{"id":92109,"date":"2025-11-13T10:00:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T16:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=92109"},"modified":"2025-11-13T10:00:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T16:00:19","slug":"opinion-liverpool-once-praised-for-same-thing-arsenal-is-getting-criticized-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=92109","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Liverpool once praised for same thing Arsenal is getting criticized for"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By KYSON EVANS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiger Media Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal\u2019s season so far has been defined by two different relationships with the same moment in the game: the dead ball. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On one end, they\u2019ve become one of Europe\u2019s most ruthless set-piece attacking sides. On the other hand, they\u2019ve developed a habit for conceding soft, avoidable goals from corners and free kicks that undo their own good work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And somewhere between those two truths, the conversation around Arsenal has spiraled into something far louder than the football itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The label \u201cSet-Piece FC\u201d floated around in the fall, mostly from rival fans but echoed by critics who suddenly seemed allergic to the idea of a top-four club leaning on structure, choreography and data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never mind that eight of Arsenal\u2019s early-season goals came from dead balls, a rate that one analyst on ESPN joked was \u201conly behind Erling Haaland\u201d in scoring efficiency. Meanwhile, when Liverpool leaned on the same edge a few years ago, they were celebrated for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in Liverpool\u2019s 2018-19 run, J\u00fcrgen Klopp\u2019s side turned set pieces into a trophy-winning weapon. Pundits lined up to call it innovation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLiverpool\u2019s ability on dead balls has taken them to another level,\u201d one analyst said in a breakdown for This Is Anfield, marveling at the goals that began to flow from cleverly designed routines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Players embraced the praise, and no one accused them of being one-dimensional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal, somehow, isn\u2019t getting the same grace. What it is getting is punished the moment it switches from attacking to defending. Their numbers, over a third of the goals they\u2019ve conceded this year coming from set pieces, have put a target on their back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when a team builds a reputation around something, it stings more when they get beaten by it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just ask Virgil van Dijk. After scoring a simple near-post header against Arsenal earlier this season, he didn\u2019t bother hiding the irony. As quoted by The Times, he shrugged and said: \u201cIt\u2019s very easy, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A little smirk. A little wink. A nod to the narrative Arsenal can\u2019t seem to shake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mikel Arteta defended his side\u2019s approach earlier this year, telling reporters at Sky Sports that preparation, not gimmicks, is what drives their routines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge part of the modern game,\u201d Arteta said. \u201cWe work on it because it wins points. It\u2019s no different from pressing or possession.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defender Ben White echoed the sentiment in a post-match chat with Arsenal.com, brushing off the talk that Arsenal is over-reliant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf people don\u2019t like that we score from set pieces, that\u2019s their problem,\u201d he said. \u201cA goal is a goal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hard to argue with the logic. Harder still to ignore the goals they\u2019ve allowed the other way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This season\u2019s frustration is that Arsenal actually does the hard part at a high level. They design clever runs. They bully teams in the air. They create chaos. They\u2019re scoring enough from set pieces to win matches, but conceding enough from them to keep dropping points. The Premier League rarely forgives that kind of contradiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liverpool never had that contradiction. Their set-piece excellence came with a defense that gave little away. That\u2019s why their routines were described as \u201ctactical evolution\u201d on Match of the Day, not as a shortcut. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Same methods. Different narrative. Results, or lack thereof, shape perception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth is probably somewhere in between. Arsenal isn\u2019t fraud for maximizing an overlooked area of the game. They aren\u2019t naive for studying the marginal gains Liverpool once mastered. But they are vulnerable in the moments they should be untouchable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what makes the criticism sting more than it should \u2014 the hypocrisy. If Liverpool\u2019s set-piece \u201crenaissance\u201d was groundbreaking, why is Arsenal\u2019s suddenly embarrassing? If Klopp\u2019s team was applauded for squeezing every drop out of dead-ball moments, why are Arteta’s actions painted as a boring play style?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal doesn\u2019t need to abandon the thing it\u2019s great at. It just needs to fix the thing that keeps undermining it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balance the ledger, and the narrative flips overnight. Stop conceding cheap headers, and suddenly all those corner-routine goals become a mark of maturity, not a punchline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liverpool proved a few years ago that set-pieces can win titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal is proving now that they can lose you points just as fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Arteta can steady that second half of the equation, this team won\u2019t be \u201cSet-Piece FC\u201d anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019ll just be dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story was written as part of INF 322: Sports Writing, a course in the Department of Informatics at Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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