Mikel Arteta has said Arsenal are looking to “improve every single area” following the appointment by the Premier League leaders of renowned throw-in coach Thomas Gronnemark.
The Dane, who spent five years at Liverpool under Jürgen Klopp and has also been employed by Brentford in the past, confirmed on Tuesday that he has started working with Arsenal’s squad. “It’s out,” Gronnemark posted on X alongside a picture of Arsenal’s training ground. “Yes, I coach Arsenal. Both in the Long, Fast and Clever throw-in. No more comments at the moment.”
Arsenal have scored more goals from set-pieces than any other team in Europe’s top-five leagues, with Ben White’s opener against Chelsea on Wednesday night in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final their 24th of the campaign. But while there has been marked increase in the frequency of Premier League goals coming from long throw-ins, with 18 already compared towith 20 in the whole of last season, Arsenal have still yet to score from one and Arteta revealed in December that Declan Rice has been working on developing the skill.
The Arsenal manager also refused to elaborate further on the decision to hire Gronnemark, only going as far as to say he believes he could make the difference as Arsenal attempt to be crowned champions for the first time since 2004. “We try to improve every single area,” said Arteta. “Every single margin that we possibly can to be a better team and anybody can help us. We have many experts, many people around trying to help us to become as good as we can.”
Statistics published by Opta this week also showed that the number of long throw-ins per match – defined as a throw that travels 20 metres or more – have risen from 1.52 last season to 3.97 so far. That is more than double the amount of any of the previous 10 campaigns, while Brentford’s Michael Kayode is the most prolific in the division having taken exactly 100.
Asked why there has been such a dramatic increase, Arteta said: “We cannot look at the game only in that sense – it is a consequence of what happens in other phases and the time that the teams are spending in certain areas. It has a consequence on some specific areas of the game. But there are a lot of things that happen before that in my opinion.”
Meanwhile, Arteta dismissed reports of a bust-up between Rice and his assistant, Albert Stuivenberg, at half-time of the 3-2 win at Stamford Bridge in midweek, insisting that any issues between them are now “all sorted”.
Arsenal’s lead could be cut to three points by Manchester City if they can overcome Manchester United in the lunchtime derby at Old Trafford, with their subsequent trip to Nottingham Forest – Arsenal’s third away fixture in a run of four in succession in different competitions – kicking off at tea time.
But Arteta is optimistic that his side can pick up where they left off against Chelsea. “I think we are building very good momentum and belief comes from performances and the level of consistency that we have shown throughout 32 games already this season and what we did at Stamford Bridge,” he said.
“It should help us to be very convinced that we have the ability to do that, but the reality is that you have to show it in every game and there’s still so much to happen, but we are glad that we are still alive in the four competitions.” – Guardian