An ingenious yet simple way to stop Arsenal's dominant set-piece routines

Martin Macdonald

• 12 Mar 2026 09:01 CDT
• 4 min read

News

It seems Arsenal score from a set-piece every other week in the Premier League and their prowess from corners especially has seen them earn both admirers and detractors.

The Gunners have scored 16 goals from corners this season which is remarkably just over a quarter of their total goals tally in the league in 2025/26.

Under the stewardship of Mikel Arteta and set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, Arsenal attempt to create as much uncertainty and chaos as possible inside the box in order for one of their players to take advantage and scramble a header or finish over the line.

However, there may be a very simple way to stop this and that is to have more players higher up the pitch during corners.

During the recent League Cup tie between Arsenal and Chelsea, Liam Rosenior kept three players up near the halfway line for an opposition corner which meant less Arsenal players inside the box.

Kidderminster Harriers recently took things a few steps further as they put no less than five players higher up the pitch when aerially dominant Alfreton had a corner in the dying minutes.

They broke away on a counter and scored the winning goal.

"A big part of the reason is why not do it?" Kidderminster manager Adam Murray rhetorically responded when asked about his tactic by BBC Hereford and Worcester.

"When you look at defensive set-plays - even at the very top level - clubs are trying to create that chaos in there.

"When you are looking at certain opponents and set-plays are their main strength - how can we get the players out of there?

"Can we take the opponents' attacking set-play and turn it into an attacking set-play for us? You have to take a little bit of a risk.

"Sometimes you have to think outside the box. I've thought about it for a long time. You can get caught in that bracket that you do things because its always been done.

"It is going to be even more interesting when we leave seven up."

BBC pundit Shay Given also previously suggested this tactic.

"If they leave three up, Arsenal have to leave at least three, maybe four players back," the Irishman said on Match of the Day.

"That leaves a lot more space for the defenders and the goalkeeper.

"Yes, it leaves more space for the forwards as well, but all those numbers caused so much confusion."

Crystal Palace and Monaco are two sides that have also kept more players upfield against Arsenal recently, though it remains to be seen if the tactic will work as well for Premier League teams as it has for Kidderminster in the National League North.

Criticisms of Arsenal at set-pieces

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler believes the Premier League needs to look at the rules surrounding the time it takes to take a corner kick and the wrestling that goes on inside the box during a set-piece.

"It disturbs the rhythm of the game and there are no clear rules any more, how much time you can spend for a corner, how much time you can spend for a throw-in," Hurzeler said ahead of his side's match against the Gunners last Wednesday.

"Some of the blockings or the way teams are blocking, there is no clear rule. Sometimes the referee whistles and it’s a foul, sometimes he doesn’t whistle.

"I think that’s why we have this topic at the moment, but for me the main topic is make a clear rule for how much time you can waste for a corner, for a throw-in, for a free-kick.

"No-one recognises it, but when Arsenal have a corner and they are leading, sometimes they spend over a minute just to take a corner.

"Therefore we just have to make clear rules, because then in the end we have a natural game time of 50 minutes instead of sometimes 65 minutes.

"The game is changing so much if you don’t have natural game time for all the games. We analyse it and the difference is just massive."

Hurzeler believes that match-going fans are being short-changed by the amount of action they see in a particular game.

"I am of the opinion that every supporter who pays a lot of money to watch our games should see the same natural game time," the German continued.

"They want to see a football event, they don’t want to see maybe 50 minutes a game and for 40 minutes it’s not running.

"We won’t change these rules immediately, so we know how important set pieces are.

"I always mention they can be game changer, so we have to use it as well, be very efficient in scoring goals, more efficient in creating chances from corners and free-kicks and always try to defend them well."

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