Pep Guardiola still remembers the sound that told him why football in England was different to Spain: the roar from the terraces when a team won a corner or a set-piece. “When I was a young boy we said the people in England celebrate corners and free-kicks like a goal,” the Manchester City manager reflected. “I remember perfectly, so nothing has changed in that way.”
But Guardiola has been in the Premier League long enough to know that something has changed. Opta has reported that the percentage of goals scored from corners this season is at its highest in Premier League history, at around 18 per cent.
Arsenal have scored 16 goals from corners in the top-flight this season, matching their tally from the whole of 2023-24 and equalling the Premier League record for a single campaign. That is not to say, however, that their potency from set-piece situations under Mikel Arteta is widely celebrated, even if their effectiveness from corners and free-kicks may be admired by the rest of the Premier League.
Instead, a moral panic is sweeping across the division, in part due to the grappling and pulling inside the six-yard box from corners.
“Now most of the games I see in the Premier League are not, for me, a joy to watch,” Liverpool head coach Arne Slot said as he discussed “the new reality” of the Premier League after his team scored three goals from corners in their 5-2 win against West Ham, and following Arsenal’s set-piece heavy win over Chelsea. “I think it’s gone too far,” added Manchester United’s Michael Carrick.
‘It doesn’t feel like we’ve got the balance right’
The Independent has previously reported that Arsenal’s focus on set-pieces has been inspired by Brentford, whose data-driven approach and emphasis on “marginal gains” has been the story of their continued over-performance since achieving promotion to the Premier League in 2021. Nicolas Jover, whose rise to prominence as Arsenal’s set-piece coach is symbolic of the wider Premier League trend, was schooled at Brentford, and arrived at Arsenal after working with Arteta at Manchester City.
But whereas a club like Brentford viewed set-pieces as a differential in avoiding relegation, Arsenal have taken it further by applying the same logic to the title race. “We want to be the best and the most dominant team in every aspect of the game,” Arteta explained. Arsenal’s success from corners, which is built on the consistency of the inswinging deliveries from Declan Rice on the left and Bukayo Saka on the right, along with the aerial prowess of Gabriel Magalhaes, has been undeniable.
This approach can now be seen across the Premier League, which has led to another shift. Sky Sports reported that almost half of all corners are now directed on top of the opposition goalkeeper or towards the back post, an increase of around 15 per cent over the previous five years. Consequently, direct goals from corners in the six-yard box have almost doubled this season, rising from 0.07 per game to 0.12 per game. On average, the number of attacking players positioned in the six-yard box has also increased, which requires more defenders to protect the crowded goalkeeper, leading to the farcical pile-ups now seen in the box week to week.
“I’m sure when we scored from a corner and it was flicked on for an own goal our fans didn’t care what the goal looked like. I’m sure Arsenal fans didn’t care what their goals looked like,” Liam Rosenior said after Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat at the Emirates, where all three goals came from corners. “But I would say there needs to be a review at the end of the season, in terms of the way teams are affecting the goalkeepers, the way teams are holding on defensive set plays. Because that is something that gives an unfair advantage to certain teams.”
Senne Lammens, the Manchester United goalkeeper who arrived from Belgium this season, was blown away by Everton’s physical approach to corners during a recent Premier League game at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. “We knew corners and set pieces would be difficult. It's a strength of mine. But today it was a bit over the top,” he said. “I had to be behind the line in order to come out. It was too much, but it can be difficult for the referee to see it.”
It feels as if the Premier League is currently experiencing a lag between the increased activity in the six-yard box from corners and the officiating of them. Sky Sports also reported that while there are now more corners aimed towards the six-yard box and more players positioned near the goalkeeper, the amount of fouls given in that area has not increased at the same rate. The game’s lawmakers, the International Football Association Board, did not specifically discuss grappling from corners at its recent AGM.
“Here you can almost hit a goalkeeper in his face and the referee will say just go on,” Slot said. “Do I like it? My football heart doesn’t like it.” Carrick agreed. “It wasn’t long ago we were told you couldn’t lay a hand on anyone in the box and we were told it would be clamped down,” he said. “It’s crept in, the success of corners and being able to put bodies close together has made more teams do it. It’s understandable why there are so many teams doing it and trying it. As a game, it doesn’t feel like we’ve got that balance right.”
‘Sometimes they spend over one minute just to take a corner’
The criticism Arsenal have faced for focusing on set-pieces, and their reliance on scoring opening or match-winning goals from corners, perhaps reveals the image we want our champion teams to have. The moral panic, if you will, arises from our expectation that the league champions set the benchmark for how football should be played.
But aesthetics and beauty don’t win titles - and Arsenal supporters should not feel as if they have to defend their team for not winning in the ‘right way’ if they lift their first Premier League title in 22 years. After all, Arsenal teams in the past who were the best in the country to watch, particularly under Arsene Wenger, often failed to win the Premier League because of what was perceived to be a soft underbelly. Their shortcomings from corners or set-pieces would be held against them, even if their free-flowing football was praised.
Now, Arsenal take longer to restart the game from corners than any other Premier League side, according to Opta. On average, Arteta’s team take 44.4 seconds per corner, with Manchester City and Chelsea bottom of that table with 32.3 seconds and 30.8 seconds respectively. This was noted by the Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler before hosting the Premier League leaders. “When Arsenal has a corner and they are leading, sometimes they spend over one minute just to take a corner,” he said, adding: “I think because 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.”
Arteta responded by saying that criticism is “part of the job” and pointed towards the "evolution" of the game. Even though football is a fluid sport, the Premier League has become influenced by the NFL, with every dead-ball moment coordinated and rehearsed to the finest details. “Teams know after every sequence of play, whether it’s a throw-in, a restart of play, an open-play situation, after direct play, exactly what they have to do,” Arteta said. “Everything is almost man-to-man. So it’s going to be a different game unless we change the rules.”
Even Guardiola, a manager whose commitment to his principles of play redefined the game, has adapted, although Manchester City’s share of goals from set-pieces is the lowest in the division. He highlighted how the Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry transformed the modern-day NBA by taking way more shots from behind the three-point line, as well as how the first iteration of his first City team, with Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva roaming as ‘free number eights’, changed how opposition teams defended.
More recently, Guardiola responded to the Premier League’s wider obsession of possession, control and pressing by going against what had shaped his entire philosophy and doing the opposite - making his City team more direct and transitional. Given some of IFAB’s recent introductions ahead of this summer’s World Cup, which include a five-second countdown if players are taking too long to take throw-ins and goal-kicks, it perhaps will not be long before there is a similar crackdown on corners - and that’s before considering the response that will surely come from referees on holding in the box.
“It’s all evolution,” Guardiola said of football’s push-pull dynamic when it comes to tactics and ideology. “Set pieces are the same.”
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