Arsenal set-piece: ‘The new Stoke City’? Best set-piece and corner statistics and reactions
The consensus seems to be yes – but with difficulty.
There are many aspects to Arsenal’s set-pieces that make it extremely difficult for opponents to defend them. The first is excellent delivery.
“Delivery is important, movement, stopping the goalkeeper. The ball is played over the top of the first player (at the near post) and it is perfection,” former Arsenal defender Martin Keown said of Jurien Timber’s opener on Match of the Day. Declan said, analyzing Rice’s delivery. ,
Speaking on Football Daily, Izzy Christiansen explained how many of Arsenal’s corners were delivered just past United goalkeeper Andre Onana, who was surrounded by ‘blockers’.
And on Match of the Day, Amorim seemed to agree, saying: “They put too many players around the goalkeeper and it is almost impossible to fight for the ball.”
Speaking to Amazon after full-time, Rice said: “We have it (set-pieces) all the time, we never get bored. With repetition you score goals eventually.
“When you go up for a corner it’s a chance to score a goal, not a chance to sit back and relax.”
Diversity is also important. Arsenal kept United guessing, their first goal coming from a front-post delivery and their second via a corner sent to the back post.
Match of the Day pundit Micah Richards said, “Sometimes they front-load the front post but then move to the back post, and sometimes they have Gabriel in between. The key for Arsenal is to To be able to mix.”
Keown argued that United did not make it difficult for Arsenal to score from corners.
“(United) are in the zonal system, no one is picking and Arsenal have it very easy. They are just travellers, it’s just naivety,” he said.
Opponents have used the man-to-man marking system, but even this has not led to much joy. Some fans are complaining on social media that Arsenal’s use of blocks and subtle pushes is going unpunished.
“As coaches, when we draw up these strategies, you know what the opposition are going to do,” former Everton manager Martínez told Amazon.
“The peculiarity of Arsenal’s work is that they always find a little trick that makes it impossible to defend if the delivery is right.”
