Set piece success a reward for Arsenal’s hard work in training?

It is safe to say that, in recent years, Arsenal have not exactly forged ourselves a great reputation as being set-piece specialists. Under Arsene Wenger the Gunners have had plenty of praise for all sorts of different aspects of the game, but defending corners and free kicks has not been one of them.

With Olivier Giroud in the side we have been able to make more use of crosses, whether from open play, corners or free kicks, but it has still not been a very strong part of our make up. That is why I think it was noticeable against West Brom that we seem to be doing a lot better at the minute.

Our goals against the Baggies came from the follow up to a free kick and a penalty conceded when Aaron Ramsey got in after a corner. Not only did Arsenal do better at making the most of our own set-piece situations, we stood up better to theirs.

Only last season West Brom inflicted a painful defeat on us at the Hawthorns with two goals headed straight in from corners and the other after a mix up and scramble from a cross, so maybe the lads have been working hard on this facet of their football, with our old central defensive stalwart Steve Bould the perfect man to drill them on the training ground.

The only goal conceded by us from a set piece this season was scored by Jamie Vardy from a corner on the opening day, but that game also saw Giroud score the winning goal with his head froma corner so we are having the best of it right now.

Is that reward for some good work in training and can we keep it up?

Bob.

8 Comments

  1. I’m still concerned about our defense in general. The left flank looks SOLID with Sead and Monreal there. Bellerin isnt the best at defending but attack is ok and our CBs can be suspect. Will Wenger a CB?? COYG

    1. There is a rumour that Manolas is about to sign a new contract with Roma which will include a £26m buy out clause. GET HIM!

  2. In Bate Borisov’s last league game
    they played in front of 4,102 spectators.
    The stadium capacity is 13,000
    and cost 40 million to construct.
    Compare this to the Emirates which holds
    60,000 and cost 400 million to construct.
    Bate started 9 Ukranian’s, one Russian and one Serbian.
    In Arsenals last league game starting were
    1 Czech 1 Bosnian 1 Egyptian 1 Chilean
    1 German 1 Welsh 1 Swiss 2 French 2 Spanish.
    The number of English starters numbered zero.
    The only English player to “feature” in the game
    entered the arena in the 93rd minute and played 31 seconds.
    The owner is an American, the Manager is French.
    The CEO is Greek South African, 90% of the top players are non – English
    while 90% of the supporters live in Asia and Africa.
    The English players are mostly token quota players who
    usually get wheeled out in the “B” and “C” tier games
    like Bate, Sutton and Doncaster.
    The fake English “core” all failed.
    So is Arsenal still an “English” football club?
    Does it matter?
    Does any one care?

  3. Don’t really get the bases 4 this article considering the fact that u can be great in defending setpiece and still be scored on counter plays Steve bould and wenger really need to work on this team there is TALENT in them they only need organisation #coyg

  4. One of my favorite sayings is about American Football, but can be equally applied here. “Offense wins you games, but Defense wins you championships”. Look at teams like Arsenal, and Liverpool. We can score goals in abundance, but concede even more. You can’t rely on outscoring your opponent every single game. That’s why you have to build from the back. You gotta work on simple things like defending set pieces. You have to eliminate stupid mistakes, especially in or around the penalty box. You have to work on short passes. You have to have understanding between the goalkeeper and the back 4. When you have all those things ironed out, everything else will fall into place. It’s like a big puzzle. I don’t suggest we start playing like West Brom, but at the same time we have to address several issues with our defending, and enforce our midfield. We have to inflict fear into our opponents. We have to show everyone that not only we can play “attractive football”, but we can also defend, and are very hard to break down.

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