I prefer inswinging corners over outswinging ones because they create more chaos, thanks to the speed the corner taker can generate on the ball, which then transfers to the header, making it easier for the attackers and harder for the goalkeeper.

With an inswinging corner, the ball moves out to in, and an outswinging corner moves in to out. Inswinging corners are curled in towards the goal, and outswinging corners are curled away from the goal.

The first objective from a corner should be to make the goalkeeper’s life a living hell. To make the goalkeeper’s life hell, ideally, we would want to eliminate them from the equation. If we can’t foul the goalkeeper, we have to avoid them.

If the ball is curled in to out by an outswinger, the ball is moving away from goal; you will need to generate height because the ball will swing over or close to the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper will want to get involved, step out from their goal, and punch or claim the ball.

It is harder for a corner taker to be accurate in terms of distance and pace if they have to factor in height to give the attacker a chance while also avoiding giving the goalkeeper a chance. The margin for error is larger once you factor in height, because it is harder for the attacker to generate the pace on the header the higher it is looped into the air.

If the ball is curled out to in, towards goal, by an inswinger, and the corner taker puts enough pace on the cross, the goalkeeper becomes a passenger. There is not enough time for them to come out and attempt to punch or claim the cross.

With an inswinging corner towards the near post, the attacker heading the ball has the option to flick the ball on towards the far post with the back or side of their head or head it near post with the front of their head. Both options allow the attacker to head the ball at speed. If the cross is accurate and hit with enough power, all the attacker has to do is make contact and direct the ball towards goal. The pace of the cross is immediately transferred to the header, redirected into the goal.

With an outswinging corner towards the near post, you can’t normally generate as much power on the cross; therefore, the player heading the ball will have to generate the power. And to generate that power, they’ll normally only have the option of heading the ball on with the side or back of the head, not the front of their head usually. That makes it much more difficult to head it near post; therefore, the goalkeeper will always be expecting the header to be placed towards the far post.

With an inswinging corner, the ball is already moving towards the goal; therefore, the header is simply helping it on. If the ball is moving away from goal, as it does with an outswinging corner, it takes more effort and skill to direct the ball back towards goal.

Outswinging corners towards the center of the box are usually slower moving because of the height needed to get the ball up and away from the goalkeeper; therefore, the power at which the header can generate is lower.

Inswinging corners towards the center of the box give the goalkeeper a greater chance to punch or claim, but like on the near post, the header simply has to direct it anywhere on target. The pace the ball is redirected is normally too great for the goalkeeper to save, even if it is redirected directly at them.

Inswinging and outswinging corners to the far post are both disorienting for the defenders and goalkeeper. They are awkward. For the goalkeeper, outswinging corners to the far post are normally easier to punch or claim, while inswinging corners are normally easier to claim but harder to punch out of the box due to the pace and direction the ball is angling in on goal.

The only area in which I think this differs is for corners directed towards the top of the box. It is easier to volley the ball when the ball is curled towards you from an outswinger compared to a cross that is moving away from you from an inswinger. Inswingers have to drive the ball as straight as they can towards the attacker at the top of the box to give them a chance to head or volley it in on goal. If they don’t, then defenders will have time to come out and clear the ball.

Heading the ball down, like Virgil Van Dijk is my preferred method because it makes life harder for the goalkeeper.

My favorite type of corner is the one Arsenal perfected. 90.53% of their corners are taken by an inswinger, stat courtesy of Opta/FBref from Billy Carpenter, and most of their crosses are hit towards the near post, inside the six-yard box. It is the most reproducible type of corner kick because the goalkeeper can’t get involved; it is hard for the defenders to influence the header, easier for the attackers to block the defenders, and the attacker(s) attempting to head the ball simply have to redirect the ball anywhere in on goal. They can aim for the near post, the middle of the goal, the far post, anywhere. As long as it is directed towards the net, it will likely be a goal.

There are several hard parts, but the hardest part is finding someone with the cross accuracy and consistency of Declan Rice or Bukayo Saka to cross the ball into the same exact spot every time, and if the attacker redirects it towards the net, it is as close to a guaranteed goal as you can get.

It is like an alley-oop in basketball. Lob it up at pace and dunk it in.