Mikel Arteta has revealed he hatched the masterplan that has transformed Arsenal into set-piece kings 10 years ago.
Arsenal became the first side in Europe’s top five leagues to score 10 goals from free-kicks this season after Gabriel and Viktor Gyokeres both struck from set-pieces in Arsenal’s 4-0 Champions League victory against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
Leandro Trossard’s winner at Fulham last weekend, which fired Arsenal three points clear at the top of the Premier League, was the club’s 37th from a corner in the division since the start of 2023-2024 season – 16 more than any other side.
Arteta spent the final playing seasons of his career at the Emirates up to 2015-16 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 try 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.
“And you could see straight afterwards when it started to happen, but it’s not only that I am obsessed with that.
“I’m the same with the defensive part in every transition, I want to be the best. When it comes to chaos, I want to be the best. When it comes to positional attack, the best. When it comes to low blocks, the best.
“But 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, who host Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, have conceded just three times in the league this season with only one of those coming from open play.
Arsenal have kept three straight clean sheets in as many games in Europe so far, 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 – a Premier League record – and Arteta admitted: “We want these kind of records. At the end, we want it to bring the silverware and the trophies.
“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.”
Defender Gabriel has not trained since he was withdrawn with a thigh injury in the second half of Arsenal’s win against Atletico Madrid. He will face a late fitness test to see if he can feature against Palace on Sunday.
