West Ham’s corner conundrum deepens as set-piece analysis reveals vulnerabilities
Blockers, near-post overloads and far-post targeting are central to opponents’ success against a struggling West Ham defense, BBC Sport finds.
West Ham United sit 19th in the Premier League after a difficult start that has intensified scrutiny of head coach Graham Potter and the club’s defensive structures. Five league games in, they have already conceded seven goals from corners, a figure that highlights flaws in set-piece planning and execution at a club that has prided itself on defensive organization in recent seasons.
BBC Sport’s analysis compares West Ham’s vulnerabilities to the tactics visiting teams have employed, focusing on the use of a 'blocker' to restrict the goalkeeper’s movement. In Chelsea’s 5-1 win in August, Liam Delap stood by West Ham goalkeeper Mads Hermansen, effectively guarding the keeper and limiting his ability to come off his line. The blocker tactic — which resembles a basketball screen — aims to free space for a teammate to attack the ball. The approach is not new; last season’s use of a blocker was common in the Premier League, and referees have appeared less strict on contact with the keeper, making the tactic more effective for attackers.
Delap backed toward Hermansen, preventing the keeper from coming out to claim the ball. With 11 players in the six-yard box, there was little room for the keeper to move. Marc Cucurella darted to the near post, getting his body in front of his marker, and many attackers moved toward the goal, pushing their markers deeper. Cucurella’s flick-on found Joao Pedro in space to score in front of the deeply positioned West Ham defence.
In the months since, the same near-post emphasis has appeared across other corners against West Ham. On 13 September, Tottenham Hotspur attacked the far post as West Ham funneled bodies toward the near post. Spurs sent two attackers to the far post while West Ham defended with a single player, leaving Pape Matar Sarr unmarked as a looping ball was delivered. Although Spurs did not block Hermansen in the same way as Chelsea, they used a blocking tactic of their own: West Ham players moved from the near post toward the ball while Spurs’ attackers remained behind them, effectively restricting West Ham defenders’ ability to reach Sarr. Sarr headed in and celebrated, pointing to set-piece coach Andreas Georgson as part of the sequence.
In West Ham’s most recent setback, Crystal Palace pulled together multiple elements of the pattern described above. Palace’ s Jean-Philippe Mateta copied Delap’s blocker role by standing on Areola to prevent him from leaving his line. Palace stacked the near post and used another blocker to shield Chris Guehi from West Ham defenders. Daichi Kamada delivered a looping cross to the far post, where Guehi and Maxence Lacroix kept West Ham’s defenders at bay and Mateta arrived unmarked to head home. The ball cannoned off the bar before Mateta finished, but the routine underscored how teams are layering blockers, crowding the six-yard box, and exploiting space at the far post.
Set-piece routines are growing increasingly intricate at the top end of the table. Teams combine blockers who guard the keeper, crowd the six-yard box, overload the far post, and use looping deliveries to exploit unmarked runners behind the defence. West Ham’s defenders have sometimes been left exposed by the layering of these tactics, with attackers able to pressure near-post defenders and then pivot to the space behind them. Andreas Georgson, West Ham’s set-piece coach, is part of the ongoing work to translate these routines into a defense that can stand up to the latest designs from opponents. Turning set-piece frailties into a relative strength would mark a notable improvement for a club that has long used set pieces as a scoring and defensive weapon.
The focus on set-pieces comes amid broader questions about West Ham’s form and structure this season. While the club has shown earlier signs of defensive resilience in other campaigns, the current run of results has sharpened scrutiny of Potter’s methods and the personnel available to execute on set-piece defense. BBC Sport’s analysis argues that the solution will require both refinements to the specific routines and a broader cultural emphasis on discipline and communication at corners and free-kicks.
Ultimately, the challenge for West Ham is to convert what opponents have shown into weaknesses into a more robust, adaptable approach. If Potter and his staff can align the back-line with improved monitoring of blockers, hold their shape more effectively, and capitalize on any counter-movement opportunities created by the attackers at set pieces, the club could begin to stem the tide of goals from corners. But the current evidence suggests that, for now, the corner area remains a decisive battleground at a time when every defensive reset matters in the tight progression of the season.