My FM21 Attacking Corner Routines

We all have some development as Football Manager players. I'm not an exception. I always wanted to score as many goals as possible from the set pieces. But I turned from the horny set piece creator to score a lot of goals to the patient player who is enjoying making small changes and tweaks. And every goal scored from some set piece routine is the best reward. These are my FM21 attacking corner routines

I like to watch the match on comprehensive highlights to be able to see my routines. It slowed my playing time down but I really like it. I don't have to reach the far future, I rather follow the save slower and see the impact of my tweaks.

And the FM21 version is perfect for it because I knew before the save started it won't last for too long. That means I don't see a point to speed up just to progress.

Attacking corners - near post

It's still one of my favourite type of routine/delivery. I usually see something like "just place here the best header and that's enough". In some way, yes, that's right. You need a very strong player. But as I mentioned in the past, set pieces are about the off the ball movement in the current stance of the game.

I usually try to test what player will fit the best here. I also liked to placed the best possible player to Lurk Near Post rather than into Attack Near Post role because it was more dangerous at the beginning of the save.

When I signed Niklas Backman, he was a logical choice for the attacking routines as the main man. He is brave and his decisions are up to 15. Heading and Jumping Reach attributes are also very good.

But he didn't deliver and his off the ball movement (6) during corners was a joke. Another prove of my theory. I really looked forward to using him as the focal point but I had to try another player.

The examples of goals by Markus Nakkim.

My FM21 attacking corner routines - near post

Sometimes, the ball can make it to the far post when players around the near post don't hit it. And it can look like this, that's why I have one player set to Lurk at Far Post.

Attacking corners - short

I started using the short routine straight after the start of the save. But I removed that routine during the first season because I realised I didn't have good enough players for the key roles - the taker and the one who offers the short option.

No matter what I tried, it usually ended with the offside or with bad decision of the "come short" player who decided what to do late and the opponent took the ball. Or worse, he just hit the opponent and the same repeated three or four times in a row.

But I started using it again during the save when the quality of my players was higher and some of the players developed the key attributes.

I don't know if my theory about the off the ball movement is right. But I will live with it. Especially as the striker, who is set to attack near post, is able to score from the far post area because he is able to find the space. And another player is able to find him unmarked with a well-placed cross (see more in the video below).

Time from time, I switch the Go Forward role to Attack Ball from Edge of Area. But I always try to keep two players with Lurk Outside Area role to protect the deflected or cleared balls.

My FM21 attacking corner routines - Short

2020 vs 2023

I mentioned that I used the short corner routine at the beginning of the save. The routine looked slightly different but the main point was the same. Two players were set to lurk outside area to help with everything around the penalty area.

It worked well with the wing-back within these two players as he was helpful quite often with thanks to his speed and also crossing ability.

The biggest difference is that the players who should be the main threat for the opponent were set to attack the far post as I wanted to see the cross to this place or to offer enough space around the near post for the short option.

You can see how the routine looked like in 2020 HERE. As I already wrote, the same as the save, the club or the league developed through the four years, players also developed and their decisions are much better within the short routine. That's why I decided to try it again with small tweaks and improvements. And I gave my players another opportunity to prove this routine can work.

Not working short routine in 2020 season

Thre examples from the recent time within my save with GAIS. I'm not playing too fast so it's quite young examples.

Youth teams as the best testing

One of my favourite things for probably the last three FM editions is to check the highlights of my reserve/B or youth teams. All my squads play with the same tactic. That means all teams are using also the same routines.

I consider this as a fantastic testing option for how my routines work for other teams. And I always receive the info about the match to the mailbox with the simple Watch Highlights button so it's easy to just watch the goals. I like to do it, especially if I see one of the defenders is in the scoresheet as it means a corner or free-kick goal.

But I like to check it also because of the throw-in goals because my U19s team is scoring quite a lot of goals thanks to the shrot throw-in routine.

And if I don't have enough time to watch highlights, or I forgot to do it, I just check the youth team analyst report/scoring and assists screen. Unfortunately, and I have no idea why, but you can't select more than the last 5 matches here within the youth team.

Attacking set piece search filter

I wrote about it in the past (here) and I'm still using the same method. You can find some very good players, not only for set pieces, with the filter including the key attributes for roles like attack near post, mark keeper etc.

Most of these are useful also for the defensive routines as some of these attributes are the same for both attacking and defensive roles.

It's mainly about playing with the values of the attributes within the filter. You can set all of these attributes to 15 but you can't expect it will find some player when you play outside of the top nations/leagues. Or better worded, it won't find players who are not interested in transfer/loan to your club. And the reasonable value/expected transfer fee/wage also play role in it.

I have set the attributes threshold to 13 in this FM21 save for the best attributes - bright green. So, I also set the default value for these key attributes to 13. If it finds some players, good. If not, I will lower all the values. Or only some of them.

In the example below, I lowered attributes to 10 except the Bravery and Off The Ball attributes. It found nine players. I can see the values of these 7 attributes straight thanks to the custom view. We can all spot that 19 years old Finnish striker Joni Kovanen looks promising and I started scouting him.

Training?

As I shared in the post about the fourth season, this is my current training scheme. Set piece sessions have their place in it but usually only the delivery and attacking corners sessions prior to the match.

I don't have more right now, also because I still remember what Oliver Jensen suggested some time ago during FM20.

You may or may not know this but the reason you didn’t notice any difference with more set piece training is because you can only get boosts once for a match from those sessions, so if you put three attacking corners sessions before a match, you get the same boost as you would just having one attacking corners session.

I asked SI when I wrote about training and they said that you can add many in the week but only one session will work. Doesn’t make sense that you can do more sessions. It should limit to one before each match.

One thing I will change probably in the future is the defending session on Thursday to attacking free kicks. But that's not so important.

I just want to say that your main player for the corners doesn't have to be the strongest defender just because of heading or jumping reach. It's more about combining all the required attributes together. And just to think about simple things. It's not as complicated as some FM players think and they rather ignore set pieces.

To be honest, leave the set pieces by default, especially the throw-ins is a really bad idea in FM21. But that's a different story.

Latte Quarterly - OGC Nice: November 2020

I was recently asked to join the OGC Nice FM21 save by @LatteQuarterly to help them with set pieces within the save.

I couldn't refuse. It's always great to do something together with Matt, Tony and with other members of the Board of Directors of Latte Quarterly.

Feel free to read about how November 2020 went in the save. I'm not usually into sharing saves but this is really enjoyable. Mainly thanks to all involved around. Thank you.

My counter-corner ballad

There were times when I almost every second day shared the message starting "One for FMSamo klaxon" in the Football Manager Slack. It meant I scored a counter corner goal. It was really often and we enjoyed scoring these goals. It's really great to see the simple counter with a rippling net at the end. Sadly, It's not happening too often in my saves within FM20 and FM21 but when it happens, it's like a great ballad.

It's not that long from the time when we remembered some old saves in the FMSlack and also the FM18 save with BFC Siófok was mentioned. I think it was FM17 with Reading and the save with Siófok during which I enjoyed the counter corner goals the most.

I had a lot of great newgens around both teams and there were a lot of fast players. Simply, they were absolutely perfect to fit the counters.

I didn't see too many goals after corners since the FM18 probably. And maybe that's also the reason why I enjoy a lot every time I see it.

I wrote about conceding from the set pieces and counter goals last year during FM20 save with Celaya FC. But my defensive corner kick routine is different in FM21. And I enjoy it.

Why so cautious?

My most common defensive corner kick routine contained only one player who is set to Stay Forward and one player was set to Edge of Area. I was usually afraid there won't be enough players in my own penalty area.

I decided to change this approach because I wanted to stop being so cautious. And I wanted to use, not completely, but something new.

It led to the new system of defensive corner routine. With two strikers around the half-line line and one player as the edge of the area.

If you would open that post from FM20, there is a picture of my routine where five players were set to defend zonally all the positions within the 6-yard box. There were other players set to go back so it was almost like the invitation for our opponents to make a picnic in our penalty area. And score a goal as a dessert.

FM20 (left) vs. FM21 (right)

The defensive part

You can see there are changes within the main defensive part within the 6-yard box. We now have here only three players instead of five. As I'm using 3-5-2 formation, I am able to use all my three central defenders who are (or they should be) strong and brave enough to defend crosses.

I didn't play many seasons so far, but I saw that the near post routine is more frequent so I like to use the best central defender in terms of set pieces as the one who is set to Zonally Mark Six Yard Box Near Post. Simply - the first one in the line.

Most of crosses are headed or cleared away exactly by this player.

You can also see one player Mark Far Post. I will be absolutely clear to you, I didn't want wan to place some player here. I wanted to have two players at the edge of the area. But I accidentally left one player here and he saved at least four headers in the first couple of matches. The opponent flicked the ball nicely to the far post.

And I decided to keep that player here. It happened several times within the end of the first season and during the second season too.

The decisive part

Maybe the word decisive is not the right now in this case. But I am sure that if players around the 6-yard box clear the ball, the rest of the players in the penalty box cand decide what will happen next.

  1. If they will be quick (with their decisions but also physically quick) enough, they can win the cleared ball and start the counter.

  2. They don't have to start the counter if they win the ball, but they can keep the possession. And what happens when you have the ball? You don't concede.

  3. If they will not be quick (-||-) enough, the opponent can make another attack/cross/keep possession.

  4. It's mostly about the three players who are set as Man Mark. They usually make the runs to wide areas when the ball goes here.

  5. The player with Edge of Area role should be the brain of the counter if 1) the ball is cleared to him, 2) or he wins the cleared ball, 3) or he makes the right run forward and support the strikers.

The strikers

The key attributes for Stay Forward role are Acceleration, Agility, Pace, Strength, Balance and Anticipation. That's what game says.

I would add also the combination of teamwork and work rate attributes. There are many cleared balls by defenders far from the box but most players (in overall, not only strikers) with low values of these two attributes are not willing to help to others and they just stand at the half-line.

They are just waiting for that final pass into the box. At least I think about it in this way.

My main strikers for the 2022 season and their key attributes for Stay Forward role

Oscar Aga has teamwork attribute of 11 and workrate of 10. Vladimir Rodić has both of 13. Rodić is playing as our pressing forward. And it's not a surprise he wins/collects more balls than Aga. He is more willing to help.

On the other hand, Aga is quick enough to beat defenders with the run from his own half. I see this very often but it doesn't lead to scoring chances every time.

How it can look?

One of my favourite examples is only a couple of matches old. I scored this goal during the pre-season after the promotion to the top tier.

There are also two new players in the key areas. Kairinen as the one at the edge of the area made a perfect quick pass to the Rodić who is our pressing forward and he was able to keep the ball and found Aga.

Our advanced forward made the rest and scored very nice goal.

Another very nice example is from the second season. Charlie Weberg won the header at the near post and cleared the ball to the right side. Daniel Sterner (Pressing Forward) helped the team with a perfect deep run to win the ball.

And he also moved down the right flank and Nuha Jatta rebounded his shot. I would like to see a pass from Sterner more but I can't have everything :)

Nuha Jatta, the goalscorer, also deserves a prise as he made a perfect run forward from the edge of the area position/role.

Conclusion

  1. As always, rule number one is to use the right players in the right roles. The small striker defending the near post area is wrong, right?

  2. If your player makes a lot of runs but the counter ends by losing the ball, try to use another player here. Sometimes even the player trait like 'runs with ball down right' or 'hugs line' can make a big difference (insert :eyes: emoji).

  3. Don't expect counter corner goals in every match. I didn't write this post because of this reason.

  4. The best part of this game is don't be afraid of experimenting. And set pieces, no matter how many bugs they consist, are ideal to have fun. Or to find out you made something wrong :)

  5. Btw. I conceded 0 corner goals in the first two seasons with this routine. #MythMike incoming...

  6. Have fun.

FM20 Far Post Corner | Tweaking the good old trick

The fifth season of my Football Manager 2020 save in Mexico is well underway and I failed again. I mean, I wanted to add make the most from set pieces to the club culture/vision. But there was not option to do it between the seasons. So, I decided I will just keep it in my head and will try to tweak/edit/improve set pieces through the season.

It led to the fact I decided to try to recreate the good old trick with the far post corner kick routine.

It's simple. When you want to use a short routine, you place someone to offer short option role.

If you want to use near post routine you concentrate the best options in terms of your best-suited players around the near post. It's logical.

But I made the opposite this time

My idea was to use far post corner delivery but don't place all players to attack far post, lurk at far post etc.

I decided to put most of my players to the near post. Two players are set as attack near post & lurk at near post, two players are set as go forward and one player lurk outside area.

That means at least two, but better three players stay back. And the last one is set to attack far post.

This is my initial set-up as it's available to see in the picture above. The idea was to convince the opponent's defending players to go and defend mainly the area around the near post.

And the main and the most important task you have is to select the best possible player with the best possible tor the attack far post role as he will be here alone. Sometimes against two or three defensive players.

But sometimes only against one...

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This is how it ended in the picture above.

In this case, our young central defender Infante was set to attack far post. This our own newgen was (almost) unstoppable in the previous season for our U20s team in terms of set pieces.

He scored 9 goals in 15 matches and seven from them were from corners.

I found out it's easier to score from set-pieces for my first-team players when they play in the Under 20 league. But this defender was still 17 years old so I thought: wow, that could be great if he will be able to score at least a half of these goals also for the first team.

And he scored the winning goal in the "Campeones Cup" against Salt Lake. But it was not that easy as I thought.

The young Josué Infante. Orange highlighted attributes are the most important to me, the red highlighted attributes are important as well but not necessary. On the other hand, it's obvious he is not the best header or finisher.

I can say, the young Josué scored only twice during the first part of the season. It was clear he is not that good in the top tier matches as against the young and not that good players in the youth league.

And I started to test different players in the attack far post role. But one thing became like a tradition - strikers or defenders were the best here.

The current striker #1 and the key attributes for the attack far post role

I also made one change to the whole set-up during the season as I decided to add offer short option role as it means another defensive player will be dragged out of penalty area position.

Do you know that feeling when you made some change and it worked in the first match after you made that change?

It happened when we played Chivas away. I decided to test Daniel Cisneros in attack far post role.

And, as I mentioned, I added one player to offer a short option. Well, Cisneros opened the score in the 20th minute after the corner kick.

As you can see, 6 players were concentrated to defend near post area, 1 player went close down the corner and 1 is outside the penalty area. Only 1 player defended the far post.

Cisneros was able to beat his only one defender and opened the score with the perfect header.

The main idea behind this routine was complete. See gif.

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Sometimes, it can also lead to an own goal or the player set to attack near post can score. If the players around the near post are able to avoid offside position. For example like this one...

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As I already said, the main task is to select the best possible player for the attack far post role in terms of Off The Ball, Bravery, Decisions or Finishing attributes.

I was not able to sign some good players in terms of "SfS" strategy the same as last year as most players with the right attributes for set pieces are out of our financial possibilities.

But it's fun to test my current own players at least.

Dojaquez (ST), Infante (CD), Osorio (AMR), Cisneros (ST or AMR), Moreno (ST), Lecanda (CD).

The last gif shows two goals by Óscar Moreno, the 18 years old newgen striker, who scored twice in a single match for our U20s against Cruz Azul to seal 2-0 win.

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Note: this is not intended to be routine what will assure you will score many many goals with it. This is mainly about the fact I had some idea what to do and how it ended with the limited options within the set pieces in Football Manager.

It's a different type of the FM20 Far Post Corner routine this time but I really enjoy it.

If the only thing what you want is the download link, read the post again 😉