Set-Piece Roundtable: Dissecting FC Annecy’s Secrets In Attacking Corners Under Laurent Guyot
After five rounds of Ligue 2, at the time of writing, Annecy are in ninth place with a total of eight points, having won two matches, drawn two, and lost one.Do not rush to judge them based on their position, as the gap between them and first-placed Bastia is only three points. Defensively, they are struggling somewhat compared to their competition. They have conceded seven goals in five matches, a difference of five goals compared to first-place, who have only conceded two.On the offensive front, their statistics are strong, as they have the second-best attack in the entire league, having scored ten.This places them just two goals behind the second-placed team in the standings, Guingamp, who have scored 12.One of the key reasons for Annecy’s offensive success is their performance in set pieces, particularly corners under Laurent Guyot tactics. They are currently the team with the most goals scored from corners in the league, having netted four from a total of 10 scored in five matches.In this tactical analysis, we will discuss Annecy’s tactics for offensive corners, not only by examining their most successful routines but also by considering their effectiveness in securing second balls, which allows them to defend against counterattacks first and subsequently pose a threat to the opponent’s goal.Constraining The OpponentAs usual, we won’t start by illustrating how they implement their good attacking corner routines, but we will start with their preventive scheme, which allows them to be safe from counterattacks while constraining the opponent in the box to create a second wave of danger.In the photo below, their main attacking structure is shown: five attackers inside the box, three players standing on the edge of the box for the rebound, one player staying at the back for the counterattacks, and the taker.It is noticeable that they attack the box with only five players, which is considered somehow a sacrifice because they can use six or seven players in the box, as many teams do, but they prefer that for two reasons:Defensively, they are very safe with this approach, killing the counterattack from its start because using three rebound players allows them to push very high to get the second ball.If anyone goes to chase the ball, the others can cover while having an additional factor of safety which is the player who stays at the back.Offensively, these players can push high to get the second ball from dangerous points inside the box, which allows them to shoot, cross the ball, or rotate the ball to create following waves of danger.Let’s explain all of that in detail!In the photo below, the ball will be cleared, and the left rebound player will chase it to a very high point inside the box without hesitation. You can imagine the danger he can cause from such a close point, which allows him to cross or shoot.In the end, he shoots, creating an attacking threat, but don’t forget the defensive perspective, which is protecting the team from counterattacks by constraining the opponent in the box and not letting the defensive team able to even breathe to get the second ball and then create a counterattack.
As shown below, the three-rebound-player structure allows one of them to go very high to chase the ball while the two other players cover him easily, allowing him to be brave while pressing, as shown in the photos below.
As shown below, he can’t get the ball, but the two other players stand narrower, which allows them to cover him to prevent the counterattack, and then they can threaten the goal, too.
That happens when the right rebound player gets the ball, receives it on his chest, and then shoots the ball from a good position, achieving the benefit from the defensive and offensive perspectives, as shown in the following photos.
You can say that is too risky.
What would happen if the cleared ball was so strong that it passed the three players who stand on the edge of the box in such high positions with such a bold pressing attitude?
The reply is shown in the case below, in which the ball is cleared so strongly that it passes the three rebound players.
The role of the last player who stands at the back has become clear now.
This player acts as an additional factor of safety, chasing any cleared or loose ball and preventing any remaining probability of receiving a counterattack.
To be safer in such a critical situation, he can rotate the ball, create a second attacking wave, or shoot the ball directly, which is done most of the time, as shown below.
The main attacking ideas
After being safe from counterattacks, we can now start talking about their attacking ideas.
In general, they prefer to attack the near post or the area ahead of the near post, asking the first targeted player to flick the ball if he can’t shoot it directly, toward the second targeted player who could be on the near post or the far post to follow the ball.
In the photo below, the opponent defends with two post players (green), five zonal defenders in the first zonal line (yellow), two zonal defenders in the second zonal line (pink) and a player for the rebound (blue).
Going back to the attacking perspective, Annecy asks the targeted player (blue) to go to get the first touch suddenly from the blind side of the first zonal defender, which delays his reaction.
At the same time, the two white-arrowed attackers target the second touch on the near and far posts, waiting for the flick-on.
As shown below, the two numbered players behind the targeted one have essential roles in making the plan succeed, which involves dealing with the first player of the first zonal line and the first one of the second zonal line.
The first attacker runs behind the first zonal defender of the first zonal line to make him hesitate to follow the targeted player, in addition to the blind-side problem we have talked about.
The second attacker blocks the first zonal defender of the second zonal line to prevent him from following the targeted player, too.
In the end, the targeted player manages to flick the ball, landing between the awaiting attacker on the near post and the second defender of the first zonal line, who is forced to clear the ball quickly, so it goes in his goal.You may say that they are lucky and you aren’t wrong, but to support your probability of scoring a goal, you should apply some principles; framing the goal is one of them.It is better to increase another awaiting attacker in the middle of the six-yard box to totally frame the goal, and we suggest that to increase the probability of getting the second touch and scoring a goal after that. However, we shouldn’t neglect that they have only five attackers in the box because of their preventive scheme. This scheme allows them to be safe from counterattacks while constraining the opponent in the box to create a second wave of danger.In general, you can’t achieve everything in football; it is related to opinions and preferences.They have a similar idea in which they target an outer area, especially against man-marking systems, but with the same main idea to keep following the second touch.In the photo below, the opponent follows a man-marking defending system, with only one zonal defender on the near post.On the other hand, Annecy targets the black area with the blue player. In contrast, the yellow-arrowed player makes a deceptive run, trying to drag the first zonal defender with him or at least distract his attention away from the targeted area for seconds.As shown below, the targeted player starts in a very deep position, which makes it harder for his man marker. If he stands in an open body shape to be able to track the ball and the attacker at the same time, which is the preferable body shape for a man marker, that means he opens the way to the near post for the targeted player.The targeted player uses another helping factor, which is using body feints to escape from his man marker, so he starts to run toward the near post normally, as the two blue arrows show, and then, he feints toward the far post, which makes the marker delays its acceleration. Then, he goes back to the targeted area while the man marker changes his direction, as shown in the two photos below.We can also say that the marker’s not sticking to the targeted player helps in that separation.In this photo, we also want to discuss the role of the pink-highlighted player who goes to the far post to get the second touch. We noticed that he started to run late, which is very important. At the same time, the defenders focus on the direction of the first contact to move from their marker’s blind side and reach the second targeted area with an acceleration to score the goal directly without waiting.The two plans work, and the result is a goal.ConclusionIn this analysis, we have discussed how Annecy constrained the opponents while attacking corners by spreading three players around the edge of the box to get the second ball and how this was a double weapon by protecting themselves early from counterattacks and creating chances from the second wave, too.In this set-piece analysis, we have also mentioned their main attacking ideas, which are simple but effective because they use some important principles to get the second touch.
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