Pep Guardiola looks back at the mark Stoke City left on the top flight and particularly their old friend Arsene Wenger
15:22, 29 Oct 2025
Pep Guardiola has recalled Stoke CIty's set-piece strength before he arrived in the Premier League.
View Image
Pep Guardiola has recalled Stoke CIty's set-piece strength before he arrived in the Premier League.(Image: Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images)
Pep Guardiola namechecked Stoke City to remind national journalists that set-pieces and long throws are not a new invention.
Guardiola might have dabbled in picking four centre-halves across his defence in the style of Tony Pulis but he probably isn’t going to pull on a baseball cap and buy into the Premier League’s current dead ball trend quite as much as Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.
But he isn’t snobbish about corners, free-kicks or throws either – and knows the importance of making sure his side is as prepared as possible to deal with the kind of threat that was once the preserve of Pulis’s Stoke.
He said: “It’s true that people use every throw-in like a corner and put 10 players there in the box. We suffered when we played at Brentford, or look at Brentford against Liverpool which we saw in our hotel, every action (Michael) Kayode put in the box. And Kayode was man of the match.
“Today set pieces are a threat. I remember a long time ago with Sean Dyche in Burnley. Burnley were an incredible threat in the long balls, second balls. Dyche is one of the best by far doing these kinds of aspects.
“It’s not new, he did it before. Or Sam Allardyce. Or I remember when I was not here, Stoke City. Do you remember Stoke City when they made the throws? Now it’s just more and more teams doing that but back then maybe Stoke was the exception.
“I remember when I was at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Arsene Wenger talked about going to play at Stoke City but now it happens a lot of times.
“Maybe it didn’t happen (much) when I arrived, maybe (just) at Burnley, but now it’s a fact. And you have to pay attention. But still I dream to play.”
Arsenal have scored nine league goals from set-pieces already this season – plus five from open play and two penalties. Chelsea are not far behind with eight (plus eight from open play and one penalty).
Man City, however, are at the other end of the spectrum. They are yet to score from a set-piece although they have managed 12 from open play, three more on the counter-attack and two own goals.
Stoke have scored twice from set plays in the Championship this term, plus seven in open play, three on the counter and one own goal. Coventry (11 set piece, 18 open play) lead the way ahead of Gary Rowett’s Oxford (eight set piece, two open play).
Guardiola said: “Every manager does what they believe. I want to score from free kicks and corners – I’m not naïve to that. I want it. But I spend my time on what we have to do to play better, attack better and create chances. To score goals.
“Of course I pay attention but I know I’m not the manager to try to… it’s what I’ve done all my career. I remember at Burnley when it was tough, we conceded only one corner or maybe not even one. Why? Because we controlled the second balls. The best kind of way to defend these games is in that way.
“But for that, you have to be good in a lot of aspects and we are working on it. I will, until the end, continue to work mainly on our game. And sometimes adapt, when we have to do it.
“We did it at Brentford incredibly well. (Set piece coach) James (French) made an incredible job seducing our players into how we should defend these kinds of actions. It was unbelievable, the same at Arsenal. We conceded a lot of corners against Arsenal because we didn’t control the game.”
What do you think? Click HERE to join the debate
Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Content Image
£49
£35
Sky
Get Sky Sports here
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games this season, an increase of up to 100 more.
While you're here, we have launched a new WhatsApp group to deliver the latest Stoke news directly to your phone. Click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in. If for some reason you decide you no longer want to be in our community, you can leave at any time by clicking on the name at the top of your screen and clicking 'Exit Group', simple as that.
Every day, the StokeonTrentLive football desk strive to deliver news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Stoke City content.
Our dedicated reporter Pete Smith - who you can follow on X by clicking here - follows Stoke home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between.
With so much going on, we send out a daily free Stoke City newsletter which you can sign up for - and means you'll have a round-up of the key stories land in your email inbox. Sign up to the Potters newsletter here .
Article continues below
If you prefer reading our Stoke stories on your phone, consider downloading the Stoke-on-TrentLive app, in which you can personalise the content you see by selecting Stoke City as one of your designated topics. You can get it from Apple here and for Android here .