Topic: Corners- why are we so poor at them? (Dates from 2005)

[Garstonite]

Three deliverers from the three corners we've scored recently: Aurelio, Bellamy and Pennant. Coinkydink? Methinks not.

[mulfella]

Last night Palletta did something that i haven't seen a Liverpool player do for years. He stood at the back post and ran into the middle and got away from his man. Everytime we take a corner now we've got Crouch, Hyypia/Carra/Agger but theres no movement from any of them, completly static.

Remeber the days of the mid/late ninghtys, we used to score loads of corners mainly Ruddock who would start on the edge of the box, charge in and meet the ball on the penalty spot. Man U had the exact same thing with Pallester. What has happened to that?

Like Crouch vs Man U in the Cup last season for instance?

[Garstonite]

Like Crouch vs Man U in the Cup last season for instance?

Ah, but that wasn't directly from a corner.

In all seriousness, PhilB's spot on. As you say, Crouch made a run - but only about 5 yards. Paletta started at the back post and ran to the front, which, as he said, we don't do enough of. Agger and Paletta are much better than Carragher and Hyypia in terms of attacking corners, which is great. I can see both of them scoring quite a few for us in the future.

[hooded claw]

Our inability to beat the first man, or to penetrate the right areas with the dead ball, is becoming farcical. You'd think that- given our catastrophic impotence away from home- we'd be seeking to capitalise on set pieces at the moment.

[Something Else]

Our inability to beat the first man, or to penetrate the right areas with the dead ball, is becoming farcical. You'd think that- given our catastrophic impotence away from home- we'd be seeking to capitalise on set pieces at the moment.

exactly, we have been poor for some time at them, it annoys me because we should be able to find one of our starting elevn who can deliver  a good cross

[Kaizer]

If we don't practice set pieces in training, I`m afraid I have to say Rafa has lost it.

If there is one thing who is getting more and more important in todays football it is to be good on set pieces.
The game gets tighter and tighter when it comes to ability and its urgent to be able to score on set pieces.

Sort it out Rafa, but I cant believe we don't practice this in training!

[Something Else]

If we don't practice set pieces in training, I`m afraid I have to say Rafa has lost it.

If there is one thing who is getting more and more important in todays football it is to be good on set pieces.
The game gets tighter and tighter when it comes to ability and its urgent to be able to score on set pieces.

Sort it out Rafa, but I cant believe we don't practice this in training!

im sure we do, but at the end of the day it is the players decisions when on the pitch, practising in training can help but like penalties you can not simulate the right situation.

[The Bill Hicks Appreciation Society]

If we don't practice set pieces in training, I`m afraid I have to say Rafa has lost it.

If there is one thing who is getting more and more important in todays football it is to be good on set pieces.
The game gets tighter and tighter when it comes to ability and its urgent to be able to score on set pieces.

Sort it out Rafa, but I cant believe we don't practice this in training!

you can tell by the intricacy ion some of our set pieces that they're practised

[Kaizer]

you can tell by the intricacy ion some of our set pieces that they're practised

Yes I would think we did, it was more a question because of Wooltonian`s post above.

[themightylfc]

you can tell by the intricacy ion some of our set pieces that they're practised

well we need to practice them a lot more cos they are not working we try to be to clever most of the time. instead of just trying to put a good ball straight in to the box cos we have big enough guys in there to fight for it. but even on the odd occasion we do put the ball straight in to the box its usualy a poor corner we never miss the front man. its very frustrating cos we have the players in Gerrard and Alonso to put great corners in but for some reason they dont.

[The Bill Hicks Appreciation Society]

well we need to practice them a lot more cos they are not working we try to be to clever most of the time. instead of just trying to put a good ball straight in to the box cos we have big enough guys in there to fight for it. but even on the odd occasion we do put the ball straight in to the box its usualy a poor corner we never miss the front man. its very frustrating cos we have the players in Gerrard and Alonso to put great corners in but for some reason they dont.

I think Gerrards corners and set pieces in general are piss poor, and i'd prefer both Stevie and Xabi to be on the edge of the box waiting for knockdowns. Pennant and Gonzales are both great crosses and we get enough corners  per game for us to be able to get something from them and I agree if they spent more time just swinging them into the box and less time taking short come-to-nothing corners then we'd be a lot better off. I'd also like to see a player or two sneak closer to the opposition goal when we take a throw in, can't be offside from a throw in so with a throwing range like JARs we should be taking advantage.

[themightylfc]

I think Gerrards corners and set pieces in general are piss poor, and i'd prefer both Stevie and Xabi to be on the edge of the box waiting for knockdowns. Pennant and Gonzales are both great crosses and we get enough corners  per game for us to be able to get something from them and I agree if they spent more time just swinging them into the box and less time taking short come-to-nothing corners then we'd be a lot better off. I'd also like to see a player or two sneak closer to the opposition goal when we take a throw in, can't be offside from a throw in so with a throwing range like JARs we should be taking advantage.

i agree totaly

[Buster 'Hook Hand' Bluth]

Posted in another thread, but lately we've had corner goals from:

-Agger against Birmingham
-Bellamy against Blackburn
-Crouch against Bordeaux
-Paletta against Reading
-Kuyt against Reading, following up Crouch's header

So it can't all be wrong. To score from five corners in five weeks in pretty amazing, actually. In between there have been some really poor corners, but at least we're not predictable. Even though the short ones tend to go wrong, they offer something different.

However, I don't understand why Gerrard still takes them. Get him in the box and let Pennant, from whose corners we've scored three of those five goals, take them, even if his delivery is hit and miss.

[hooded claw]

Posted in another thread, but lately we've had corner goals from:

-Agger against Birmingham
-Bellamy against Blackburn
-Crouch against Bordeaux
-Paletta against Reading
-Kuyt against Reading, following up Crouch's header

So it can't all be wrong. To score from five corners in five weeks in pretty amazing, actually. In between there have been some really poor corners, but at least we're not predictable. Even though the short ones tend to go wrong, they offer something different.

However, I don't understand why Gerrard still takes them. Get him in the box and let Pennant, from whose corners we've scored three of those five goals, take them, even if his delivery is hit and miss.

None of which have anything resembling a decent defence. AS for Steven Gerrard taking them, I've always thought he'd be better used lurking for half-clearances on the edge of the box. He certainly shouldn't be taking them- we'd have more success with Stephen Hawking.

[Buster 'Hook Hand' Bluth]

None of which have anything resembling a decent defence. 

Fair point. But they're the teams we've been playing, and Birmingham aside, are all top-division/Champions League teams. I don't think we can be too picky about who we score against with any kind of goal at the moment!

[Mighty_Red]

Its becoming ridiculous just how bad we are from corners, its not about the odd coupla goals we;ve scored lately its the fact that 9 out of 10 corners are completely and utterly wasted by us. The problem is not how many we score, but how many chances we create from these situations. Its only when you can get it into an area where we can take a meaningful shot on goal, can you regularly score goals.

To not get past the first man time and time again is shockingly bad, and so we instead try the short stuff which is not working either because the opposition read it too easily and we end up hitting a piss-poor cross which is easily dealt with or hitting it back to the half-way line.

Worst of all, we gift away possession in these areas allowing the defending team to have a breather and regroup (or we get hit on the counter) 

I cannot believe that Rafa is allowing the players to do this, it feels as if they are not really working on trying to improve their crossing.

This is one of the main reasons why we are so poor away from home, because corners and free-kicks are often the only way to unlock a stubborn and tight defence, or when you are lacking the killer pass

[thespianchef]

It is riculous that not one of our players seems able to cross the ball directly from the corner flag - taking it short is wasteful and offers little extra advantage considering the extra risk involved. I agree with previous posts that this was obvious on Saturday and we need to practice it. I have always been one for direct corners - whip it in and try and create something.

[fathom10]

They always seem to try go for the front post but end up not even beating the first man.

I assume they practise a lot on corners in training and if they keep trying the front post corner it must work for them there which leads me to believe that our defenders must be terrible at defending front post corners.  Why else would they keep doing the same feckin' corner when it doesn't work?

[litmanen37]

we lumped most corners into the box yesterday, then brought crouch on, won a corner and took it short, with the ball ending up with our own goalkeeper!

that just makes no sense at all to me.

[BCCC]

This is how to take a corner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKsGBpukBTU

[litmanen37]

This is how to take a corner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKsGBpukBTU

wtf was the keeper doing?

[BCCC]

wtf was the keeper doing?

Looks like he's expecting the defender to clear it. Right on the the money though.

[litmanen37]

Looks like he's expecting the defender to clear it. Right on the the money though.

in the blackburn game today, pedersen tried it a couple of times, and the commentator said that pedersen actually scored 6 goals in one match at youth level, all 6 coming direct from corners!!!

[simmo]

we hav'nt had a decent deliverer of a corner since gary macca ! he used to glide them in not blast them as other players do' is is just me but does anyone else hate short corners with a passion ??

[magpie]

we lumped most corners into the box yesterday, then brought crouch on, won a corner and took it short, with the ball ending up with our own goalkeeper!

Spat my dummy out big time when that late one went in short right in front of us - pure frustration! In games like that with the opposition packing all their men behind the ball you're looking for that little half chance to score and a properly delivered corner could give that opportunity.
Hate that ground with even more of a vengeance now!!

[Sweet Silver Song]

Was watching the highlights of the Norway Greece game on Eurosport this evening. Yeah, I'm bored at the moment. And after watching England Russia yesterday, one thing struck me straight away. Corners. I was actually laughing out loud watching Gerrard waste corner after corner for England yesterday. Poor old England. They're getting the same service we've been getting all these past seasons. What gets me is why does Gerrard think he is actually any good at them? Surely after the 4th attempt to get past the first defender has failed, you must think, well actually it might be worth letting someone else have a go. And I might be more useful parked on the edge of the penalty area waiting for knock downs.  But no, he has to take them.

What struck me about the Norway game was Riise. He actually takes all their in swinging corners. I don't actually recall him ever taking one for us, but I could be wrong. Although I was watching only highlights, out of the 4 corners he took, two nearly resulted in goals, one hit the cross bar direct, and the 4th ended with Carew scoring.

Time to share the responsibility around Stevie.

[scutty]

Have you noticed any difference in the last couple of games?

[Conde]

Riise took a corner for norway and they scored from it.

[andrew1978]

ive always thought alonso or finnan should take them. gerrard is a very good header of the ball and could easily notch up 5 a season from there

[BazC]

Riise has taken a couple this season in one game.

Gerrard should definitely leave it to the others. What happened to Finnan taking corners anyway?

[suede lady]

the question is if Gerrard is using his authority in order to get to take the corners? I assume that on the field his word is kind off law (unless it contradicts Rafas) so maybe he is being a bit arrogant and thinks he takes good corners (which he does not really) thus not letting the likes of Pennant take as many.

[marvellous10]

Would Pennant and Riise taking them, but less of the short ones, nice hard whipped ones underneath the crossbar is what we're lacking in recent times. but still need some vareity too

[BazC]

Would Pennant and Riise taking them, but less of the short ones, nice hard whipped ones underneath the crossbar is what we're lacking in recent times. but still need some vareity too

But those are the ones that cause player/goalie collisions and there's only one outcome of that; freekick to the goalie. I like to see them smacked into the middle of the box.

[Raul!]

Serious improvement in this department.  Why?

[leccyred]

It can only be more work on the training ground.

We saw improvement last season, when Gerrard was out and Xabi and Pennant started taking a few, but this season it's been a dramatic improvement all round, both from set pieces from free kicks and from corners- with good delivery, players getting into the right position and even a bit of gamesmanship-  such as Lucas' delivery for Gerrard to take the free kick last week.  Put Agger's goal against Chelsea in the semi-final last season into the mix and it looks as if they've really started to work on their set pieces.

It certainly beat our usual touching the ball three feet to the side and continuing from open play.

[The Bill Hicks Appreciation Society]

Serious improvement in this department.  Why?

and Gerrard's free kicks have improved exponentionally

[Number23]

It certainly beat our usual touching the ball three feet to the side and continuing from open play.

Or touching it 3cm for Riise to:
a) break an on-rushing opponent's leg
b) break 2 opponents gonads in the wall
c) hit the guy he doesn't like on Row Z of the Kop.

 

[Garstonite]

We must take into consideration Porto were as open as an Essex girls' legs on a Friday night.

[Alf]

Serious improvement in this department.  Why?

Credit to Steven Gerrard IMO who has improved both his corners and his free kicks this season.

[My Original Name Please]

Im pretty outraged by the fact we have scored three goals in last couple of games from corners

Descrase!