I imagine it's something to do with statistical probabilities about conceding when the penalty area is more crowded, which may also be why we seem to have played so many short corners.
On that note, on average teams score (or concede) from 1 corner in every 30. That's a stat that has passed the test of time, so if you're doing better than that at both ends you're out-performing.
So far this season I think we've scored 3 from 74 corners (Swindon, Macc, MK) and conceded 1 from 52 (Bury).
That's too small a sample to be truly meaningful, but in so far as it is, we're pretty much on the average for goals scored but certainly ahead of the game on goals conceded.
I thought it was deliberately played deep for O'Connor, obviously not accurate enough, but I don't think they were just randomly over-hitFunny you should say this. There was a corner v Cheltenham that came out to Pett and I couldn't decide if it was intentional or not. Maybe they are adding a few wrinkles to the corners and they are not quite working yet.
There are a couple behind me who moan every time we are defending a corner, about having no one near the half line. I must admit I enjoy remarking ironically after each corner is successfully defended, that the man who cleared it should have been on the half way line. But perhaps they know something the Cowleys don’t.
I don't think it's confirmed either way whether it's beneficial to leave someone up or keep everyone back. If it is then I haven't seen that statistic.
Some teams do. Some don't. It's the manager's preference.
I think you hear a lot of poor, unreasonable comments/moans in the ground but I wouldn't say this is one of them.
Think I might leave 6 to defend them and have three unmarked attakers!if you left 9 men up on the halfway line when defending a corner... would the attacking team have to mark them all? in which case the corner taker would have no attacker to aim at, and you have successfully defended the corner before it is even taken.
There are a couple behind me who moan every time we are defending a corner, about having no one near the half line. I must admit I enjoy remarking ironically after each corner is successfully defended, that the man who cleared it should have been on the half way line. But perhaps they know something the Cowleys don’t.
I bet it is statistically proved. I bet our management know the statistics. Pure logic also tells you this. Imagine the following scenario. For a million pounds some one says you can defend a corner with as many players or as few players as you want. Would you put someone on the halfway line?
Yes, there are benefits, but they just don ‘t outweigh the risks. The likelihood of scoring from a corner are relatively high. Therefore, defend that situation first, as effectively as you can. Once the corner is over, so is most of the danger. Balls pumped into the box from a less advantageous position near halfway are much easier to defend.Once the danger is over, there are 89mins left to worry about scoring at the other end. Also the man on the halfway line will still be unlikely to get on the end of the clearance, so usually it’s pumped back in anyway. As I say, I am sure the management have weighed up the pro’s and con’s. If they think it make sense to defend this way, both options will have already have been considered, and the most beneficial method selected.I would have as many defending as possible if the corner was in isolation like a penalty shoot out but that isn't the case. There are benefits to leaving men up which we're currently missing out on. That's my point.
if you left 9 men up on the halfway line when defending a corner... would the attacking team have to mark them all? in which case the corner taker would have no attacker to aim at, and you have successfully defended the corner before it is even taken.