Arsenal have struggled to find their top gear as the Emirates Stadium club bid to win just the second major trophy of Mikel Arteta’s five-year reign and have met criticism.
The north London team recently celebrated the five-year anniversary of appointing Arteta as Unai Emery’s replacement on December 22, 2019. But after a strong start to his time at their helm by winning the 2019/20 FA Cup final, silverware has kept slipping through their fingers.
Arsenal may be Premier League title contenders for the third season in succession this term, yet the Gunners trail leaders Liverpool by six points having also played a game extra. Arteta’s side have also scored five fewer goals than the Anfield club under their new coach Arne Slot.
Mikel Arteta admits Arsenal ‘have to’ rely on goals from set-pieces
Nine of Arsenal’s 35 goals have also come from set-pieces, a league-high tally in the Premier League so far this season. The Gunners have scored just 20 times from open play, with three netted from counter attacks, two from the penalty spot and an own goal boosting their haul.
Even pundits like Gary Neville have criticised Arsenal’s reliance on set-pieces with some also likening the Emirates Stadium outfit to the Stoke City teams that Tony Pulis managed. Ruben Amorim felt Bukayo Saka played for corners as Arsenal beat his Manchester United side, too.
But Arteta has hit back at the Gunners’ critics, with the Spaniard adamant that Arsenal ‘have to’ rely on goals from set-pieces given how opponents try to frustrate them in open play. He is clear that relying on set-piece coach Nicolas Jover’s ideas for corners can confuse rivals.
“No, it doesn’t matter,” Arteta told the Arsenal club website about the Gunners’ reliance on scoring set-piece goals. “Beautiful goals, what people call ugly goals, open play, set-pieces, transition moments, fast build-ups [and] restarts, it doesn’t matter.
“At this level, the team needs many resources to surprise the opponent, to make the opponent work in different ways, to draw attention to other places and use advantages somewhere else. That’s what we do every day. Well, we have to.
“Obviously, when you’re attacking a very low block and the spaces are minimal and you don’t have the ability to put so many players in the box unless you want to be punished on the counter, set-pieces are a great way to do it.
“They [the opponent] have to commit in a very disorganised way with a lot of players who aren’t defenders in the box. That’s an opportunity, and we take everything that we can.”
Mikel Arteta offers a concerning concession about Arsenal’s set-piece reliance
Arteta admitting that Arsenal ‘have to’ rely on Jover to create set-piece plans to find a route to score goals should be concerning for the Gunners’ supporters. It would be miraculous for the north Londoners to be Premier League title threats if they could only score at set-pieces.
Arsenal played five Premier League games during December, resulting in three wins and two draws with nine goals scored, largely thanks to thrashing London rivals Crystal Palace 5-1 at Selhurst Park. Of those nine goals, four were also directly from or immediately after corners.
Amorim rued the Gunners’ set-pieces after Jurrien Timber and William Saliba gifted Arsenal a 2-0 win over Manchester United with goals from corners. Saliba also scored from a corner in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at Fulham and Gabriel Jesus fired once from a corner at Crystal Palace.
Without those goals from set-pieces, Arsenal would trail rivals Liverpool by at least 10 points in the Premier League title race having also played one game extra. So, while Arteta believes the Gunners have to rely on set-pieces, he will be desperate to find a way to change it soon.
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