Troy Deeney has boldly claimed that one key Arsenal star “wouldn’t get into Stoke City’s team” after Dimitar Berbatov’s “lazy” comparison.
Under Mikel Arteta, Arsenal have become one of the best teams in the world at attacking set-pieces and are often lethal from corners.
In midweek, Arsenal earned a 2-0 home win against Man Utd, with Jurrien Timber and William Saliba’s goal coming from corners. This result leaves them seven points adrift of table-toppers Liverpool.
Speaking post-match,former Man Utd forward Dimitar Berbatov likened Arsenal to Tony Pulis’ Stoke City team which caused havoc from set-pieces when they were in the Premier League.
He said: “As we joke, Arsenal is the new Stoke City, right? Depending on set-pieces, which can give you the win, as it was today.”
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Responding to this comment, Arteta said: “I understood very well what Dimitar Berbatov said, I was in the best possible way.
“We take it as a big compliment [because Stoke were so good at it].”
Former Premier League striker Deeney has taken this situation too seriously and has leapt to the defence of Pulis after he was “disrespected”.
Deeney has also suggested that Bukayo Saka “wouldn’t get into that Stoke team” because “it is a completely different style”.
“If anything, it is really disrespectful to Tony,” Deeney said in his column for The Sun.
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“He did a wonderful job with a bang-average Stoke team keeping them in the Premier League — and yet it was ONLY because of their set-pieces? And why is there a stigma attached to it? Maybe everyone should play wonderful football like at Southampton — then get hammered for being bottom?
“I was there on Wednesday. It was a sh*t game which Mikel Arteta and his side won from two corners. I played against Pulis’ Stoke and they were nothing like Arsenal of today. Bukayo Saka wouldn’t get into that Stoke team. Not because he isn’t good enough but because it is a completely different style.
“But God forbid a team gets in the box and wants to head a ball — compared to a United team that didn’t want to head anything.
“I loved Berbatov as a player, he is a real football man. But it feels a lazy comparison from a really smart guy just to protect his old club. If United won 2-0 from two corners, would Berbatov call it a tactical masterclass? Yet, when Arsenal do it, it’s Stoke? Arsenal dominated possession for most of that game, too. It’s called winning football.”