Mikel Arteta said today that Arsenal’s set-piece prowess has been a decade in the making.
The Gunners have scored 10 goals via set pieces in the Premier League this season — the earliest into a campaign any side has reached double figures for such goals in the history of the competition, reports AFP.
Arteta finished his playing career at the Emirates in 2016 before he joined Pep Guardiola’s coaching team at Manchester City.
And when the Spaniard, who is now approaching six years in charge at Arsenal, was asked at what point he thought it would be smart to hone in on the importance of set-pieces, he replied: “Ten years ago.
“I started to have a vision and tried to implement a method and try to be surrounded by the best people to deliver that.
“I went to City with the best manager in the world, and I could see where we could have improvements, and it was clear because at some point I was doing that and I wasn’t the best person in the world to do it.
“So if I’m not the best person in the world to do it and the best method to do it, there are ways to improve it.”
Ahead of Crystal Palace’s visit to Emirates Stadium this weekend, Arteta admitted he knew set pieces — including free-kicks and corners — would be essential to any success during his Arsenal reign.
Crucially, Arteta was doing his coaching badges when he met Nicolas Jover, who would later become the set-piece coach at Brentford before joining Arsenal in 2021.
Jover has been instrumental in Arsenal’s remarkable ability at set-pieces.
“You could see straight afterward when it started to happen,” he said.
“We have created the culture, giving that part of the game (set-pieces) the importance that it has. Football is evolving, and so too is how opponents are behaving against us, and we have to maximise certain things that happen very frequently.”
Arsenal have conceded just three times in the league this season and have kept three successive clean sheets in the Champions League, meaning their defensive record after 12 matches is the best in the club’s 138-year history.
Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea side of 20 years ago let in just 15 goals on their way to winning the league, which is a Premier League record.
“We want these kinds of records. At the end, we want it to bring the silverware and the trophies,” said Arteta, whose club are aiming to win the title for the first time since 2004.
“But obviously, the more we can produce, the closer we are going to be to achieving what we want to do, and that defensive record is very good but we need to be consistent and it is only the start of the season. We can get better.”
