Arsenal‘s distinct lack of recent threat from set-pieces is not down to one factor alone, but the absence of Bukayo Saka has played a significant part, expert Charles Watts believes.
The Gunners were formerly feared from corner routines and free kicks, where Declan Rice and Saka could always be trusted to deliver a perfect cross on the money for Gabriel Magalhaes, and they netted a total of 12 goals from dead-ball situations in the first 21 gameweeks.
However, following Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United, Arsenal have now gone seven straight games in the Premier League without a goal from a corner or free kick, despite sticking to their previously undefendable tactic of players queuing up at the back post.
As Nicolas Jover struggles to weave his set-piece magic, Watts – speaking to Sports Mole – suggested that several factors were to blame, but Saka’s injury has been a killer blow, as his deputies have only been able to deliver “floaty” balls as opposed to his ‘whipped’ crosses.
“I don’t think it’s purely the fact that Saka’s unavailable because Declan Rice’s free kicks were such a weapon during that time as well,” he said. “And Arsenal aren’t scoring from those at the moment. Arteta flagged it up after. They’ve got to do more from those set pieces because they are struggling going forward, certainly in the Premier League anyway.
“Those set pieces were really useful, and now those have dried up. Whether it’s the fact that teams have wised up to it a little bit and how they defend, when Arsenal cluster at the back post, whether it’s deliveries not quite right. You’re not seeing Gabriel being able to sort of really attack those set pieces like he used to. So I think it’s a culmination of things, but it’s very, very notable.
Arsenal corners “a bit floaty” without Saka
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“There’s definitely the issue of Saka not being there, because Arsenal’s set pieces from that side haven’t been good enough. Whether it be Nwaneri, whether it be Odegaard, they’re just a little bit floaty. Saka gets such a whip on the ball with real pace, and it’s really hard to defend against.
“It’s a lot easier for teams to defend against set pieces coming from that side. It’s been a long time since Arsenal scored from a set piece. And when you’re struggling like Arsenal going forward, you really need that weapon to be as dangerous as it always has been. It’s just not right now.”
Arsenal took another nine corners without success at Old Trafford, where Bruno Fernandes instead taught the Gunners a set-piece lesson with a thunderous free kick to break the deadlock on the stroke of half time.
Despite putting seven past PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League in midweek, Mikel Arteta‘s men lacked imagination in attack and had to rely on a brilliant Rice strike to steal a point from the Theatre of Dreams.
However, the Gunners did not kick on after Rice’s leveller and were then indebted to the Englishman and David Raya for saving their bacon in the final 20 minutes, where their defensive interventions prevented Arsenal from losing the game.
Watts was also under no illusions that Arsenal were fortunate to leave with a share of the spoils when asked if they were lucky to claim a point, responding: “I think they were. I’m sure when they were travelling back down the motorway yesterday, they were certainly counting themselves quite lucky they didn’t lose the game.
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“Had it not been for David Raya, they would have lost the game. But it was a poor, poor performance. I thought Man United were there for the taking, especially in the first half, and a team with a little bit more cutting edge would have comfortably won that game. But we’ve seen it time and time again with Arsenal.
“Before the injuries as well, they’ve had games like that. It was just another one of those. They were prodding, probing, moving the ball around, but they never really looked like opening United up in that first half. And when you don’t score, you leave yourself open to going behind.
“It was a moment of magic yesterday from Bruno. I think David Raya was poor from a goalkeeping point of view from the free kick, but it was a great hit from Bruno. He took advantage of the bad positioning and suddenly Arsenal were then left with a bit of a mountain to climb.
“They got themselves level in the second half, but it just wasn’t a good performance. On the back of the 7-1 against PSV, I was really hoping that Arsenal were going to go to Old Trafford and make a bit of a statement and just say, ‘right, we’ve got used to playing without the attack, we showed we can score goals, we’ve backed that up with a really good win at Old Trafford.’
“And it just didn’t happen. We’re here on Monday morning again with those same questions and feelings about this Arsenal team. It feels like a really big missed opportunity.”
Arsenal have now only found the back of the net once in their last three Premier League games, despite defying their injury situation up front against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League, becoming the first team to score seven away from home in a knockout game in the competition.
How did Arsenal go from PSV pummelling to meek performance at Old Trafford?
The Gunners can surely forget about a late title push as they lie 15 points behind rampant leaders Liverpool, albeit still with a game in hand, and Arteta was in no mood to discuss the table situation after the game.
The Spaniard stormed out of his post-match interview when asked about his side’s gap to Liverpool, and Watts believes that his demeanour during the game was that of a man whose players were not doing what was asked of him.
“There was less intent about Arsenal,” Watts added. “Against PSV, from the first couple of minutes, there was a real intent to get in the box to cause PSV problems. There was movement, there were six, seven players in a box at times. It didn’t really happen against United.
“They just very quickly fell back into that slow, laborious build-up, the horseshoe of doom as a lot of Arsenal fans call it. When you’re just moving the ball in that horseshoe shape around the edge of the penalty area with very little cutting edge in the central areas.
“They did actually give Arsenal quite a bit of space. But Arsenal just didn’t exploit it at all and didn’t really look like exploiting it. You could tell Arteta was frustrated. Where I was sitting in the press box, the managers’ dugouts were just in front of us. He was storming back to the bench, shouting at his coaching staff.
“You could see he wasn’t happy with what the players were doing. He clearly didn’t send them out to play like that. But this Arsenal side now, it’s a fallback option for how they play. There’s a long way left this season. There’s still two months to play.
“Arsenal have got to find a way of being able to score goals, to break teams down. Because if not, we’re going to see a repeat of that game and a repeat of the game we saw against Nottingham Forest a couple of weeks ago time and time again.”
Nevertheless, Fernandes’s free kick was clouded in a bit of controversy, as from the naked eye, the Arsenal wall appeared further back than they should have been before Fernandes got his free kick up and over the Gunners’ heads and into the back of the net.
It was subsequently revealed that Arsenal’s wall was 11.2 yards back as opposed to the 10-yard minimum, and when Arteta’s side had a free kick of their own in the second half, Man United captain Fernandes remonstrated heavily with Anthony Taylor over the distance of his team’s wall.
Could Arsenal have complaints about Fernndes free kick?
The Red Devils’ block also crept forward and comfortably stopped Martin Odegaard‘s attempt, whereas the Arsenal wall did not appear to do so, but Arteta simply praised Fernandes for being ‘clever’ as opposed to complaining at full time.
Watts is also of the view that Fernandes was street-wise and also executed his free kick to perfection, while affirming that Raya’s positioning had to be called into question.
“They can have complaints about it, but I think they could have done better,” he said. “They could have really made a point of the fact that this isn’t 10 yards. But ultimately, wherever the wall was, I think the free kick probably goes over it. Bruno hit it so well.
“I just think David Raya got his positioning all wrong. When you watch it from behind the goal, he takes a couple of steps to his left, but then he stops and reacts really slowly when the ball actually does come over the wall. By then, there’s no chance of him getting it.
“He had a really good game, David Raya, and it was down to him that Arsenal didn’t lose it. But watching with the analysts and watching with Inaki Cana, the goalkeeping coach afterwards, he will know that he could have done better with that free kick.
“So I don’t think Arsenal could really have any complaints. Arteta didn’t really complain about it afterwards. It’s been dressed up a little bit like he has complained about it, but he didn’t. He just said Bruno was clever. Fair play.”
After missing out on the chance to become the first team to beat Man United in five straight Premier League games, the Gunners host PSV in Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 second leg before welcoming Chelsea to the Emirates on Sunday in their last game before the international break.
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