Independent Leyton Orient Forum

This is a bit far out but I’ve got a bit of a conspiracy theory that we might actually be happy to lose the first header/are doing it on purpose.
We don’t really put lots of players in the box for set peices and tend to leave 3 or 4 outside of the box.
Taking in mins the low % of corners that end in a goal, I wonder if we feel it’s more worthwhile to recycle the second ball

ComeOnYouOs wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 10:55 am

JimbO wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 10:08 am honestly did any one have expectations that we'd be more than a mid table side this season which is exactly what we are 13th at just after the halfway point of the season. think a lot of you were spoilt last season.

I thought we'd be mid season, but I thought Stevenage would be below us, but they've been in the top 6 all season, and are still in with a chance of automatic promotion. If not they will probably be in the play offs.
How do you explain that then?

And Northampton are above us.

Wally Banter wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 9:34 am It blows my mind that pro players can’t consistently put a 30 yard ball in at head height from the corner.

It’s not just about getting the ball over a 6 foot tall man some 25 yards away, is it?

Wycombe were a really big side - their 2 centre backs had the beating of Beckles and Happe. Every corner had to be whipped in at pace into a really small window. Too short and it’s cleared by the man at the near post (who, by the way, is positioning himself to make it as difficult as possible to get it over him). Too long and it sails into their keepers arms, who can then launch a counter attack.

Erring on the side of caution and going lower so that if the cross isn’t accurate, it’s headed out or back to our corner taker, makes sense.

Rich Tea Wellin wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 12:06 pm This is a bit far out but I’ve got a bit of a conspiracy theory that we might actually be happy to lose the first header/are doing it on purpose.
We don’t really put lots of players in the box for set peices and tend to leave 3 or 4 outside of the box.
Taking in mins the low % of corners that end in a goal, I wonder if we feel it’s more worthwhile to recycle the second ball

Kind of this, see above. It’s better to hit t he corner too short and almost certainly pick up the second ball than it is to go too long and let their keeper launch a counter.

Wally Banter wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 11:28 am

Rich Tea Wellin wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 11:20 am

Wally Banter wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 9:34 am It blows my mind that pro players can’t consistently put a 30 yard ball in at head height from the corner.

Not really the point though is it?

Of course, if you told any of our players to put a ball in above head height they could. But it would be ineffectual, floaty, or too long. They are trying to whip balls in which has a lot of room for error but is effective if you get it right. Of course, it isn’t effective right now but doesn’t mean they should just float in balls

If you gave me a choice between floating it into the box and trying to scramble / second ball it in, versus repeatedly whipping corners to the first man, I know which one I’d take. Particularly when we don’t appear to have any players who actually can whip the ball in well.

Their centre half pairing had the beating of ours. That’s why we weren’t floating it in.

Think Sam Allardyce did a thing ten years ago where he analysed where the ball ends up when cleared from a corner, and set his teams up to capitalise on that, rather than on trying to score from a corner itself. Remember seeing some analysis that was pretty convincing about its value as a tactic

It’s definitely a thing.