Mark Clattenburg spotted exactly how Arsenal were trying to find a way around a newly implemented Premier League rule.
The iconic former referee watched Arsenal’s opening day win over Manchester United and came to one conclusion about the Gunners.
Clattenburg knew how Arsenal worked during his refereeing days, overseeing many of the North Londoners’ games.
At Old Trafford, the Englishman noticed that Mikel Arteta’s side had devised a plan to take advantage of the Premier League’s crackdown on time-wasting.
Mark Clattenburg saw Arsenal try to outsmart new rule ‘numerous’ times
For the 2025/26 season, goalkeepers were instructed to adhere to a new rule to prevent holding the game and delaying the restart.
The rule is something David Raya would’ve been wary of, being a notorious tester of the ref’s patience when it comes to taking his time to release the ball.
Goalkeepers now have eight seconds to release the ball before a corner is awarded to the opposition, a penalty that Raya was punished with and booked for against Man United.
During the opening day contest, however, it wasn’t only Raya who was impacted by the rule change.
Speaking on the Whistleblowers podcast, Clattenburg noticed a tactic Arsenal deployed to put pressure on Altay Bayindir with the time constraint in mind.
“So, one of the rules is that the goalkeeper can’t hold the ball for 8 seconds. What did Arsenal do?
“Try and stand in front of the goalkeeper, which is stupid anyway because the referees are told they won’t start the eight seconds if a player’s trying to block the kick.”
Clattenburg said Arsenal’s tactic was ‘stupid’ as the rules also state that the clock won’t begin if the opposition are surrounding the keeper.
That being said, the former ref did understand exactly why the Gunners chose to do it.
“Arsenal did it on numerous occasions because they wanted a corner. Why? because they’re great at set plays.”
Arsenal are Europe’s best at set-pieces
Clattenburg scolded Arsenal’s aimless tactic to take advantage of the new rule, but also said what nobody can deny.
Arsenal are so good at set-play; in fact, the Gunners are the best team in Europe from dead-ball situations.
Across Europe’s top-five leagues, no club has scored more set-piece league goals since the start of the 2023/24 season.
Thanks to Nicolas Jover, Arsenal lead the table by five goals, with Bayer Leverkusen in second.
It’s a useful strength to have, as seen at Old Trafford, as when all else fails, there’s a constant guarantee of threat.
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