Arsenal have earned a fearsome reputation when it comes to scoring goals from set-pieces.
When it comes to their corner kicks, Arsenal have been devastatingly efficient recently. Since the start of the last season, no Premier League side has scored more set-piece goals than the Gunners, excluding penalties.
Arsenal set-piece coach Nicolas Jover has been given plenty of credit for this success, and deservedly so. The Frenchman is trusted by Mikel Arteta to design the club’s set-piece routines, and is afforded plenty of time work with the players on the training pitch.
Jover is even given time to address the Arsenal squad at half-time during matches in order to tweak their set-piece tactics. However, there is far more behind Arsenal’s success in this aspect of the game than the coach’s brilliance.
Darren Bent reveals secret to Arsenal set-piece success
On top of Jover’s influence, Arteta has also built an Arsenal team stacked with aerial threats. Gabriel Magalhaes is perhaps the club’s major weapon in this regard, but the likes of William Saliba, Kai Havertz, and Mikel Merino, amongst others, have shown that they can cause problems in the opposition’s penalty area too.
However, as far as Darren Bent is concerned, none of these factors count for as much as the quality of the initial delivery into the box.
Declan Rice was hailed for his corner deliveries recently, and Bukayo Saka can also be relied upon to cross accurate balls into dangerous areas.
Speaking on talkSPORT, the former Tottenham Hotspur striker said: “If it was as easy as people are making out, everyone would be doing it. First and foremost, everyone’s got to know their role to a T.
“The delivery is the most important part, because if you haven’t got players in your squad who can deliver a ball like Declan Rice – he must practice it, he has to – he drops the ball under the crossbar so often, like, I’m going to sound quite funny here, it is like an old Stoke… Arsenal have clearly worked on that.”
Are Arsenal over-reliant upon set-pieces?
Whilst Arsenal caused problems for Fulham with their set-pieces on Sunday, and their only goal in that game came as William Saliba converted from a corner, Arteta’s side struggled to create chances from open play.
Set-piece goals are as valid as any other, but there may be a concern that opposition defences will eventually adapt to Arsenal’s strengths in this area of the game and figure Jover’s tactics out.
Whilst Arsenal will and must continue to work on their corners and free kicks behind the scenes, they need to rediscover their inventiveness in open play.
Arsenal fans want Arteta to play Rice deeper in midfield, creating space for another more natural playmaker alongside Martin Odegaard. That position may eventually be filled by Ethan Nwaneri.
In any case, it is clear that Arsenal’s attacking play, set-pieces aside, is lacking a spark at the moment.
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