Image credit: Getty Images
Jamie O’Hara has launched a scathing attack on Arsenal’s growing reputation for mastering set-pieces, claiming their tactical approach has “killed the Premier League” and inspired other teams to copy what he described as “boring” football.
Arsenal currently sit three points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, strengthening their title credentials under Mikel Arteta. The Gunners have lost only once this season, a narrow 1-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, where Dominik Szoboszlai scored a dramatic late free-kick.
Fresh from a gritty 1-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage, Arsenal will host Crystal Palace next, hoping to extend their impressive run and maintain their position at the summit.
Much of Arsenal’s success this season has been built on their defensive discipline and well-drilled structure. The partnership between Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba has drawn widespread praise, while Arteta’s emphasis on fine margins and tactical detail has turned set-pieces into one of the team’s most lethal weapons.
READ MORE: Huge injury update on Gabriel Jesus ahead of Atletico clash
That effectiveness has become so symbolic of Arsenal’s evolution that a mural of set-piece coach Nicolas Jover was famously painted outside the Emirates Stadium last year. This season, ten of Arsenal’s fifteen Premier League goals have come from set-piece situations, an astonishing figure that has split opinion among pundits and fans.
Arsenal Mikel Arteta
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta (Image credit: Getty Images)
Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara, however, is far from impressed. Speaking on Sky Sports News, O’Hara blasted what he perceives as the decline of entertaining, fluid football due to the growing emphasis on dead-ball tactics.
“I can’t stand it, I hate it. It’s killing the game, especially the Premier League, the product,” O’Hara fumed. “It’s like watching non-league at the moment, some of the football I’m watching.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE NOW ARSENAL WHATSAPP GROUP CHAT NOW!
“Spurs at the weekend: territory football, head it out, [Kevin] Danso comes up, gets the towel out and starts throwing… it’s so one-dimensional. Jamie Carragher is right, I get it, some of the lesser teams like Brentford, if you’ve got a long throw then it can cause problems and maybe create a chance.
“But the top teams doing throw-ins? I can’t believe what I’m watching. It’s all down to Arsenal. Arsenal started this. Arsenal started the long throw, the set-pieces. They’ve killed the Premier League in terms of fluid football and enjoyable football.”
When it was suggested that Arsenal still play attractive football, O’Hara disagreed. “No, they don’t, they don’t,” he insisted. “Arsenal are the best at it, set-pieces and throw-ins but now everyone is copying them, and they can’t do it as well.
“I’m seeing teams do long throw-ins and they haven’t even got a long throw! It’s not even reaching the six-yard box. But everyone is trying to do it, and it’s so one-dimensional.”
NEXT ARTICLE: Arsenal apologise to Atletico Madrid over hot water problem at the Emirates