Arsenal’s recipe for success will require more seasoning
Arsenal are good at set-pieces, of that there is no doubt. The Gunners have made scoring from dead-ball situations an art form.
Few have been able to replicate that winning formula, which poses plenty of questions in itself.
If Nicolas Jover, an ace in Mikel Arteta’s coaching pack at Emirates Stadium, can come up with a system that is so productive, time after time, then why can’t everybody else?
And why has nobody stumbled across an answer to the many questions that Arsenal pose from corners and free kicks?
One-trick pony
A fresh look
— Premier League (@premierleague) May 25, 2025
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The 2025-26 campaign has been no outlier in that department, with the red half of north London having prided itself on set-piece efficiency for some time.
When Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest odds were drawn up, the expectation was that Arteta’s side would dominate over a dead-ball, with their opponents often being left hopelessly exposed in that department.
The Gunners are not quite a one-trick pony, with the football betting markets that have them priced at 3/10 for Premier League title glory this season proving as much, but they do require a few more strings to their bow.
They have been accused of becoming over-reliant on goals where opponents fail to deal with clever movement and decisive runners inside the box.
Arteta is eager to distance his team from that debate and refuses to buy into the belief that Arsenal spend so many hours working on one particularly destructive area of their game that they lose sight of any others.
The Spaniard has said: “We want to be the best in every situation.” He acknowledges that football has “waves” and that the Gunners’ penchant for set-piece goals will quickly be forgotten once scoring boots are rediscovered in open play.
He makes a valid point, with the obvious positive for those of an Arsenal persuasion being that they still have room for improvement.
If they were to start firing in all departments, then it really would become difficult to see a march towards a first top-flight title since 2004 being halted.
Arteta, to his credit, has found ways in which to make his team a threat in multiple departments.
If strikers and wingers are having an off day, then centre-halves will still get their head on something and bring precious points within reach.
Once again, it is worth reiterating that if Arsenal’s game plan is so simple and easy to read, then why isn’t everybody doing it?
Same ingredients
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— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 12, 2018
The challenge facing Arteta and Co is to ensure that they do have plans B, C, and D ready for when option A inevitably fails at some stage.
They have found a recipe for success, but cannot dine out on the same dish forever and will require more seasoning in order to turn that sporting meal into something more universally appetising.
A Premier League crown would undoubtedly aid that process, as more ingredients are sourced in the transfer market. Scouting will not be based purely on ‘can he win headers from a corner’, but those qualities will not be ignored either, as progress will forever be measured on points and prizes – regardless of how either of those is acquired.
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