Mikel Arteta has addressed Ruben Amorim's claim that Arsenal rely on playing for corners, following the Gunners' impressive use of set pieces to secure a 2-0 win against Manchester United on Wednesday night. Currently sitting third in the Premier League, behind Chelsea on goal difference, Arteta's side has mastered the art of capitalising on dead-ball situations.
This time, it was Jurrien Timber and William Saliba that profited from Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice's set-piece prowess, as the talismanic Gabriel was absent from the matchday squad. “On every occasion Saka and Martinelli has one against one, they go outside, they cross. They know if the cross is going well, they can score. If it is a corner, they can score," claimed the new Red Devils boss after full-time, as per GOAL.
Quizzed about Amorim's comments, Arteta insisted that the amount of corners his team earns is purely down to his utilisation of inverted wingers and encouragement of overloading the wide areas with more than one player. As per Hayters TV, he said:
"We play with inverted wingers, so they double up as well a lot of times inside, so there's not a lot of space inside. When they leave, it leaves a lot of space for the six or the full-back, and if not, it's for the nine, and then you can go outside. So we need to look at every angle: what they do, where they are weak, and then we can exploit the weaknesses of the opposition."
Arsenal's dead-ball mastery has become a form of psychological warfare in recent weeks. It seems that, no matter how their opposition plays against them, they will become unstuck once the Gunners can load the box. Since the start of last season, the two players with the most Premier League assists from set plays are Arsenal duo Rice and Saka (seven each, with Rice having now moved level with Saka).
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