Mikel Arteta spent two hours in the office of Los Angeles Rams head coach, Sean McVay. One year ago, the Rams had a crushing loss against the Miami Dolphins and McVay was feeling down. But lucky for him, Arteta and a few Arsenal executives were in town.
The two head coaches bonded over “player connections, ideas” and things Arteta had managed at Arsenal, according to the Rams president, Kevin Demoff.
Demoff toldBBC Sport that McVay’s amazing run that followed that defeat to the Dolphins was partly thanks to the chat with Arteta. He says McVay was “invigorated” as he led the team to six wins out of seven, claiming the NFC West divisional title.
It’snot gone badly for Arteta since, either. Although Arsenal lost out on the title last season to a Liverpool side that hardly put a foot wrong, they’re leading this time. Going into the November international break, Arsenal had already scored 12 goals from set pieces. 10 of these came from corners, free kicks, and throw ins, with only two from penalties.
Arsenal’s set pieces
For fans of other teams, watching attacking corners is a bit like watching a lottery, or a game of*Lucky 7*, where there are almost countless options available. But for Arsenal fans the options are pretty straightforward: Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard or Bukayo Saka will take an in-swinging corner, then the ball will arrive at a relatively free man with others taking markers away.
If it’s Saka crossing from the right, this is often Gabriel who outjumps a defender, or Leandro Trossard lurking unmarked. An analysis byThe Athletic showed that Arsenal spread their corner deliveries pretty evenly between near post, centre, and back post. But Arsenal fans know one thing: it’ll be a good delivery. Since Rice started taking some of the set pieces about halfway through the 2023-24 season, Arsenal have scored even more goals from dead balls.
Morten Gamst Pedersen, a former Premier League set piece specialist, has praised the Arsenal players’ deliveries and variety: sometimes balls are clipped in, sometimes they’re whipped with more pace. Gamst Pederson’s fellow Norwegian Odegaard has one of the best success rates in the league from right-sided corners when targeting central and near-post areas. Saka is in the top 10 as well.
Arsenal are reportedly monitoring the situation of Dusan Vlahovic, who would add even more height to the team. The Juventus striker is 6 ft 3, and would likely be another back post target if Arsenal could persuade him to leave Serie A. The striker has been rumoured with Mikel Arteta’s team since last January.
Not just corners
Long throws are very much back in vogue in the Premier League. Ever since the fading of Tony Pulis’s Stoke and Rory Delap’s mega deliveries, they’d seemed like a relic of the past. But an extraordinary amount of time is being spent on preparation for throws. In their game against Bournemouth in August, Tottenham spent 10 minutes 54 seconds taking throw-ins (perThe Athletic). Arsenal weren’t far off that figure against Newcastle in September, spending 9 minutes 28 seconds.
Rice is sometimes on throw-in duty too. In a game against Crystal Palace, he took 42 and 47 seconds over two throws.
The Athleticwriter Nick Miller wrote that while players aren’t technically breaking a rule with these long delays, it’s hardly ideal to have so much dead time. Gary Neville has suggested a time limit specifically for throw-ins. The topic was discussed at a recent meeting of IFAB, responsible for football’s laws.
Fans are generally not keen for more VAR intervention. If a team took too long over a throw and then scored, would VAR have to analyse the time spent?
There’s also a question of whether fans have a problem with the long delays. Brentford, Sunderland, and Spurs fans would probably argue against any time limit. There’s genuine excitement when they get an opportunity. Some teams are finding throw-ins are as dangerous as corners, although the potential success of corners is generally overhyped in English football – something Jose Mourinho noted many years ago.
Arsenal’s chances of the title
Arteta hasn’t won a trophy with Arsenal since his debut season when they triumphed in the FA Cup. But they’re currently considered favourites for the league title, having hardly conceded a goal so far. Their solid defence has been consistent across all competitions: they have kept clean sheets against Manchester United, Leeds, Nottingham Forest, West Ham, Fulham, Atletico Madrid, Palace, Burnley; Port Vale and Brighton in the League Cup; and Athletic Club, Olympiacos, and Slavia Prague in the Champions League.
If they keep this up, McVay may be on the phone to congratulate Arteta next May.