There were moments in Arsenal's set-piece-powered win over Manchester United that were spookily familiar to anyone who watched Stoke City under Tony Pulis as they fought to establish themselves in the Premier League.
Pulis's team made games tight and then, when they got the chance to fire in a corner, free-kick or long throw, they made opponents quiver. Everyone knew what was happening. The big men would pile forward, the deliveries would be practised, opponents would go weak at the knees and Stoke supporters would lap it up.
There would be an epic theatre-like crescendo, particularly as Rory Delap geared up to hurl in a missile, all adding to the atmosphere, making sure goalkeepers and defenders really knew they were up against it. It was football's Newton's Cradle, with momentum from the players and the fans crushing the poor chumps, particularly Arsenal, stuck in the middle.
So it's ironic that it's Arsenal, who had cried harder and louder than anyone else about the injustice of Stoke's strengths, who are now trying to milk these moments themselves. Mikel Arteta was put on the spot on Wednesday night, asked if Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka were deliberately walking slowly to take corners so that the stadium could react.
Arteta, tried to deflect in the style that Pulis would have done in a subtle tip of the cap, saying: "No the stadium reacted which is something that we didn't plan. They reacted because they had belief. The same way they react when he have the high press. They know what we can do, which is great. It creates that connection and that belief. It's easier for the players to deliver because that noise creates good things for us and difficult things for the opposition."
Are teams afraid to concede a corner against Arsenal now, just like they were terrified of giving a throw away against Delap? Arsenal, after all, have scored 22 times from corners since the start of 2023/24, which is seven more than the next highest in the division, Manchester City. They have scored 30 times from set pieces in all, excluding penalties, 25.2 per cent of their 119 goals.
"I don't know," said Arteta. Yeah, right. "We work on what we work. Attacking the box in various ways. The way we attack the box and we are very efficient. We will find ways to keep improving."
Do Arsenal go out of their way to win corners like a John Beck team?
"No," insisted Arteta. "We play with inverted wingers. They develop a lot inside so there's not a lot of space inside. When they leave there is a lot of space for the full-back or for the six, if not then for the nine, if not you can go outside. We need to look at every angle. What they do, where they can be weak and where we can exploit the weakness of the opposition."
Anyway, it prompted a comparison with Pulis's Stoke - still the standard bearers for set piece masters - from Amazon Prime pundit and former Man Utd striker Dimitar Berbatov.
Roberto Martinez added: "We all suffered Stoke. I think it is a great credit to remember Tony Pulis."
Stoke scored 81 goals from set pieces in the top flight between 2008 and 2013, which accounted for 43.1 per cent of their total.
The BBC quipped: "Arsenal aren't quite on Stoke's level yet. Perhaps a long-throw specialist in the Rory Delap ilk is needed?"
The Independent wrote: "Arsenal have become so efficient from set-pieces because the club needed to “maximise” all areas of their preparation and performance in order to challenge Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City for the title, but the Spaniard does not want other elements of his team to be overlooked. Arsenal have not suddenly turned into Stoke City under Tony Pulis - at the least, Arteta does not want any comparisons."
There is even more irony that this all comes at a time when Stoke, now with their own Spanish head coach, are trying to regain their own reputation at set pieces.
Narcis Pelach said recently: "We work very hard at set plays, you know I'm a big fan of this, and with Huddersfield in 2021/22 we were the best team in the league, we scored a lot of goals from set plays, keeping it very simple but being very aggressive. We go in there, we are nasty, we put the ball in the six-yard box and we find a way to make contact."
So there you go: Stoke City trying to become Arsenal after Arsenal became Stoke City.
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