay reactive. Why? Because the ball arrives quickly and the available space is reduced (marking and high density of players in this zone).
This strategy therefore misleads the opponents. Seeing the player at the near post, they will expect them to send the ball toward the goal. Two things can then happen. Either the opponents head toward their goal to protect it, or they stay passive thinking it's too late. In both cases, they leave space for the players receiving the deflection.
Also discover other corner kick combinations in our dedicated article.
5. Use numerical advantage
This corner kick combination is simple: your players will gather not far from the opposing goalkeeper.
Thus, your taker sends a whipped ball between the penalty spot and the goalkeeper. This tactic has the advantage of disrupting the opponents' information gathering. Indeed, some of your players are free from all marking and your opponents' communication will be disrupted.
However, pay attention to certain points. For example, ask your players not to get too close to the opposing goalkeeper. The latter is very protected by the laws of the game in their penalty area. At the slightest contact, the referee can blow for a foul.
Also, your players will need to be extremely reactive. Indeed, the ball arrives quickly and the playing space is very restricted.
