CD Castellón's recent change in ownership has given them the economic potential for growth as a club to return to the top flight of Spanish football after an absence of more than 30 years.

Prior to owner Haralabos Voulgaris' takeover of the club in 2022, 'Los Orelluts' had spent nine out of 10 seasons in the third tier of Spain.

The investment from the new owner provided an instant impact, with the club quickly gaining promotion to La Liga 2, and not looking out of place. 

The Greek-Canadian pro poker player gambled his way to wealth, using a data-driven approach to minimise the risk of betting.

He is carrying over that method in his ownership style, inspired by Brighton and Brentford's approach, how they rose from the lower leagues of English football to now achieving sustained success between the top half and European spots in the Premier League.

This data-driven approach, using different models to calculate the likelihood of different outcomes, allows Castellón to identify high-potential signings and sign quality players for low fees, thanks to the good underlying data.

This insightful approach doesn't only apply to players but also to the staff at the club.

Dick Schreuder was appointed for the start of the 2023/24 season after helping PEC Zwolle gain promotion to the Eredivisie, being attracted away from the top flight in Holland to join the third tier of Spanish football.

He was identified as a coach who aligns with how the club will be taken forward.

In his first season at Castellón, he dominated the league to achieve promotion to the second tier.

However, a bad spell of results led to his recent sacking, with assistant Johan Plat taking charge at this time.

Along with the managerial change, Castellón set out to become as strong as possible in all phases of play, which meant searching for a set-piece specialist.

Who better to appoint than Stuart Reid, who has a proven track record of helping sides such as Como and Blackburn to change their fortune in set plays by providing detailed analysis and new ideas to take advantage of set-piece opportunities.

This tactical analysis will delve into the tactics Castellón uses to optimise their set-piece routines.

We will also analyse how Reid has moulded a team capable of learning and utilising many different routines on a weekly basis, adapting the strategy based on the opposition's defence.

One constant in this set-piece analysis is their coordination and clarity in knowing which routine to use and when.

They also use screens to create space in targeted areas, creating an unopposed shooting situation.

We will examine what makes Castellón exciting to watch from set pieces and how they could become even stronger in the future.

Key Aspects Of Screen Effectiveness

What makes Castellón both an exciting and dangerous set-piece side is that the team has clear ideas, with every player aware of their role for each corner kick.

Every player has a specific role for each delivery to help create the goals.

The patterns are different from game to game, and predicting the routine before it happens is impossible, making it much harder to prepare for when defending corners.

While each player does not make a specific run during corners, there are clear roles that are used each time.

Castellón's biggest threat comes from their use of screens, which create space in and around the six-yard box.

They also use screens to create space for players to arrive in those areas ahead of their markers, with only one or two players attacking the target area.

The remaining players are used to attack different parts of the six-yard box to control rebounds and second balls.

Often, we can see the concept of screens in use in attacking corners, like in the video below:

By consistently using screens, players are very used to the process of successfully executing the action.

The black zone is the target area, and the player highlighted in white is the intended recipient.

To create space for the attacker, the screener positions himself in the path between the attacker's marker and the target area.

As the attacker begins his sprint, the screener adjusts his position to block the path, forcing the defender to slow down and change direction to avoid the screen.

The moment it takes to adjust the defender's run is enough for the attacker to arrive in the target area unopposed, ready to attack the ball.

In general, the Castellón players have been effective in timing and adjusting the angles of their runs and using screens to gain advantages over their opponents.

However, in some cases, it is clear that the players don't fully understand how to make the most of a screen.

Screens usually have one of two objectives:

  1. Protect a space from being accessed by a defender
  2. Protect a teammate from being tracked by his marker

In the case below, where the screen is being used to block a marker from following an attacker, the screener has much less responsibility than in the other variation.

The attacker's responsibility is to time his arrival into the target space and angle the run, forcing the defender to decide: either move around the opposite side of the screen, losing crucial distance and seconds or move on the same side of the screen.

Usually, if the attacker runs as close to the screen as possible and the defender tracks on the same side, he has no space to move and has to end up following the attacker's back and not being goalside anymore.

Can you see the problem that occurs when Alberto Jiménez, #5, makes in his movement in the clip below?

The initial steps of his run are too wide, where he gives his marker the space to remain goalside while tracking him. 

The angle of the run opens up space for his marker to remain goalside, stay tight, and track the run while being able to avoid the screen, meaning the screen has no impact.

If his run had been direct towards the white target space, moving as close to the screen as possible, he would have been able to force the defender to make a decision and create space for himself to enter unopposed.

This shows a fundamental lack of understanding of screens from the Castellón players.

This doesn't apply to all players, and sometimes, it can be hard to tell if a player's failure to use screens is due to a lack of understanding, lack of focus, or a simple mistake in a split-second moment.

In the case below, Castellón again show a top understanding of how to effectively use screens, with all that is necessary for success is two players, one to attack the space and one to set a screen to create space for that player.

Because of a poor delivery, it may seem like a bad corner routine, but the movement of the two players starting on the edge of the box is elite.When comparing the two images above and below, the difference can be hard to spot, but it is what makes or breaks the move.

In the image below, as the attacker sprints towards the goal, the screener widens his stance, creating two advantages.

Firstly, the wider stance helps to increase the player's balance and stability as the centre of gravity lowers, meaning he cannot be moved out of the way, and the screen is really solid.

The second advantage is that with the wider stance, the silhouette of the player increases, and the defender who has to avoid the screen has to move even wider than before to avoid the outstretched leg, losing more time and giving the attacker even more time and space to attack the ball.

As mentioned earlier, a wide stance helps to increase the effectiveness of a screen.

Returning to the previous video, the good use of a screen in the initial phase allows the player to attack the box unopposed, but the poor execution of a secondary screen to protect space means that another defender can still defend the cross.

The image below shows a narrow stance of the screen.

With a narrow stance, moving the person out of your path is easier, and the screen is less likely to work.

Depending on the players' physicality, the screen can still work.

However, in this case, if a player lacks physicality and uses a narrow stance, it is very easy for the defender to knock him off balance and move his position so that the defender has a clear path to the goal.

One last key detail that determines whether a screen is effective is the timing of its setting.

Observe the clip below, and what the screener at the back post does, and when he does it:

If a screen is made obvious too early, the defenders can swap markers and cover for each other.

Conversely, a late screen has the potential to fail, as the players could be too far apart.

A late screen can also be given as a foul if it is deemed by the referee as a player obstructing play.

This means the timing is crucial, and we can see Castellón being extremely effective for many reasons.

In the example below, the screen setter on the right in the zoomed-in section has his focus purely on his teammate to know when he will accelerate his movement.

The screen is set when he takes the first step to accelerate into the space.

This timing allows the attacker to generate momentum while the marker is still not moving, giving him adequate space to arrive unopposed.

Furthermore, as the attacker accelerates, the screener's marker also lacks the time to generate momentum to keep up with the attacker, should they decide to swap markers and cover for each other.

Corner Kick Routines

In this next section, we will go through some of the many routines Castellón have used and describe why the different routines are effective or not.

Routine #1

In the first example below, an effective method of taking advantage of space at the back post area already left unmarked by the opponents is through the use of a deep run.

Zonal defenders are comfortable in their zones and are not concerned with the back post area, while the man markers, potentially covering the deep run, are dragged by decoy runs.

The two attackers around the penalty spot make runs towards the near post, dragging their markers away from the target area, while the runner from outside the box can arrive unmarked.

Man-marking defenders were dragged towards the near post, meaning their line of sight is towards the near post, and they cannot see the player outside the box.

Another way of exploiting spaces without zonal defenders is the use of crowding the goalkeeper.

Putting approximately ten players in a tight space helps make screens easier to execute, allowing one player to sneak off to the open space at the back post to attack the ball.

The chipped delivery gives attackers more time to judge where the ball will land and adjust their positions to attack the ball from an optimal position while everyone is trapped inside the six-yard box.

One variation of this is by combining the deep run with the crowding of the goalkeeper.

This is similar to the previous example, with the only difference being in the player who attacks the ball.

Instead of the attacker from inside the six-yard box moving away from the goal to attack the ball, the player from outside the box attacks the ball.

This helps give him added momentum when attacking the ball and puts more power on the shot, but it is only possible when the defending side has no defensive cover in that area of the penalty box.

One creative routine they have used to exploit space around the penalty spot involves a low cross that is laid off for a first-time shot from that area.

However, this is only possible when a team defends the box really deep, with more zonal markers, which is not the case in the example below.

The first low pass is made, with the attacker arriving from the blindside of the zonal marker to gain the separation needed to make the first contact in the zone highlighted below.

The image below shows the players' intent, but the opponent's defenders aren't deep enough for this to work.

Two defenders are outside the six-yard box, ready to anticipate the pass and block the shot.

While one Castellón player attempts to block them off from stopping the pass, it is extremely difficult for one player to block two defenders simultaneously, so one of the two is able to break free and intercept the pass.

One concern that I've had with Castellón's routines is their infrequent use of players to block goalkeepers.

In the clip below, with Castellón chasing a goal in the last minute and putting many bodies in the box, none of the effort in the box matters due to the goalkeeper claiming the ball.

The image below shows how much space a goalkeeper in the league is able to control when defending crosses.

There is controversy regarding what is considered a foul and what isn't on goalkeepers, but the large space shown below, which is lost by leaving the goalkeeper uncovered, is a big loss of potential space to attack.

Teams that fail to attempt to disrupt or distract the goalkeeper have less space to attack and move around in the box while also losing the high-value areas inside the six-yard from where a goal could be more likely.

Conclusion

This tactical analysis has highlighted CD Castellón's creativity from corner kicks in the opening half of the season.

While the problem-solving to different defences has been exciting to follow, key creator Alex Calatrava's recent injury and his lack of playing time at the start of the season has meant that the accuracy of deliveries has been inconsistent throughout the season, with corner kick responsibilities shared amongst a number of different players.

As a result, even when the movement is executed well inside the box, the ball doesn't arrive where it should, and the hard work inside the box is wasted.

Following Alex Calatrava's injury in late November, Castellón's corners have lost some of their magic.

The most recent corner-kick goal was scored 53 attempts ago.

Going forward, it could be worth choosing something simpler, where the cross has a bigger area to land in, to account for the variation in the crosses entering the box.