Martin Tyler's Letter From The Gantry No 33

From The Joy Of Football podcast No 37 written on December 10th 2024 on the difficulty of spotting who heads the ball at corners, and the plethora of goals he's witnessed from corners recently

Martin and Neil recording The Joy Of Football podcast

Goals from corners have always been an identification test for commentators, particularly inswinging corners. Replays will invariably solve any puzzle but the wish on the gantry is to be instinctively right.

A pack of players go searching for a telling touch and when the ball flashes into the net those in my profession search for the right name. A scorer’s celebration is a major clue but even then it might be one who was trying to defend the set-piece who actually diverts the ball past his own goalkeeper. Take the riotous celebrations by Fulham recently against Brighton at Craven Cottage, a red herring if ever there was one. Calvin Bassey was conspicuous in the collective delight. But not his goal. It actually belonged to a former Fulham player, the unfortunate Brighton midfield man Matt O’Riley.

That particular joy was misleading. It was simply because the ball had actually ended up in the opposition net from a Fulham corner – something their previous 120-plus such attempts had failed to achieve.

I read somewhere recently in this data driven world that goals from set-pieces are down this season. That is certainly not the case from where I have been watching. Arsenal defeated Manchester United by driving down this particular route. One United fan said to me that conceding a corner that night felt like giving away a penalty. Two-nil but it could have been five, all via the same modus operandi. And four days later another training ground routine earned the Gunners’ point at Fulham, William Saliba netting in both matches

As for United, they conceded similarly in their next match – at the start of their home defeat by Nottingham Forest. A seventh time in all this season.

There is rightly much talk about the movement of the attacking players, emphasised by Arsenal whose set-piece coach Nico Jover deserves a goal bonus. But the key is the delivery. In Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka the Gunners have two of the very best suppliers. Near post or far post their placement is usually perfection.

Undoubtedly there has been a recent surge in the set-piece goals. I mentioned in the last letter commentating on Tomas Šouček opening West Ham’s corner account at Newcastle. It was their 12^th game of the season by the way. But then a converted corner brought a consolation goal at Leicester – from Niclas Füllkrug — and paved the way for victory in their crucial home clash with Wolves – Šouček again. The 14^th time Wolves had been undone by a set-piece this season

I think there are several reasons why these re-start numbers are remarkable.

First and foremost there is the attention to detail that goes on in training. Not much extra physical output. You can walk through the moves. It is repetitive, some players find it boring, but they know it is rewarding.

There is a also lot of tolerance from Premier League referees on blocking, grabbing and grappling. It is hard to see who is the initiator most times so it tends to be called equal. Very different in Europe.

A couple of other theories. For a generation now defenders have been picked for their skills with the ball. The old ‘head it, kick it’ centre-backs who would deal much better with this kind of problem are few and far between.

Goalkeepers, similarly, have risen to the top because they can play out from the back. Barging through the crowd to catch or punch a corner looks something of a dying art.

One other somewhat curious thought. At this time of year most football is played under floodlights – even the 3pm kick-offs. Have a look at how the lights impact the goalmouths at your club. When the ball is hung up are they in the sight lines in these vital situations? Squinting is not a good look when you are readying for heading. And there are banks of lights all around the Emirates!