Arsenal’s so-called ‘set-piece crisis’ is pure online nonsense from overreacting fans
Fans can see the thrilling aspects of football much more clearly than those who research, write, play, oversee, and discuss the game for financial gain.
With football’s commentariat and intelligentsia, things that we have always liked are always going out of style. If you’re not a slave to the collective consciousness, football is nothing.
Who among us hasn’t relished a huge kick that a striker can chase downfield? It has always been one of football’s pleasures, but for some reason it was criticised as being simplistic, and it probably will be once more.
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Most of us believe that the present emphasis on set-pieces as a way to score goals is clear. The same is true for long throw-ins, which were popular even fifty-five years ago.
Ian Hutchinson, who could really whack it for Chelsea, frequently reached the other side of the penalty box. Even with a lighter ball, I haven’t seen it go that far since.
Style, tactics, and player types are all subject to change, but from what I’ve seen of football since I was five years old, the majority of audiences have always liked the same things, even if they have become more slavishly influenced.
If you’ve attended any games, you are aware of what they are. When did you hear disinterest in your team winning a corner, despite the fact that the taker is still unable to consistently defeat the first guy, even though corners were considered an annoyance?
Did we complain about avoiding the midfield and not fannying around with the ball when the keeper collected it, launched it into the middle, and it bounced once before being chased down for a striker to get a shot off?
No. Rory Delap’s long throws would confuse everyone, didn’t they? It was very funny.
Who was criticising them for being uncivilised or dishonest? Was I dreaming when we applauded a curling, looping corner that was met with a towering header by an unstoppable meat wardrobe? We didn’t complain or say, “Oh, you’re only winning through boring set-pieces,” because we enjoyed it.
Can you imagine the unhappy killjoy who would consider doing such a thing? Did anyone ever think, “Oh, I do hope they don’t kick it into the top corner, that is such a basic, unsophisticated way to score,” after winning a free kick on the edge of the box? No, of course.
The sliding tackle, which cleared man and ball into contact on a rainy afternoon on a surface covered with muck and nettles, is another audience favourite that has been taken away from us. Never finished without a huge applause.
I remember Stuart-Pearce performing a full-body challenge that was so vicious that it threw the player three rows into the crowd and into the air. Nobody was appalled, and they still wouldn’t be.
We were delighted by these things. I’ve often believed that football, in its attempt to be contemporary, is more self-aware than the audience.
Nobody would have considered this sadly fleeting trend for set pieces and direct football to be remarkable or even deserving of much discussion if they had ever bothered to ask.
It should go without saying that this is a reasonable strategy to try to score. Football may evolve, but the fundamental thrill remains constant.
It’s fairly easy, so you don’t have to overthink it. Don’t take away the thrill of the game by sacrificing it on the purported altar of complexity.
You can tell how unpopular it is when a team separates its centre backs and tries to play out from the back as the opposition is closing in on them.
It’s far less fun than drop-kicking it downfield, in part because so many people aren’t comfortable enough to execute it quickly and accurately.
There are moments when it seems like the game is attempting to dictate to us what is and isn’t enjoyable through management and the media.
A huge, hairy striker hitting it from 20 yards was always more entertaining than trying to pass it into the net.
The negative, unrepresentative output of the terminally online commentariat is this moaning about Arsenal and set-pieces.
Set-pieces aren’t one of the many reasons to despise Mikel Arteta and Arsenal. Even so, what are you saying? “You didn’t run far enough to score or pass it?”
Are you aware of how ridiculous that sounds? Any sincere fan who wasn’t an internet haters in my opinion, wouldn’t say that. There are extra points for style, but it’s not synchronised swimming.
Scoring is the main goal. You only score one, regardless of how it ends up in the net. It can’t be long until the tall, strong center-half who enjoys a tackle and can get his head on it makes a comeback.
In a similar vein, the maverick player who has excessive talent but a horrible attitude. In any case, hopefully. We want to be excited, not dependable. We want pressure, innovation, and direct (or vertical, if necessary) play; 7/10 robots are so outdated. Like we usually did.
Even though it cost us money for a more dull but critically acclaimed style of play, the game locked itself into a poor facsimile of a Guardiola-inspired approach. Football, you injure yourself, and that’s what hurts the most.
