It is said that standard situations are becoming more and more important in football. But the fact that they also lead to success more often does not apply, at least in the Bundesliga.
Romano Schmid is Werder Bremen’s penalty taker. In September he missed the third penalty awarded, having converted the previous two. The Austrian midfielder was nevertheless assured that he would also be allowed to take the upcoming penalty.
On the following 23 match days, Bremen did not receive a penalty. Romano Schmid is still busy taking care of Werder’s standard situations. He has already taken 79 corner kicks this season. However, none of them resulted in a goal. Three corners – a penalty: Romano Schmid would probably benefit from this old football field rule.
Every 33rd corner kick results in a goal
Only David Raum took more corner kicks than Schmid. According to data from the service provider “Sportec Solutions”, RB Leipzig scored four goals from 128 corners from the national player. Every 32nd corner kick resulted in a goal.
What counts as a “corner goal”?
Definition:
The service provider “Sportec Solutions” counts a goal as a “corner goal” if the goal is scored after a corner kick without the ball leaving the penalty area.
Example: The goalkeeper defends the ball, a player crosses from outside the penalty area, and an attacker heads in. This is a “corner goal”.
Even if the ball flies or rolls out of the penalty area after a corner kick and the player with the next contact on the ball scores the goal, it is included in the statistics.
The same applies to goals from indirect free kicks.
This is very close to the average in the Bundesliga, in which a goal results from every 33rd corner kick.
Borussia Dortmund best from corner kicks
The two best teams in the league only need about half as many attempts. Borussia Dortmund scored ten goals from 154 corner kicks, SC Freiburg eight from 120.
Nine teams, i.e. half of the league, are below the average of four goals from corner kicks after 27 match days. With TSG Hoffenheim and Hamburger SV there are two who only celebrated once after a corner.
Why some players argue with the referee when they should put the ball two millimeters back into the quarter circle at the corner flag, and why the VAR will be switched on in the future to check the decision on a corner kick, seems bizarre based on this data.
| season | Goals | |
|---|---|---|
16/17 | 59 | |
17/18 | 83 | |
18/19 | 73 | |
19/20 | 83 | |
20/21 | 53 | |
21/22 | 71 | |
22/23 | 66 | |
23/24 | 81 | |
24/25 | 63 | |
25/26 | 72 | |
*each after 27 match days |
In addition to corner kicks, standard situations also include throw-ins, free kicks and penalties. On average, around three out of four penalties are converted, making it by far the most promising set piece.
Nagelsmann’s calculation doesn’t work in the Bundesliga
When it comes to free kicks, however, the situation in the Bundesliga is just as dreary as it is with corner kicks. On average, fewer than two of the goals they have scored so far have come from free kicks. A total of 35 free kicks resulted in a goal, of which the ball flew directly into the goal 13 times. There are also a total of eight goals from throw-ins.
“The number of standard goals is already extreme, and I fear – in quotation marks – that it will get even higher.”said national coach Julian Nagelsmann at a press conference between the two international matches in Switzerland and against Ghana.
“There are teams that score 50 percent of their goals from set pieces”he added, on average “A third of the goals come from set pieces”. Nagelsmann will find national teams and also club teams that support his theses.
However, the data for the current Bundesliga season contradicts him and, above all, the narrative that standards are becoming more and more important.
Arsenal feeds a narrative
This is probably largely responsible for this Arsenal FC be who the table of Premier League leads confidently and is also considered a possible winner of the Champions League. Every third goal in the league comes from the “Gunners” from a standard situation. In the extremely important 2-1 win at the beginning of March against Chelsea FC It was two corner kicks that brought three points. Of the 61 goals, 16, or more than a quarter, were scored from corners.
“They create chaos, and you cannot defend chaos”said Max Eberl, FC Bayern’s sporting director, after Munich lost to Arsenal in the Champions League and fell victim to their set-piece strength.
Blocking, pushing, hitting: Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber heads in from a corner against Chelsea.
Dortmund successful after separation from Standard trainer
Nicolas Jover, as the Gunners’ standard coach, is therefore credited with a large part of the success. An assistant coach specifically hired for set pieces has become fashionable. Borussia Dortmund hired one in the summer of 2024.
He hasn’t been there since last winter, and BVB had to put up with malicious comments when they won 4-0 against 1. FSV Mainz 05 and scored three goals from set pieces. Julian Ryerson had carried them out in each case. The Norwegian scored eight of the ten corners that resulted in a goal this Bundesliga season.
As you can see in the video highlights of the game, standard goals are often explained in a very banal way. Ryerson shoots a free kick into the dangerous area, which Mainz defends in man-marking, Serhou Guirassy jumps higher than Dominik Kohr and heads it in. Previously, the goalscorer had given the defender a little push.
A kind of wrestling match, no whistle
Before making it 4-0 with an own goal from a corner kick from Ryerson, Waldemar Anton had a kind of wrestling match with Danny da Costa. Even then, no video assistant came up with the idea of reporting a foul to the referee.
Mainz own goal after previously losing a wrestling match
The tough duels when blocking on a few square meters to free up space are striking and perhaps also contribute to the narrative that standard situations are becoming more and more important. Those who suffer most are the goalkeepers, who have never had the protection in the six-yard box that was granted to them as a rule. But subjectively speaking, the attacker’s action is now whistled off less frequently.
The fact that Arsenal’s former coach Arséne Wenger once branded the shoving as “rugby” that was bothering him in football is one of the punchlines of the current season, which has demonstrably shown an increase in goals from set pieces in the Premier League.
In the Bundesliga, however, the numbers show a downward trend. Only 24 percent of the goals were scored from set pieces. If the penalties are taken out, it is only 15 percent.
It’s that simple sometimes: Serhou Guirassy jumps higher than Kohr and heads in.
The following table of goals following corner kicks (each after 27 match days) shows that the development appears to be rather coincidental. The quality of attackers and those under attack seems to play a greater role than the use of standard coaches.
| season | Goals | |
|---|---|---|
16/17 | 59 | |
17/18 | 65 | |
18/19 | 44 | |
19/20 | 52 | |
20/21 | 51 | |
21/22 | 59 | |
22/23 | 53 | |
23/24 | 46 | |
24/25 | 37 | |
25/26 | 35 | |
*each after 27 match days |
The number of free kicks has fallen sharply
Given the notable decline in the number of goals from free kicks, it should be taken into account that the number of free kicks is also falling sharply. The defenders are better trained, referees let more pass – these are two possible explanations.
The number of penalties in the Bundesliga, on the other hand, is currently at a high for the past 30 years. An explanation here: “Contact” also becomes a foul for the referee via the VAR.
