Liverpool FC Forum

[stmichael]

It's an issue which has been troubling me for the last year or so to be honest. How bad are we on corners? We seem to get infinite number of corners in which we hardly trouble the goal keeper. And all the new fancy type of corner kicks we try in which we have two people near the corner flag and have them pass to each other a couple of times before crossing makes me even more pi$$ed. How about some good old fashioned whipping the ball in the danger zone and flinging our bodies on the ball? IMO Pennant/Aurelio should be taking the corners and Stevie G should be in middle. I think with Stevie G in the middle with Crouch/Hyppia/Kuyt/Garcia we should get at least one goal in three games out of corners.

I mean for God's sake we've probably got one of the tallest, if not the tallest team in the League yet we never seem to trouble anyone from these situations. Go back to the treble season and we scored shed loads of goals from corners and free kicks delivered from wide areas delivered into the box. Gerrard scored 4-5 goals from headers that season so imo he should be in there causing havoc.

Bring back Gary Mac.

Thoughts?

[Kopite-Jud]

It's an issue which has been troubling me for the last year or so to be honest. How bad are we on corners? We seem to get infinite number of corners in which we hardly trouble the goal keeper. And all the new fancy type of corner kicks we try in which we have two people near the corner flag and have them pass to each other a couple of times before crossing makes me even more pi$$ed. How about some good old fashioned whipping the ball in the danger zone and flinging our bodies on the ball? IMO Pennant/Aurelio should be taking the corners and Stevie G should be in middle. I think with Stevie G in the middle with Crouch/Hyppia/Kuyt/Garcia we should get at least one goal in three games out of corners.

I mean for God's sake we've probably got one of the tallest, if not the tallest team in the League yet we never seem to trouble anyone from these situations. Go back to the treble season and we scored shed loads of goals from corners and free kicks delivered from wide areas delivered into the box. Gerrard scored 4-5 goals from headers that season so imo he should be in there causing havoc.

Bring back Gary Mac.

Thoughts?

couldnt agree anymore we defornatly lack goals from corners when we have one of the best crossers of the ball in the world and the tallest team in the prem and we barely work the goalkeeper from corners , it is defornatly an issue that needs to be worked on in training

[112-1077774096]

we never have been any good at corners to be honest for as long as i can remember. we may as well just give the ball back to the opposition to save time

[wee_boi888]

I prefered Alonso taking the corners to Stevie. I'd like to see Stevie just outside the box waiting for a clearence for him to smash it in.

I remember an older post talking about corners, and most tended to agree Alonso could whip em in with curl and pace that caused a lot of strife for defenders.

[Mannyk]

Well said Stmichael.

I think it is an actual problem in the whole competition and it is something that alot of teams don't do well and really it's school boy stuff.

How many times do you watch a game in the prem and the wingers are in great space yet deliver a shi t cross .

The simple cross in the box is such a simple part of the game and is a great attacking skill that is needed if you are going to score goals. Especially when you have a girrafe in your team.

I can't really comment on who the best crosser in the team is (prob SG)but I wish we had some one that could deliver a ball like David Beckham. Not too high or low with plenty of speed and curl. I hate watching Crouchy head the ball but most of the time it is not his fault as he is trying to get on the end of looping lollypop cross with no pace on it and he looks like a weak header of the ball.

[stmichael]

it's an area we need to work on, no doubt about it.

if you look at chelsea, john terry has scored 16 goals in the past two seasons for them, the majority of which have come from set pieces. gallas also scored 5 goals for them last season, including one against us at the bridge from a corner.

compare this to us. hyypia and carragher have probably only scored 3 goals for us in the last two seasons from set pieces. so what's the difference?

personally i don't see enough of our players who are willing to attack the ball from crosses and essentially "put their head in where it hurts".

[Mannyk]

spot on

[Bad Bob]

Yup, it's to the point where I don't get excited when we win a corner anymore as we barely get a shot on target from them.  I agree that Stevie needs to be getting on the end rather than taking the corners.  The only "fancy" corner I'd like to see in the mix for the next little while, too, is the one to the edge of the 18 yard box for Gerrard, Alonso or Riise to smash goalward through traffic.

[stmichael]

the last goal we scored from a corner was tommy smith in rome 1977 

[ivor_the_injun]

I genuinely think we should consider letting Finnan take corners for a game or two.

He's very capable of swinging the ball viciously, as we've seen in the past from him in open play, and this gives us more options, with Gerrard being able to add an aerial threat, and Alonso being able to hang around the edge of the box for a shot if the ball gets cleared in his direction.

It has been a huge failing for some time now, and with the height we've got in the side now, you'd think it would be a part of our game that would yield a sh*tload of goals.

[Mannyk]

[/quote]

Thats funny. Does the bull shi t short tap to a player next to the corner post pi ss you off ? I hate it when players don't whip it in some times.  As Bad Bob said you just don't get excited when we we get a corner. Yet when ever a lesser team gets one you can hear the excitement in their own fans that they have just gotten a terrific attacking opportunity.

[Rush]

I like to see the ball swinging away from the keeper, makes him unsure what to do, stay on the line or risk coming out hoping to catch or punch. Stevies corner kicks are always the same, either hard to the near post or swinging in to the far post, which is a present for the keeper.

[Rafa D]

I have been pointing this out for ages at the match St Mike with a few grumbles of agreement. Why aren't we dangerous anymore? Chelsea always look dangerous when it comes to corners, I reckon at least 75% of the league have scored more headers than us in the last 2 years since Rafa took over. Why is this? It can't be our heading ability, Sami, Carra, Gerrard, Crouch, Garcia are all very good at heading the ball. It can't be our physical attributes(IE our height) as we have man for man, possibly the tallest squad in the Premiership - Sami, Momo, Crouch, Agger, Xabi, Fowler, Kuyt are all tall player

  We actually seem to beat most teams every game for corners awarded, and yet never seem to even test the keeper. I have seen many times, our corner count come up reading 13 - 1 or something very similar and thought "How the F**k haven't we scored a corner?" I sincerely believe last year we would of took the title if we would of been more potent at set pieces. "F**k off" , "shut up" I hear you yell, well think about it, how many games did we draw 0 - 0 or lose 1 -0 when we clearly should have won. Last year Liverpool had the most corners in the Premiership, after 28 games( I Don't have the full figures for end of season). It was at this stage 195 corners in 28 league games, guess how many we scored directly from?

2   -   Gerrard V Chelsea
          Luis   V Wigan

  And both of these were not headers, Gerrards was a volley, Luis was a divert off his knee of Mori's header. WTF is that all about? The most corners in the league and NOT ONE HEADED GOAL

  Personally I think it all comes to tactics.

As you said, in the Houllier era, we were very, very dangerous from corners and set pieces. Ziege scored a few for us and Owen, Heskey, Fowler, Babbel all scored a few headers. However in the Houllier era our main man was Sami Hypia. He scored in 2002  - 2004, 15 goals  in all competitions - 10 in the league. Now admitedly not all might of been headers, but I bet a fair few were, and when have we seen Sami do a mazy dribble and whack it in? I'd bet a lot more than 95% of his goals were involving set pieces or corners. Since Rafa took over the club in 2004 Sami has scored 5 goals in 2 years. 5 in total  -  3 in the league.

What has changed so drastically?

  It could be down to our set piece takers?  - I don't buy this at all, in Xabi and Stevie, the main corner takers, we have two of the best deliverers of the ball in the world. I think it is the was we set up, when we attacka set piece or a corner. To me too many of our players, act like there "zonally attacking" much like when we defend. Although this is very sucessful when defending, it jsut does not get us results from corners. Our players never seem to attack the ball,or shift positions. They seem stagnanted( not even sure thats a word ). They stay in the same area, and we never seem to have players attacking the ball from deep, like Huth or Terry does so often for Chelsea. Maybe Rafa sets the players out like this to protect from a counter attack, however I believe we need to be scoring a lot more corners than we are at the moment. We need to sort this out. I just hope Rafa sits up and takes notice


Rant Over

[stmichael]

I like to see the ball swinging away from the keeper, makes him unsure what to do, stay on the line or risk coming out hoping to catch or punch. Stevies corner kicks are always the same, either hard to the near post or swinging in to the far post, which is a present for the keeper.

I agree that outswinging corners are far better than inswinging ones, this gives the attacking team the advantage and it will be much easier to get pace on your header.
It often gives the keeper problems with his deciding as well, shall he try to go for it or shall he leave it for his defenders.

We simply need to be more fearless in the box, you don't score from corners unless you are willing to get a injury in the process.

[Bad Bob]

I have been pointing this out for ages at the match St Mike with a few grumbles of agreement. Why aren't we dangerous anymore? Chelsea always look dangerous when it comes to corners, I reckon at least 75% of the league have scored more headers than us in the last 2 years since Rafa took over. Why is this? It can't be our heading ability, Sami, Carra, Gerrard, Crouch, Garcia are all very good at heading the ball. It can't be our physical attributes(IE our height) as we have man for man, possibly the tallest squad in the Premiership - Sami, Momo, Crouch, Agger, Xabi, Fowler, Kuyt are all tall player

  We actually seem to beat most teams every game for corners awarded, and yet never seem to even test the keeper. I have seen many times, our corner count come up reading 13 - 1 or something very similar and thought "How the F**k haven't we scored a corner?" I sincerely believe last year we would of took the title if we would of been more potent at set pieces. "F**k off" , "shut up" I hear you yell, well think about it, how many games did we draw 0 - 0 or lose 1 -0 when we clearly should have won. Last year Liverpool had the most corners in the Premiership, after 28 games( I Don't have the full figures for end of season). It was at this stage 195 corners in 28 league games, guess how many we scored directly from?

2   -   Gerrard V Chelsea
          Luis   V Wigan

  And both of these were not headers, Gerrards was a volley, Luis was a divert off his knee of Mori's header. WTF is that all about? The most corners in the league and NOT ONE HEADED GOAL

  Personally I think it all comes to tactics.

As you said, in the Houllier era, we were very, very dangerous from corners and set pieces. Ziege scored a few for us and Owen, Heskey, Fowler, Babbel all scored a few headers. However in the Houllier era our main man was Sami Hypia. He scored in 2002  - 2004, 15 goals  in all competitions - 10 in the league. Now admitedly not all might of been headers, but I bet a fair few were, and when have we seen Sami do a mazy dribble and whack it in? I'd bet a lot more than 95% of his goals were involving set pieces or corners. Since Rafa took over the club in 2004 Sami has scored 5 goals in 2 years. 5 in total  -  3 in the league.

What has changed so drastically?

  It could be down to our set piece takers?  - I don't buy this at all, in Xabi and Stevie, the main corner takers, we have two of the best deliverers of the ball in the world. I think it is the was we set up, when we attacka set piece or a corner. To me too many of our players, act like there "zonally attacking" much like when we defend. Although this is very sucessful when defending, it jsut does not get us results from corners. Our players never seem to attack the ball,or shift positions. They seem stagnanted( not even sure thats a word ). They stay in the same area, and we never seem to have players attacking the ball from deep, like Huth or Terry does so often for Chelsea. Maybe Rafa sets the players out like this to protect from a counter attack, however I believe we need to be scoring a lot more corners than we are at the moment. We need to sort this out. I just hope Rafa sits up and takes notice


Rant Over

Good rant R-D and you make a lot of sense.  I, too, have wondered what's happened to Hyypia's goal scoring.  His towering headers seem like a distant memory and we desperately need that kind of threat back on corners.  I notice that he and Crouch stood very close to one another yesterday, presumably to confuse their markers.  Could it be that they're getting in each other's way, though?

Given that Hyypia attacks balls in the air more than Crouch does, maybe it's better to separate them and use Crouch as more of a decoy or as someone to flick balls on for the likes of Hyypia to power in at the back post?