Winning the details: Why set pieces matter more than ever

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Just Arsenal News

·30 March 2026

Winning the details: Why set pieces matter more than ever

If this were the first year someone watched football, you would think that Arsenal created corners while every other team had only ever scored from open play.

That is how much it has been highlighted that the Gunners rely on set pieces, and not in a complementary manner.

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Set Pieces and Perception

To find a way to compete with Man City, Mikel Arteta has focused on percentages. On the training pitch, he has worked on world-class delivery and various corner routines, exactly as a good coach should.

Yet instead of being praised for his coaching, our manager has mostly been mocked this season. It is rarely mentioned that the opposition could find better defensive solutions and could also score in the same way.

If you offered everyone a goal from a corner, they would accept it; no fan would turn it down because it is perceived as boring.

Margins, Trends and Reality

Increasingly, games are being decided by the smallest margins, and if that detail happens to be a set piece, then no one should turn their nose up at that.

At the World Cup, many nations will play in weather conditions they are not used to, so expect a reliance on corners, free kicks and throw-ins.

Ironically, a Gunner scored for England on Friday using the method that many in the English media have accused of making the Premier League less entertaining.

The night before in Cardiff, Bosnia stayed in contention for a place on the plane to North America by the skin of their teeth, thanks to a late corner.

Almost at the same time, the Republic of Ireland came close to winning their play-off but conceded from a corner.

In fact, all four goals in Prague were scored from set pieces.

The 2018 World Cup had a record average of a goal scored for every 29 corners. That percentage will increase this summer due to the number of participants, but keep an eye on how many countries rely on set pieces in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Dan Smith

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