Arsenal rival exposes crazy set piece tactic and secret to Mikel Arteta's dead ball success

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta (Image credit: Getty Images)

Arsenal have mastered playing the percentages under Mikel Arteta and the 2025/26 season promises to deliver the rewards.

The Gunners plan their set pieces down to the molecule. Fifteen of their 46 goals in the Premier League this season have been recorded as set-piece goals. Less than half of the division has broken double figures for that measure and no other team has scored more than 12.

Arsenal’s belt-and-braces approach to corner kicks

Gabriel celebrates after scoring for Arsenal against Crystal Palace, 2024 — Gabriel has become renowned for his impact from set plays (Image credit: Alamy)

For every choreographed action there is an attempt to prepare a reaction on the part of the opposition and Newcastle United defender Dan Burn has revealed one of the tricks Arsenal have deployed over a dead ball.

“Last year, Arsenal on corners, there was a certain position [goalkeeper] David Raya would take in his own half,” said Burn on the Adopted Geordies Podcast.

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“So the players would look – if David Raya was standing there, that was the trigger for where it was going.

“If we play Brentford it’s colours, so it’s like orange and blue and yellow, and I’m like ‘What does yellow mean?’

“Then they change it all the time so you can’t think about it, because we’re playing at a level where those tiny percents make the difference.”

Set piece tactics at the elite level have come a long way since the days of a dead ball specialist raising one hand or two to tell their teammates roughly where the ball would be going if they catch it right when taking a corner.

Arsenal have more strings to their bow but set-piece coach Nicolas Jover is making an obvious contribution to a season that seems to be gathering pace again under Arteta, who is ranked at no.7 in FourFourTwo's list of the best managers in the world right now.

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 16: Newcastle United player Dan Burn celebrates after scoring the first goal during the Carabao Cup Final between Liverpool and Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium on March 16, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) — Newcastle defender Dan Burn (Image credit: Getty Images)

With Gabriel’s physicality and knack for a goal from a set-piece and the quality of service provided by Declan Rice, Arsenal have been able to create corner routines that maximise their chances of converting.

The Gunners have also moved to tighten up in the fine margins when it comes to throw-ins, too. Last month, they added former Liverpool throw-in coach Thomas Gronnemark to their backroom staff.

Gronnemark is regarded as a pioneer in the realm of specialist coaching and has been appointed to make Arsenal more dangerous from throw-in situations.

Arsenal booked their place in the Carabao Cup final on Tuesday and return to Premier League action when Sunderland visit the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

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Chris is a Warwickshire-based freelance writer, Editor-in-Chief of AVillaFan.com, author of the High Protein Beef Paste football newsletter and owner of Aston Villa Review. He supports Northern Premier League Midlands Division club Coventry Sphinx.

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Arsenal’s belt-and-braces approach to corner kicks