Debate is growing within football over whether lawmakers should revisit the rules surrounding corners.
While some argue that the level of pulling and shoving inside the penalty area warrants greater scrutiny, such behaviour has been part of the game for decades. What appears to trouble rival supporters more is the perception that Mikel Arteta has mastered a specific aspect of the sport.
As spectators, individuals are entitled to voice frustration if they find an emphasis on set pieces uninspiring. However, it is another matter entirely to call for amendments to laws that have existed since 1873 simply because one team is excelling in that department. Between approximately 1862 and 1873, various criteria were experimented with when the ball travelled behind the goal, yet the modern framework has long since been established. Altering it in response to current success would set a questionable precedent.
Cycles Of Tactical Dominance
Football evolves in cycles. There were periods when it seemed that David Beckham scored from every free kick, when Barcelona and Spain dominated possession to an extraordinary degree, and when Chelsea appeared almost impossible to breach defensively. In rugby, England’s World Cup triumph prompted criticism from rivals because Jonny Wilkinson consistently opted to kick at goal. Tactical approaches differ, but success is ultimately measured by results.
To demand regulatory change because a particular method is presently effective risks appearing short-sighted. Managers and coaching staff are tasked with maximising their team’s strengths on the training ground. That is, fundamentally, the essence of coaching.
Rewarding Preparation And Execution
Declan Rice and Saka undoubtedly possess outstanding quality, yet they are not unique in their ability to deliver a cross. If scoring from corners were straightforward, more teams would replicate it consistently. The suggestion that others refrain purely in pursuit of entertainment is unconvincing.
Rather than advocating for amendments to established laws, perhaps the more constructive response is to improve defensive organisation. Success from set pieces should be countered with better preparation, not by rewriting the rulebook.
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Nothing wrong with it ,just awful to watch from an entertainment perspective.
When you have players fist bumping like they have won a penalty when we are awarded a corner just shows where our mentality is at .
For me this as got to be one of the most boring seasons I can ever remember not just our football but overall ,I’ve slowly lost interest in football over the last 3-4 years and this hasn’t helped .
The Prem had its peak 20 year ago ,cannot see it coming back anytime soon .
The reason why the premier league is “boring” is because the gap between the top teams and bottom teams is getting smaller. When every team for the most part) is getting better, the competitiveness increases. When competitiveness increases, you see less entertainment football. This is not 20 years ago when a top team were guaranteed to beat a team that just got promoted from the 2nd division. Even without a lot of money, proper coaching closes the gap and makes the “bottom” teams more competitive. They’re not just going to roll over and concede 3 or 4 goals everytime just because man city, arsenal or any of the top teams are in town. So having a competitive league and playing champagne football at the same time is almost impossible. This is why other leagues like La Liga and bundesliga and so on are not very competitive, but more entertaining. Most of the teams in those leagues know they don’t stand a chance against bayern, psg, real madrid, ajax and so on. In the EPL, the worst team in the league (wolves) can beat last year’s champions (liverpool) like it happened yesterday. That doesn’t really happen in other football leagues. So if you want more entertainment, then start watching other leagues in Europe. (even other parts of the world).
It’s not because of the smaller gap that it’s become boring – that’s a real positive imo. Disagree about the foreign leagues (possibly excepting the German league) – I used to love the Italian and Spanish Leagues; still strong teams in Spain at least, but it doesn’t have the same magic it had when deportivo and Valencia were strong and had great matches with the big two. International football used to be much more exciting as well.
I don’t think it’s so much about corners though – that’s just a weird phenomenon from this season – rather it’s the systemization of the game that’s made it boring. It’s the guardiola effect, funnily enough – imo his influence has been so massive, it’s made loads of teams better but largely chased out the individual talent and creativity side to the game which often did make it more exciting.
Another thing on competitiveness of the league – back when arsenal and utd were going at it (wenger-ferguson era), you could lose 5 or 6 games and win the league – on paper it maybe didn’t look as competitive, but you could still lose against practically any team. It’s more recently that the points scores for the title winning sides has increased.
do you not believe mate football goes through cycles ?
Corner kick is part of the game and there is nothing wrong with any team capitalizing on corners.
But Arsenal should not rely on it too much.
I think instead of worrying about names that actually highlight areas of superiority over other teams, we should actually focus on adding to those names like sharpening our quick, decisive movements in attack; taking long range shots at goal and suffocating teams by shutting them down while in possession.
What’s ironic with all the talk about making stricter rules about the wwe style grappling going on during corners will hurt us is that the moment grabbing is penalised, we will score a lot more goals. We will still have the best delivery with Rice and Saka, our physically imposing team will outnumber and outsmart most teams. Gabriel is a terror on set-piece now imagine the opponent can’t hold him, its either he has a free run or we can a penalty.
*we get
Not complicated, simply follow the rules as posted in the rule book. If holding/grabbing/dragging/shoving with 2 hands is a foul, then call the foul, simple.
Too simple for our referees to follow some might say Durand and give them a break anyway – they have to interpret said rule book in order to corrupt it.
Ken1945,
We have previously discussed this issue with the refs; rather than follow the rule book, too many refs think it requires “interpretation,” and rules based on their opinion.
Remember the time we played City, and the ref did not call the obvious yellow card foul; instead he “interpreted” the flow of the game was more important than the rules, according to him. He “…did not want to “ruin” the match….”
Until the refs are consistent with their foul calls, (not interpretations), the nonsense will continue
👍
Nothing wrong with corners, they’ve been a part of the game since time. The way some of these pundits go on, you’d think Arsenal have reinvented the wheel.
Regarding the WWF that goes on, I would like to see the refs start dealing with it. The rule is there, so use it. Yes there may be a few penalty’s to start with, but if the refs keep upholding the rules, the players and managers alike will soon get the message.
It seems to me that teams try to gain an advantage to the enth degree. Just an example of this is when they put the ball right on the edge of the corner quadrant. For years footballers actually put the ball in the quadrant before taking said corner.
Footballers, play to the rules. And refs, administer the rules if the players step out of line. Simples!. 🤷♂️👍
A goal is a goal, but yes it’s tedious and boring, also leads to negative comment, bad press and extended game time. I quite like Shearer’s idea (I think it’s)no attackers in the 6 yard box prior to kick being taken. Refs also need to start doing more than just telling players off then ignoring when they do it again, in the time before the corner’s taken.