After the Gunners’ 2-1 win over Chelsea on Sunday, the football world is again talking about Arsenal corner routines and the so-called ‘dark arts’ used by Mikel Arteta’s side.
These conversations have been a staple of the 2025-26 Premier League season, but it’s starting to feel like we have finally reached a tipping point for what fans, commentators, and even other clubs are willing to accept.
Manchester City legend Yaya Toure said he was “disappointed” by Arsenal’s performance in the London Derby match, while former AC Milan and Chelsea star Ruud Gullit described the Gunners’ tactics as “truly awful to watch” on Dutch television.
On Tuesday, Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler added his name to the long list of football fans unhappy with Arsenal’s corner routines this season.
Speaking ahead of the Seagulls’ upcoming match with the Gunners, the 33-year-old decried how much time Mikel Arteta’s team take to set up its players.
“It disturbs the rhythm of the game and there are no clear rules any more, how much time you can spend for a corner, how much time you can spend for a throw-in,” Hurzeler said.
“Some of the blockings or the way teams are blocking, there is no clear rule. Sometimes the referee whistles and it’s a foul, sometimes he doesn’t whistle.”
The German then went a step further and suggested that the Premier League should change its rules to stop Arsenal’s tactics.
“I think that’s why we have this topic at the moment, but for me the main topic is to make a clear rule for how much time you can waste for a corner, for a throw-in, for a free-kick. No-one recognises it, but when Arsenal have a corner and they are leading, sometimes they spend over a minute just to take a corner.
“Therefore we just have to make clear rules, because then in the end we have a natural game time of 50 minutes instead of sometimes 65 minutes. The game is changing so much if you don’t have natural game time for all the games. We analyse it and the difference is just massive.” Hurzeler continued.
“I am of the opinion that every supporter who pays a lot of money to watch our games should see the same natural game time. They want to see a football event, they don’t want to see maybe 50 minutes a game and for 40 minutes it’s not running.”
When you watch Arteta’s team this season, it’s not hard to agree with Hurzeler on this. Arsenal corner routines may be successful, but they are not what Premier League fans pay money to see.
More importantly, even if you love set pieces, you have to admit they take too much time. Footballing regulators have taken a massive stand against time-wasting over the last two seasons. IFAB just announced new rules that will punish time-wasting on long throws and cut down the time for goal-kicks from eight seconds to just five.
Neither IFAB or the PL have addressed time-wasting on corners. But, if Arsenal keep up their ‘dark arts’ and lengthy corner routines, it will only be a matter of time before regulators step in to stop it.
Cody Aceveda
Cody Aceveda is a freelance writer based in Porto, Portugal. He has written for The Trivela Effect since February 2023. Cody is a fan of the Brighton, Portland Timbers, Portland Thorns, and Rayo Vallecano. He is also an experienced iGaming writer with over two years experience writing about sports betting and the sports betting industry for a variety of outlets.