Mikel Arteta is proud of his side's prowess from set pieces
Mikel Arteta is proud of his side’s success at set pieces
Mikel Arteta has said comparisons with Stoke City are a “compliment” to his Arsenal players as he declared his intention to make his team the “kings” of every part of the game.
Arsenal’s excellence at attacking set pieces continued in their midweek victory over Manchester United, when they scored twice from corners.
Dimitar Berbatov, the former United and Tottenham Hotspur forward, said that “Arsenal are the new Stoke City”, in reference to the Stoke side managed by Tony Pulis from 2006 to 2013.
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville, meanwhile, described Arsenal set-piece coach Nicolas Jover as “the most annoying bloke” in football, and an image of Arteta mocked up as Tony Pulis went viral on social media.
Arteta is the new Tony Pulis 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/HRoWC8EbgJ
— Nuri(fan) (@LenyYoroEra_) December 4, 2024
Asked about being labelled the “corner kings”, Arteta said: “We want to be the kings of everything. On set pieces, the best in the world. High press, the best in the world. Attacking open spaces, the best in the world. Best atmosphere in the stadium. The best at everything.
“Before it was [criticism] that we didn’t score enough, we were soft defending, we didn’t have mentality, we weren’t physical enough, we could not challenge the top teams, 22 years without winning away from home in big matches.
“We want to be the best at everything. We want to have the best academy, the best individual development of players, recruit the best players and the best coaches. That is the aim. That is the objective. If not, we have to go and do something else.
“I understood very well that Berbatov said. It was said in the best possible way. We take it as a big compliment.”
Since the start of last season, Arsenal have scored 22 goals from corners — the most of any team in Europe’s big five leagues. Their tally of 22 goals from corners is seven more than the next highest in the Premier League, Manchester City.
Arsenal just LOVE scoring from set-pieces!
Jurrien Timber glances his header into the net to hand the Gunners a lead over Man Utd! #PLonPrime #ARSMUN pic.twitter.com/x3Nv5JTmeQ
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 4, 2024
Arsenal, who face Fulham on Sunday, are in talks to extend the contract of Jover and the other members of Arteta’s coaching staff.
Arteta was instrumental in Jover’s appointment as a set-piece coach during his time as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at City, and then recruited him to Arsenal. The Arsenal manager said he first understood the importance of set pieces during his spell as an Everton player, before he then regularly suffered at set-piece situations as an Arsenal player.
“I understood at Everton how important they were and how difficult it was for the opposition,” Arteta said. “When I came here [Arsenal] as well we had a period in some big matches where we suffered and were out. I went to City and immediately realised we had to do something about it.”