Mikel Arteta has said it is a compliment for Arsenal to be compared to Stoke under Tony Pulis for their set-piece prowess but warned their rivals that they still have room to improve in that area.
Arsenal scored twice from corners in Wednesday’s win against Manchester United to take their tally to 22 goals via set pieces since the start of last season. Their total of 16 in the previous campaign matched the Premier League record set by West Brom under the management of Pulis in 2016-17, with the former Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov joking that Arsenal are the “new Stoke City” while working as a pundit for their win over United.
“I understood very well what Berbatov said and it was in the best possible way so we take it as a big compliment,” said Arteta. Asked what he made of being described as “corner kings”, the Arsenal manager added: “We want to be the kings of everything. Set pieces, the best in the world. High press, the best in the world. In open spaces, the best in the world. The best atmosphere in the stadium and the best at everything.
“Before it was we didn’t score enough, we were soft at defending, we didn’t have the mentality, we were not physical enough, we didn’t beat big teams away from home for 17 years, 20 years, 22 years. We want to be the best at everything. We want to have the best academy, be the best at player development, recruit the best players, best coaches. That’s the aim.”
Much of the credit for Arsenal’s improved return has been attributed to the work of their set-piece coach, Nicolas Jover, with Arsenal having scored more goals from corners than any other Premier League club since he was recruited by Arteta from Manchester City in 2021. The German-born Frenchman, who is close to extending his current deal along with the rest of Arteta’s backroom staff, was described by Gary Neville as “the most annoying bloke in football” during the Overlap podcast’s watchalong of the game against United. But Arteta believes that is a sign of his success.
“It is great as we are very good at a lot of things. We take it as a compliment and as a fuel to be better,” he said. “We are not perfect at all, even in that department defending set pieces. We conceded three chances and the three of them were coming from those situations, so there is a lot to improve and the margins are always there for us to explore and try to get better.”
Arteta, who takes his side to Fulham on Sunday, said that he had been convinced about the importance of set pieces after working under David Moyes at Everton as a player and then watching Arsenal struggle to cope with them against sides such as Stoke under Arsène Wenger. “I understood at Everton how important they were and how difficult it was for the opposition,” Arteta said. “When I came here as well we had a period in some big matches where we suffered and were out. I went to City and immediately realised we had to do something about it.”
