Another day passes by and another comment on Arsenal’s set-pieces is being made, this time by former Liverpool midfielder, Graeme Souness.
The Gunners have had this all season long and the criticism has reached a point now where it seems to go in one ear and out the other.
However, adding his own piece of fuel to the fire, Souness has suggested that what Nicolas Jover has got Arsenal doing is essentially foul play.
If you could only pick one of William Saliba and Gabriel to stay at Arsenal forever, who are YOU picking and why?
Graeme Souness accuses Arsenal of fouling goalkeepers
There have been some bizarre takes around Arsenal and their set-plays this season. Not least from Jon Obi Mikel, who went as far as to claim it is plain cheating.
Still, while not taking it that far, Graeme Souness believes that Nicolas Jover is essentially getting praised for teaching players to foul the goalkeeper.
“Arsenal get away with a hell of a lot by crowding goalkeepers and blocking goalkeepers. You block anyone on the pitch, anywhere else on the pitch – a centre-half half blocks a centre forward as he’s trying to make a run – and that’s a foul,” Souness wrote in the Daily Mail.
“I just think we’ve got daft referees. We’ve got poor referees who don’t really understand the game. They know all the rules from the first page to the last one, but nuances of the game they don’t get.”
“I love the term ‘free-kick guru’. Their guru (Jover) is all about fouling the goalkeeper. That’s as simple as, black and white. Now, of course, there’s people like Gabriel Saliba who are really brave and will put their heads where most people wouldn’t put their feet, and they attack these balls that Declan Rice whips in, and they’re great quality.
“To be successful at free kicks you need a really good kicker of the ball, Declan, you need people who will attack the ball, they’ve got that, and then you throw in the guy who’s fouling the goalkeeper. It’s not rocket science.”
What John Terry said that goes against Souness’ Arsenal comments
Thankfully, there are some former players and pundits out there who can see the logic behind what Arsenal are doing from set-plays.
One of those is former Chelsea skipper John Terry. Terry was adept at scoring from set-plays himself and he’s insisted that Arsenal should be praised for their approach.
“I just want to talk set plays and set piece coaches as we’ve been hearing a lot about in recent weeks. There’s been a lot of rubbish said about Arsenal and there being an asterisk next to them if they go on to win the title, which is absolutely ridiculous. They’ve been the best team by far, and also from set-pieces they’re the best by far,” Terry said on his TikTok account.
“So they’re very well drilled. The set-piece coach deserves a lot of credit, as does Mikel Arteta but the players have a big responsibility as well to do it on the pitch. The set-piece coach plays a role in identifying the gaps, so a front post space, or a back post space, but ultimately the players need to make a decision.
“You have to feel those big game moments as well. We got one of our best and most famous goals in Chelsea history when Didier (Drogba) scored from a Juan Mata corner in the Champions League final.”
Clearly, this narrative is going to run and run but when all is said and done, it will be Arsenal with the trophies in the bank and it won’t matter how they got them.
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