Boss Roy Keane has explained the thinking behind Town bringing all their players back to defend at corners. Since Keane took over as manager, the Blues rarely leave anyone up field when they are defending opposition corners.

The Town manager says that people often think that leaving a player or two up field can turn defence into attack, but according to Keane the stats show otherwise: “People think that if you leave one or two up you’re going to be a threat. You won’t be, so the priority is really to defend the corner.

“I can give you every team’s goalscoring record in terms of scoring from defending a corner.

“You’d think Chelsea would be pretty decent at it. I think Chelsea have scored one from defending 900 corners or something like that and they’ve got real pace in their team and real power.”

The Blues boss says that clearing the threat should always be the main concern: “The priority when you concede a corner is to defend the corner, don’t think that you can score the other end, that’s not the danger.

“You want players back defending, whether that’s on the edge of the box or wherever, that’s your priority.

“And sometimes it’s easier to break when you’ve got more people back as you’ve got space. If your players are in a standing position, they’re easier to mark.”

Photo: Action Images

PimsNumber1 added 10:22 - Mar 2 Well i had noticed this "tactic" , not sure If I agree with it, as most teams do not play like this and we are unusual in that respect.
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bestblue added 10:31 - Mar 2 Hmmmm not sure our record is paticularly good at defending corners - anyone got the stats?
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StowTractorBoy added 11:20 - Mar 2 Hmmmm pity we don't put a player on each post then because we certainly didn't on at least occasion on Saturday.
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bennyblue added 11:25 - Mar 2 what a load of complete trash some of a teams best chances r the quick clearance leading 2 a one on one.....my local team scores a huge percent of goals this way plus if u leave a couple forward it forces the team with a corner to keep more back. no wonder we have a terrible record defending setpeices this year
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townblue added 11:43 - Mar 2 Well its not about scoring goals Keano, its about having someone to hold it up to stop the ball from getting put back in again. Takes a bit of pressure off if the ball isnt repeatedly being put into the box.
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cbower added 11:50 - Mar 2 Agree totally with townblue. At the moment as soon as we clear the ball from a corner, the opposition simply pick it up and start again, usually by throwing another ball into the danger zone. Surely to leave just one up field would gives us an "out" and I would expect that player to put pressure on the ball as soon as it is cleared. In this instance, RK may have the statistics but as townblue says, it's not simply about scoring goals from defending corners, it's about what happens when the ball is cleared.

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naa added 12:15 - Mar 2 Firstly, we've been pretty awful at defending set pieces this year, so it would suggest it doesn't work. But also, for every player you leave up the opposition will leave at least one if not two back. So, by leaving two or three up we'd actually free up space in the box (as the opposition would leave 3 or 4 back) and make it easier to defend,. not harder. I mean, even Pablo came back on Saturday. What good is he going to do defending a corner?

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down_under_blue added 12:31 - Mar 2 quick, sign up benny blue as tactical coach. his yokel team has it all worked out...
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NSL added 12:45 - Mar 2 Keane, I've said it before and i'll say it again, your a sheer tactical mastermind. Genius.
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Grimsbyblue added 12:45 - Mar 2 Completely agree with townblue. Its more about an out route when we clear the ball or at least putting pressure on the opposition. If you dont keep someone out then you are just inviting more pressure
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bluepirate added 12:58 - Mar 2 The biggest issue with it is that when the ball is cleared there is no Town player there to stop the ball coming straight back. By doing this you put pressure on youself because if you clear the ball out the opponents can just attack again with little pressure. Its a poor poor tactic.
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Doctor_Albran added 13:05 - Mar 2 I'm assuing that the armchair managers will be sending their CV's in for the Palace job. Make sure it's contains the comments - my local team wins 10 - 0 every week through booting the ball away at corners - leaving 5 upfront so the opposition has to leave 6 - I mean it just makes sense. Keano to leave Delaney as his only player to defend the corners next week to ensure the opposition stay in their half waiting for Ipswich to break - sure that'll make everybody happy!! PMSL

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IpswichKev added 13:06 - Mar 2 There would be no point in leaving players up the field if we conceded a goal now would there! Spot on Keano.
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naa added 13:09 - Mar 2 Doctor_Albran: oh please shut-up. Keane maybe a professional manager, but the fact that we let so many in from corners, are under loads of pressure late in games because we can't get the ball away and the fact that so few other teams do it would all suggest that maybe it isn't the best idea in the world. We may not be professional managers, but we've all watched enough football to understand some of the more basic things. The fact that Keane has only mentioned the attacking side of it, and not the fact that it makes defending harder would also suggest that he hasn't fully thought it through. And I said to leave 2 or 3 up. Perfectly sensible. Denmark did it in the Euros once, left 4 up I think, and it worked brilliantly. The keeper had loads of room in the area, the defenders could easily spot who to pick up and they had men up front for a break. Not that I'm suggesting we go that far.

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jabberjackson added 13:11 - Mar 2 Benny blue really is a legend isn't he or perhaps another know it all pitchside ranter who should let the people who know what they are doing get on with it musrt come and watch Pig and Whistle United one day and pick up a few tips, I'm sure Roy will... another card is marked!
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naa added 13:14 - Mar 2 jabber: a bit unfair. OK, benny's point about scoring loads is rather OTT, but he has a point. And we have let a lot of goals in from set pieces this year, so it hardly suggests that Keane's tactic works that well, does it?
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bluepirate added 13:18 - Mar 2 Ipswich Kev, what you dont understand is not the break away attack so much, but the fact that this tactic invites pressure. Sheff Wednesday under Laws took advantage of this tactic very wekk and kept pressure on our goal. Forwards left forward can break, but more importantly they can take the pressure of the defence. I know you blindly follow and dont know much better, so I am trying to explain it for you.

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Surco72 added 13:19 - Mar 2 To have no one left up front allows the opposition the chance to return the ball with no pressure ,and gives us no option if we get the ball apart from hoofing it long . It also crowds the goalmouth which makes it more difficult for our keeper and defenders . If this is such a great tactic why is not used by Cappello,Ferguson,Wenger or any other manager ,because its not and as our season has shown it is not aiding our defending from set pieces just putting us under more pressure .Defence starts with the forwards closing down further up the field basic football

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naa added 13:30 - Mar 2 Exactly Surco. I know some people like Keane but surely they don't have to defend everything he does. This tactic clearly has major flaws and, if he's so keen on his stats surely he can see that it isn't helping our set piece defending.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 13:40 - Mar 2 I'm not sure I agree with RK's statistics-based take on this one. Surely if you leave 1 or 2 upfield you put a bit of doubt in the mind of the opposition? They can't then totally commit to attacking the corner. Pity we still don't have Benty: he's just the kind of player you might want to leave higher up. Just hoof the ball over the opposition defence and let him run onto it. Chances are he'd probably actually be able to hit the net as well; I'm not quite so sure any of our current forwards would!

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PimsNumber1 added 13:46 - Mar 2 Those stats are open to a lot of interpretation. Im sure its not as clear cut as keane implies otherwise the top teams would have everyone back. Us a bottom section CCC team think its a good idea , tells you everything.
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brogansnose added 14:11 - Mar 2 Turning this around a bit, i seem to recall seeing stats that said that we had one of the highest amounts of corners awarded to us but i dont remember us scoring that many from them. Me thinks that scoring from them is more of a problem than defending them and yes we have tended to put ourselves under pressure by hoofing the ball back to the opposition for them to come back at us particularly in those last paniky 5 minutes.

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SouperJim added 17:04 - Mar 2 I must admit this really worries me. There is a reason why every other team in the world leave at least one man somewhere near the half way line, and it's not an expectation that he's going to be able to collect the ball once cleared and dribble it unopposed into the opposition net. Is Roy really this short sighted, or does he just think us fans are stupid and this patronising explination will clear things up? If this tactic is so great, I'd like to see the stats on the number of 2nd balls we've won following a cleared corner, in order to back it up.

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owdboy1 added 18:40 - Mar 2 Well said SouperJim , Keane is still showing us every week that he is tactically naive. I don't know the stats but It seems that we leak goals reguarly because we don't hold the ball after it is cleared. It would help if we had some real pace going forward to scare defenders.
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These_arent_the_days added 18:44 - Mar 2 I'm afraid souper that most subscribers to here are that stupid. Another crap tactic from Keane but most Keanites will buy it
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