When it comes to corners, only one question is ever asked. Use zonal or man marking? However, Chelsea have adopted a hybrid of the two in the last year. Here we will look at what the benefits of each system of marking are.
The Best Marking System From Corners
Zonal Marking
Throughout all of Arsene Wenger’s time at Arsenal, they had one of the worst defensive records from corners in the league, due to their usage of zonal marking. Zonal marking involves the 18 yard box being divided into sections, with each defensive player being in charge of one section.
The benefit of this is that you can have every area of the box covered at all times by a man with the knowledge that if they’re willing to attack the ball, they will be there. This, however, is rarely the case.
The attacking team has a massive advantage, as they have the freedom to run straight at the ball and attack it, whereas the defenders have to do standing jumps in order to challenge the attackers. Sheer will and desire is often what gets attackers goals as headers aren’t always cleanly hit, and so extra space to run up is extremely beneficial.
Goalkeepers who are willing to come out and claim the ball are particularly useful in the system, and their zonal area is as much of the box as they like.
It’s Not Always Plain Sailing
In the modern era, Liverpool are one of the only teams that adopt an entirely zonal system. With players like Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker, they’re extremely confident in the system and don’t concede often at all, let alone from corners.
However, in their match at Anfield against Chelsea, the zonal systems were exposed by a near post run from Kai Havertz. The whole of Liverpool’s defence was static and Havertz’ movement in between the first man and the rest of the box, meant that he could flick the ball over Alisson into the top corner.
Even though the finish was ‘lucky’, if Havertz’ true intention to flick it to the back post came true, another man was ghosting in behind a static Liverpool defender to score again. Zonal marking doesn’t have a place in modern football.
Big and powerful players are back in fashion, and you need defenders to attack the ball and work in preventing attacks from getting to the ball, rather than being static in the box.
Man Marking
The most common way of defending corners is the man marking system. It does exactly as its name suggests, with defenders jostling directly with their attacking counterparts.
Man marking is the most common system used in English football, and the majority of mid-lower tier Premier League teams love to adopt this highly successful system. The reason for this is that each defender has a direct job, and if they do that job properly then there is nothing else they can do. You can hold each man to account for their actions as well, an added bonus for any manager. One of the teams who have the most success with the system is Burnley.
The big and powerful centre-back duo of Ben Mee and James Tarkowski are placed up against the big centre-backs and will often win the battles. More important is that the attackers and midfielders are told to simply prevent players from getting to the ball. This means that these attackers who are less comfortable in their own box don’t have the level of responsibility that you have in zonal marking. Man marking is the most popular choice for managers still and has the highest success rate as well. But recently Chelsea have begun to adopt a system that mixes both systems together, and it has so far worked phenomenally.
A Hybrid Marking System
Under Frank Lampard, Chelsea struggled defensively all over the pitch. Yet, they adopted a system last season from corners that was further utilised by Thomas Tuchel, and that enabled them to be one of the hardest teams to break down from the set pieces.
Chelsea place their largest men in the zones around the six yard box. These are often the centre-backs, and, at this moment, Lukaku as well, and those players are told, go for the ball at all costs. If it’s near you, attack it.
Chelsea’s smaller men, such as their captain Cesar Azpilicueta are placed as man markers on the big men in the box. If we look at the Chelsea vs Liverpool game, Azpilicueta was all over Virgil van Dijk, a complete mismatch.
Yet Azpilicueta put so much pressure on Van Dijk that he couldn’t get to the ball and by the time he got round Azpilicueta, one of Chelsea’s big defenders were able to clear strongly or Mendy was able to come out and claim the ball.
The Hybrid System is the One to Choose
This hybrid system is the perfect style for managers to deploy in the Premier League at this moment. If you have players willing to attack the ball and a goalkeeper big enough to come and claim when necessary, you should not be conceding any set piece goals anymore. Hopefully this system will encourage attacking players to come up with more interesting corner set plays in an attempt to outfox the opposition. Set pieces can win titles and settle relegation battles.
Ultimately, however, it is up to the manager and the data he has at his disposal, but every team should start to look to a hybrid system in order to achieve the most success. Yet with most corner takers failing to clear the first man these days, maybe it’s not too pressing a concern…
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