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Tony Pulis recently shared his thoughts on Arsenal finding success through corners after former Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov labeled the Gunners as 'the new Stoke City.' The Welsh manager served two stints at the Potters from 2002 to 2005 followed by another from 2006 to 2013, guiding the club to promotion to the Premier League in May 2008.
Following Arsenal's 2-0 victory over Manchester United on December 4 where both goals came from corners, Dimitar Berbatov compared the Gunners to Stoke City, referring to their dependency on set-pieces.
While speaking on Amazon Prime Video, the former Red Devils star said (via GOAL):
"As we joke, Arsenal is the new Stoke City, right? Depending on set-pieces, which can give you the win, as it was today."
During Tony Pulis' managerial tenure at Stoke City, the 66-year-old placed much importance on the set plays as 81 out of the 188 goals the Potters scored between 2008 and 2013 were from set pieces excluding penalties via Stoke Sentinel. Even though Pulis' approach was mocked by some back in the day, it has since been appreciated and adopted by several top managers, including Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal have scored 22 league goals from corners, overall netting 30 from set plays since the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign.
While speaking on BBC 5 Live about his views and implementation of scoring from corners during his managerial quests, Tony Pulis said (via Stoke Sentinel):
"They get it now. What I would say, and I want to make this clear, is that I think for corners - and we were very, very good at set plays at Stoke - but for corners, it was one season at West Brom when we scored the highest number of goals (from corners). All the teams I've been at, most have been good at set plays, which is such an important part of the game, as Arsenal are showing, and I think it's coming more into fashion now with people having set play coaches up and down the country. It's taken them a while to work it out but it looks as though the penny has dropped."
"I was aware of how important those different situations would be to a team that was just coming into the Premier League and having to survive in the Premier League. The quality of the balls in is absolutely fantastic. Then you've got to have people who want to attack the ball and want to score. Arsenal have got that in abundance," added Pulis.
Speaking further about the importance of set plays and how Arsenal are currently implementing them on the pitch, Pulis said:
"Everything is swung into the goal, which is very important. I like inswingers, I don't like outswingers. Arsenal are doing that. Then they're covering all the bases. They're getting people across the front of the goal, they're trying to take the space man in front out of the game by getting someone across him first, and they're attacking the spaces in between the zonal markers."
"If you watch them, everyone is on the move. They're jumping across standing players and you've got a great chance of winning the ball if you're running and jumping rather than standing and jumping," he added.
Tony Pulis started his managerial career with AFC Bournemouth, which was also the last club he played for before retiring as a player. The former defender has managed 10 clubs, including Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough, and was awarded the Premier League Manager of the Season in 2013–14.
Tony Pulis on how he would defend against the current Arsenal squad
While speaking on BBC 5, Tony Pulis was asked how he would set up his squad to defend against the current Gunners' team. To which the former West Bromwich Albion manager replied (via Stoke Sentinel):
"I think if you're breaking it down, the quality of corner kicks that Arsenal provide for people to attack is fantastic. The quality is good. But also, a lot of goals I've seen, they have scored against zonal marking. We always used to hope and pray that teams would zonal mark against us because you've got people standing and jumping."
"If you watch Arsenal, they all feed back to the back post and then they run - and a running jump v a standing jump, there's not many people who will beat you. Teams have got to look at it differently. I would go man for man and I'd have a space man if I could," added Pulis.
Mikel Arteta's squad are unbeaten in their four three Premier League fixtures. They are placed third on the league table with 28 points after 14 matches.
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Edited by Ankush Das