Arsenal may be set to win their first Premier League title in 22 years, and if they are crowned champions they will be the victors of one of the strangest Premier League seasons in recent times.
Indeed, almost more than ever before, the Premier League has been decided by set-pieces and physicality this season, and Arsenal have been at the heart of that.
Arsenal’s set-pieces have been analysed to death, and speaking to The Athletic, Keith Andrews has been discussing this recent trend and how Arsenal may have kickstarted things.
Andrews is something of a set-piece master himself at Bournemouth, but he was worried by what he saw from Arsenal last season, and that concern has indeed come to pass.
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Keith Andrews says Arsenal’s long-throws vs Real Madrid worried him
Keith Andrews has revealed that Arsenal’s use of long throws in last season’s Champions League was an early warning sign of a tactical shift that has now spread across English football.
His concern at the time was not just about Arsenal, but about what would follow.
“It was at Arsenal’s quarter-final (vs Real Madrid) and semi-final (vs PSG) last year in the Champions League. There was long throws down in the box, and I remember speaking to a couple of people that were there going, it’s not good for us that, because normally what happens when the big boys do things, it trickles down in the football pyramid.”
That prediction has proven accurate.
Arsenal, as one of Europe’s top sides, set trends whether intentionally or not. When they re-introduced long throws as a serious attacking weapon, it was only a matter of time before others followed. What was once a niche tactic lost to time has now, again, become a regular feature across the Premier League.
“And that’s exactly what happens. So for me then, what happens is, teams go from preparing that on a weekly basis or fortnightly basis, depending on what team uses it, as opposed to two or three teams in the league using a long throw.”
“The only way you get better at something is by practicing it. I knew that would be a challenge. It certainly has been.”
Of course, there’s plenty to be said about this becoming the prevailing style for Premier League clubs in recent times and Arsenal’s part to play in that, but, as the old saying goes, sometimes it is just a case of if you can’t beat them, join them.
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