Blackburn Rovers’ Innovative Set-Piece Tactics Fuelling A Promotion Push Under John Eustace

Blackburn caught the attention of all set-piece enthusiasts in recent weeks with their unique and unusual corner kick routines.

With five goals in the league from set plays, they do not seem like an immediate set-piece threat, but their creativity in the design of their dead balls means that the club has to be investigated further in their set-piece tactics.

Currently in the playoff spots in the EFL Championship, Blackburn are looking for a return to the Premier League.

However, they could easily fall behind the chasing pack and be forced to remain in the division for another year.

This tactical analysis will delve into Blackburn’s tactics to remain creative and unpredictable during set plays.

We will also analyse the many different routines used from week to week and how there is a clear pattern of thinking between many of these routines, so it is not as random as it seems.

One constant in this set-piece analysis is their coordination and clarity in knowing which routine to use and when.

They also use screens to create space in targeted areas, creating an unopposed shooting situation, although it is clear that they must improve this aspect in the future.

We will examine what makes Blackburn so exciting to watch from set pieces and how they could become even stronger in the future.

Blackburn’s Unique Routines

To start with, Blackburn immediately stand out as a set-piece threat because of their clarity and intention during each corner kick.

The principle is always to arrive in space, attempting to give the attacker an unopposed attempt on goal.

However, Blackburn go about a different way of making sure this is achieved.

They plant at least one attacker in the target zone, sometimes more, and the players inside the target zone are tasked with making decoy runs away from the zone to drag their markers with them.

From a secondary position, a different attacker then arrives in the target area, where the aim is for that area to be left unmarked after the defender follows the initial run of the first attacker.

In the clip below, we can see this come into action, with the players at the front and back post swapping positions, so both have open spaces to attack as defenders attempt to track their man:

Something else important to note with the clip above is the effectiveness of a run being made away from the ball.

The player highlighted in the clip above knows the back half of the penalty box will be free.

By arriving there a few seconds before the ball does, he gives himself the right amount of time to react to where the ball is about to land and adjust his feet and angle of approach to attack the ball optimally.

When he looks at the ball, the defender is still focused on the run instead of where the ball is, meaning that when the ball arrives, he is not in the right position to attack it.

This is something only possible through these types of runs, where the attacker moves away from the ball so that the defender must choose between tracking the run or the flight of the ball.

Through the counter movements made between the players at the front and back posts, two valuable areas open up, allowing two potentially free attackers to arrive and attack the ball unopposed.

This also gives the corner taker more room for error.

It seems like the aim is to arrive at the near side of the six-yard box for a flick-on, as seen in the image below, but if the ball is overhit, the player highlighted in the first clip is able to win the first contact, by adjusting his movement.

Had the ball arrived in the near side for a flick-on, the player arriving at the back post would have the possibility of attacking the ball at the back post for a tap-in.

Blackburn have used many different routines, and here is one that highlights the vulnerabilities of a man-marking defensive approach.

The defensive side is split into two groups of three, and its structure is separated.

This means that the defenders cannot cover for each other as quickly if someone loses track of a runner.

This leaves two isolated 3v3 situations in which the defenders have to cover the entire box as a unit of three, with only two zonal defenders.

Blackburn attempt to immobilise the zonal defender through the use of a screen by the player highlighted in red in the clip below.

However, it fails due to a combination of poor timing, good tracking by the defender, and poor technique by the screener.

Had the screener used a wider stance, it would have been harder to move him out of the way, and he could have been able to stop the zonal defender.

Nevertheless, the routine does work due to how separated the defenders are.

At the back post, there is a 1v1 situation in a big space, and it shows how difficult it is to cover so much space when 1v1.

The attacker is able to stay in the blindside and make the attacking move towards the ball, where the defender can’t react in time to track the run.

Watching Blackburn’s recent 100+ corners, it is clear that they love to change the angle of delivery and then cross the ball in from the areas shown below.

The cross is headed goalwards, and the header only needs a delicate touch to redirect the ball into the goal.

Crossing the ball following a short corner makes it easier for attackers to lose track of their marker, and the goalkeeper has to move position to protect the goal in case of a shot.

As the goalkeeper moves to cover the near post, it becomes harder for him to claim crosses headed towards the back post.

He also has to move position while the ball is crossed, so there is a chance he won’t be set when the header on goal is made.

The clip below shows the routine in motion, but a poor delivery and wrong timing again mean that the corner is not executed properly.

An inswinging delivery against a deep defensive unit would also make it easier for one of the attackers to win the first contact.

This next routine is one which caught the eye of many people in recent weeks.

As mentioned before, Blackburn position players to start in a target area before vacating the area to drag players away from it.

As a result, players are moving away from the target area and cannot see behind them that someone else arrives to enter the space.

In this case, they use this principle to make space for the short corner to be taken for the benefits addressed above.

In this corner, they also use the benefits of the first corners analysed, where players attack the box while moving away from the ball, making it harder for defenders to track the runs properly.

In this particular scenario, Blackburn makes sure to use an overload in the attacking unit.

As all seven attackers attack the box, the one player who a defender does not track must recognise this and return to receive the short pass.

This is really intelligent, as the opposition team cannot predict who will deliver the ball.

Blackburn are fluid in the sense that they don’t care who crosses; they just care that a free player can receive the ball in that position.

This could be a negative if the defending side recognises their intention and leaves the poorest crosser of the ball free to receive the ball, but in most cases, this would result in leaving a central defender unmarked, and Blackburn could react to this by crossing the ball directly to that free central defender.

In most cases, the least threatening aerial player will be left unmarked.

This player will usually be an attacking or technical player with the ability to deliver the ball dangerously into the penalty area.

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