Mikel Arteta Set-Piece Rest Defence Tactics At Arsenal 2024/2025 – How Arsenal Stop Counterattacks From Corners

The competition in the Premier League is intensifying.

After seven rounds, Arsenal are in third place with 17 points, tied with the defending champions Manchester City and trailing the current league leaders, Liverpool, by a single point.

The indicators are pretty promising for the Gunners, as they possess the third-strongest attack in the league, having scored 15 goals, trailing only Manchester City and Chelsea, who have scored 17 and 16 goals, respectively.

In terms of defensive performance, Mikel Artetas side boasts the second-strongest defence, having conceded only six goals.

This places them behind Liverpool, who have conceded only two goals.

There is nothing new to mention at the level of set pieces, as Arsenal are currently the team with the highest expected goals (xG) from set pieces in the Premier League, with a value of 3.57.

Analysts have rushed to study and analyse the reasons behind this distinction and its persistence despite opponents awareness of Mikel Arteta style of play.

However, when you think you are sufficiently impressed by the work of Arsenal set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, you realise that there is still greater potential for astonishment.

The aspect we will discuss is somewhat different from what analysts typically mention, yet it is of utmost importance.

This aspect is their defensive strength during corner kick attacks.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Defending during an attack has become one of the most critical elements in football, known as rest defence.

Regarding set-pieces, Arsenal not only focus on creating danger for the opponents goal but also ensure they are defensively secure during those attacks.

They can win the second ball and stifle counterattacks at their source while maintaining intense pressure on the opponent.

This allows them to regain possession and initiate new high-intensity offensive waves.

Even if the opponent succeeds in clearing the ball, which is rare, they remain secure at the back.

In this tactical analysis, we will discuss Mikel Arteta tactics to remain secure against counterattacks while executing attacks on the opponents goal.

Additionally, they can regain possession to threaten the opponents goal once again.

Targeting The Far Post With Floated In-swingers & Framing The Goal

We should first mention that Arsenal use in-swinging crosses to target only the six-yard, near or far post, without targeting any other zone.

This is what makes them so effective and harmful.

They keep the ball flying toward the opponents goal, not towards the pitch, as in the out-swinging crosses and other zones.

This extreme focus, supported by many strategies and principles, often yields outcomes that typically include threats to the opponents goal, goal kicks, additional corner kicks, or miraculous touches from the opponents goalkeeper or defender to clear the ball.

It is rare for the opposing team to gain control of the ball to clear it away effectively.

We will start by discussing how Arsenal, under Mikel Artetas coaching, dont even allow opportunities to rebound the ball.

Before we do that, though, lets quickly recap their attacking strategies from another perspective as they relate to rest defence.

As shown in the photo below, they use a five-player pack beyond the far post, which puts them on the green zonal defenders blind side.

Thus, they cant track the ball and the attackers in the air at the same time.

The same issue occurs with the two-man markers in the white spot, which forces them to turn their backs to the ball, and we refer to this issue as the orientation problem.

Lets move to why Gabriel Magalhães stands near the penalty spot.

Now we start with targeting the far post and how they do that, relating it to our topic.

In the photo below, Kai Havertz (white) drags his marker toward the near post and stays there to frame the goal, as we will explain.

William Saliba