Arsenal’s bid to finally claim Premier League glory under Mikel Arteta has faltered slightly, but one thing has remained constant: their efficiency from the corner.
Gunners they are by no means out of the race, but with Liverpool six points clear and still have a game to play, so there’s some catching up to do.
A key factor Artetaside remaining in First league the race is their cornering routines, perfectly implemented Bukayo Saka AND Declan Rice whenever the opportunity arises. Now the former Arsenal goalkeeper has revealed how he would prepare to stop them.
David Seaman reveals how to stop Arsenal corners
“The main factor is proximity to the post,” David Seaman said on his Seaman Says podcast, shared by Betway. “You need a really dominant player in the near post who can turn things around and maybe start having people in the post.”
Seaman was chosen for this role Patrick Vieira – fifth place in FourFourTwo‘S a list of the best Premier League midfielders of all time – from the team he played with Tony Adams more centrally, attacking the ball and Martin Keown Or Steve Bould assembling the rear post.
Seaman continued: “It’s not the free player on the edge of the box that does all the damage, it’s that one header that gets them a goal. Therefore, encourage people to take action and try to counteract it.
“My positioning would be in the middle, although if someone came in and marked me I would take them to the back post and that would set the moment for the corner kicker to run up to get the ball, whether it was Saka or Rice, I would move where I want to be because then it would be more obvious that the guy is trying to foul you.
Set-piece coaches being the center of attention and rushing to the technical area every time there is a dead ball may be a new phenomenon, but their work is well established.
“WITH George Grahamwe worked on it [set pieces] a lot, but not that much Arsene Wenger– said the former goalkeeper. “Under George he worked on everything – set pieces, defensive drills. I had to kick the ball to a certain place. I took every free-kick in our half and I have to hit it in a certain spot because then we would be crowded there.
IN FourFourTwoAccording to Seaman, there may be ways to stop some of Arsenal’s corner kicks, as Seaman describes, but the precise passing of Saka and Rice makes it unlikely that either side will stop all of them.
Even through idle actions in front of the goal in open play, the Gunners have an almost certain way to find the goal. Every team now knows exactly what they are going to do, but they are powerless to prevent it.
