Mikel Arteta has stamped his unique imprint on Arsenal in so many ways since becoming manager in 2019, and his unusual methods have led to improvement.
Arteta took over an Arsenal side languishing in mid-table, with the club struggling on and off the pitch, and has since helped transform them into title challengers.
Arsenal’s style of play under Arteta has taken an interesting evolution. Whilst Arsenal do play on the front foot and employ a high line, they are not afraid to throw men behind the ball and grind out a tough win.
Arteta’s side scored more than any other Arsenal team in Premier League history last season, but they do not attack with the same freedom as Arsene Wenger’s sides in the past, instead using a more structured approach and even leaning on set-pieces.
Gabriel Magalhaes nodded in the winner in the North London derby as Arsenal put Tottenham Hotspur to the sword with yet another set-piece goal, and the approaches of the two clubs when it comes to set-pieces could not be more different.
Mikel Arteta has put extra emphasis on set-pieces at Arsenal training ground
Arteta has emphasised the importance of attacking and defending set-pieces, and former Arsenal staff member Kevin Balvers has told The Athletic just how much he values them.
“At the training ground, all the walls were white but Mikel wanted them to create a culture. I designed with him some words and pictures to go up on the walls,” he explained.
“One of them was ‘BASICS’ — B for Boxes, A for Attack, S for Shape, I for Intensity, C for Compete and S for Set pieces. It made it clear what we expected from them, and because he speaks that language every day, the players then speak it.”
Arteta clearly values set-pieces as a non-negotiable basic for his side, and this has shown in their record as set-piece coach Nicolas Jover has been praised.
Last season, Arsenal topped the league when it came to scoring from set-pieces, and only Man City had a better defensive record.
It is the opposite across London at Tottenham.
Ange Postecoglou has ignored importance of set-pieces at Tottenham
In each of Arsenal’s last two victories away at Tottenham, set-pieces were the difference, as Gabriel proved decisive in both boxes, whilst Kai Havertz also netted from a corner.
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou gave a surprising response when asked about his side’s set-piece routines last season, claiming that he does not see them as overly important.
“I think I’ve answered this question [about set pieces] and I don’t think it satisfies people, but no I don’t see it as an issue,” Postecoglou claimed in May.
“It’s something that we work on along with everything in our game. There are far more important things that we need to concentrate on at the moment in terms of the team we’re building.”
Spurs conceded the sixth-most goals from set-pieces last season, and only ranked 11th in scoring from them.
This difference in approach shows why Arteta is having a much better swing of things in the Premier League than Postecoglou.
Set-piece defending proves crucial over the course of a season, and excelling in attacking situations can give extra marginal gains in the title race.
Ignoring them creates an extra vulnerability, and Arteta’s team exposed Spurs well in this regard, but the lack of attention to detail at Tottenham has shown why they are currently a vastly inferior team to Arsenal.
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