How to defend well on corners in soccer?

Corners represent crucial and important moments in any soccer match. They obviously allow creating a real goal-scoring opportunity to take the lead, break away, or come back into the match if your team is trailing.

It's not uncommon for a corner, or corner kick, to be decisive in a tight match where set pieces are the only way to find a winner.

Defending corners well is therefore essential to keep your goal intact, for example. Offensive corner tactics are multiple and as a coach, you have no choice but to develop several defensive parades to avoid being put in danger at all costs.

1. How to position your defense on corners?
2. How many players are needed to defend corners?
3. Placements at the near and far posts
4. Defensive corners: organization and communication

This article is here to bring you answers regarding the different tips and movements to work on with your team to defend corners well.

How to position your defense on corners?

Knowing how to position your defense on corners is the basis for any team. Given that your formation risks conceding between 3 and 6 per match, you might as well put all the chances on your side to not concede a goal.

On corners, your players must be positioned strategically in the penalty area. The goal is to cover critical zones while being ready to react quickly to destabilizations and opposing tactics.

Here are 3 key points to develop your defensive corner tactic:

1. Marking zone
2. Marking style
3. Anticipation of trajectories.

1. Marking zone

You must assign each player on your team to a specific marking zone to cover your entire penalty area. Preparing this in training allows not being lax or having confusion during the weekend match.

For example, it's frequent that smaller players are used to cover the posts and defend on their line and that taller players are on marking opposing players in these famous zones. Your goalkeeper also has their say regarding the adopted tactic.

2. Marking style

Marking style is to decide between two options: zonal marking or man-to-man marking.

Zonal marking is the idea of giving a marking zone to your players regardless of the opposing tactic. This brings stability and good coverage of the penalty area. However, be careful of opposing tricks.

Man-to-man marking, or tight marking, as often said, allows your players to each be responsible for marking an opposing player. This marking brings flexibility. For example, the tallest players on your team mark the tallest players on the opposing team, which isn't always the case in zonal marking.

3. Anticipation of trajectories

Working on corner trajectories with your players during training will allow you not to be surprised during matches. Prepare inswinging corners, outswinging corners, or corners taken short which bring more crossing angles.

Regardless of your position and your tactic, communication must be the watchword of your corner defense. Don't leave room for the unexpected and ask your players to be constantly in exchange.

How many players are needed to defend corners?

Obviously, there's no ready-made answer to this question. All this will depend on the opponent, as often, but also on your strengths, your weaknesses, and your playing philosophy.

Here are 3 factors that can help you determine the number of players to place in the penalty area in case of a defensive corner:

• Defense/attack balance: ensure maintaining a balance between your defense and your attack, don't all be behind as don't be too few
• Risk assessment: evaluate the potential of the opposing attack and adapt the number of players accordingly. If the opposing team has strength on set pieces, don't hesitate to disrupt their tall players with a few reinforcements on your side
• Tactical flexibility: be ready to adjust the number of players in defense. For example, if you're leading, be more numerous but ready to counter-attack and vice versa. This also depends on the time elapsed

Once again, plan specific training sessions for these playing systems so your team is ready to make the right decision during matches.

Placements at the near and far posts

As we've already mentioned, placements at the near and far posts are crucial for your defense and your goalkeeper. Here are our tips:

• Near post: place a solid and agile player at the near post to intercept short crosses and to close the angle for a direct shot on goal.
• Far post: post your athletic and aerial players in this zone to contest long crosses and clear this space of all danger.

Once again, there's never too much communication to defend, your players must constantly talk to each other.

Defensive corners: organization and communication

To summarize, there's no perfect plan to defend defensive corners well. However, being organized while communicating is the best tactic.

Then, it's up to you to choose the optimal positioning for your defense. It's the same for marking, should it be zonal or man-to-man. Adapting is the key.

Prepare your players for all opposing attack options on corners so that once the match comes, they react quickly and in the right way.

Finally, don't forget that your goalkeeper is the boss of their penalty area, they must position and manage their defenders to be comfortable in protecting their goal. You must hear them, this reassures and can impress opponents.

If you defend as you should, there's a great chance that this defensive position transforms into a counter-attack opportunity. You still need to know how to exploit the spaces left by opposing players who advanced on corners.