‘They’re a disgrace’ – Man United fan rips into Arsenal tactics as Dimitar Berbatov brands them ‘new Stoke’
Arsenal’s set piece heroics have claimed another victim, and Manchester United fans aren’t happy. The Gunners scored their Premier League-leading sixth and seventh dead-ball goals of the season against United, securing a 2-0 win that helped them close the gap to pace-setters Liverpool to seven points. Arsenal did their best work from corners yet again as William Saliba and Gabriel scored the goalsGetty Arsenal had the lion’s share of chances against their old rivals, but it was from corners where they were at their most deadly yet again. The tactics ruffled some feathers, including on the talkSPORT phone lines, with United fan Ozzy phoning in to give his take. “Arsenal are a disgrace of a team, lets just put that out there,” he told Jason Cundy and Jamie O’Hara. “Mikel Pulseta [wordplay on Tony Pulis] of Stoke City, we know what they are, they’re a set piece team, they can’t play any more, they’re a disgrace and they know it. “When Stoke were doing it, it was bad for football, they’re basically Stoke in disguise. Well done, you scored two goals from set pieces and you created absolutely nothing. “Troy Deeney was saying during the game that they’re going in the right direction – two goals from set pieces and they created nothing, the same as us basically. They’re not going to win the league.” Ozzy wasn’t the first to make such an observation, though, with former United striker Dimitar Berbatov also turning his nose up at the tactics on display at the Emirates. Giving his post-match analysis on Amazon Prime, he said: “Probably the Premier League is the only league in the world where there are so many players around the goalkeeper who are pushing and shoving, making chaos. “Normally it’s a foul, but not here. You need to be strong and that’s why probably he [Ruben Amorim] was watching from the side and he was like ‘What is going on with my team.’ “So you need to work on that because obviously, as we joke, Arsenal is the new Stoke City – depending on set pieces which can give you the win, like it happened today.” Amazon PrimeBerbatov’s comparison instantly made headlines[/caption] The criticism is a particularly loaded one, given that Arsenal fans and their old manager Arsene Wenger used to complain about Stoke during their top flight stint from 2008 to 2018. Wenger was seen as a proponent of attractive, passing football, with Pulis’ Stoke the opposite. Pulis even claimed in 2020 that Wenger made a complaint asking for throw-ins to be banned by the FA, with former Stoke man Rory Delap an expert at unstoppable lobs into the area. The Welsh manager later claimed: “Patrick Vieira told me at a coaching conference: ‘We used to hate going to Stoke. You were the only club that Wenger actually talked about and worked on before. We just couldn’t beat you.’ “Wenger came one year and complained about the grass being too long. He wrote a letter to the FA. “The referees and the linesmen had to come and measure the grass. I know he talked about banning throw-ins and saying they shouldn’t be allowed. That was all music to our ears.” Stoke were Arsenal’s nemesis, now they are evolving into themGetty Of course, Arteta doesn’t care about any of this, he just wants his team to win. Speaking after the game, he was asked about set pieces. He said: “We work on what we work. Attacking the box in various ways. “This is a way we attack the box and we are very efficient. We will find ways to keep improving.” However, he wasn’t too happy with the suggestion that Arsenal can only score from these sorts of situations. “Last year, we scored the most goals in the history of this football club. Not because of only set-pieces, because of a lot of things that we have. “We want to create individual and magic moments. A lot of players can create their own goals. “We can create goals from short counters and long counters, slow build ups, restarts and the opportunity to open up the opposition. Every single phase of play let’s maximise it, keep working on it, keep improving.”
Arsenal’s set piece heroics have claimed another victim, and Manchester United fans aren’t happy.
The Gunners scored their Premier League-leading sixth and seventh dead-ball goals of the season against United, securing a 2-0 win that helped them close the gap to pace-setters Liverpool to seven points.
Arsenal had the lion’s share of chances against their old rivals, but it was from corners where they were at their most deadly yet again.
The tactics ruffled some feathers, including on the talkSPORT phone lines, with United fan Ozzy phoning in to give his take.
“Arsenal are a disgrace of a team, lets just put that out there,” he told Jason Cundy and Jamie O’Hara.
“Mikel Pulseta [wordplay on Tony Pulis] of Stoke City, we know what they are, they’re a set piece team, they can’t play any more, they’re a disgrace and they know it.
“When Stoke were doing it, it was bad for football, they’re basically Stoke in disguise. Well done, you scored two goals from set pieces and you created absolutely nothing.
“Troy Deeney was saying during the game that they’re going in the right direction – two goals from set pieces and they created nothing, the same as us basically. They’re not going to win the league.”
Ozzy wasn’t the first to make such an observation, though, with former United striker Dimitar Berbatov also turning his nose up at the tactics on display at the Emirates.
Giving his post-match analysis on Amazon Prime, he said: “Probably the Premier League is the only league in the world where there are so many players around the goalkeeper who are pushing and shoving, making chaos.
“Normally it’s a foul, but not here. You need to be strong and that’s why probably he [Ruben Amorim] was watching from the side and he was like ‘What is going on with my team.’
“So you need to work on that because obviously, as we joke, Arsenal is the new Stoke City – depending on set pieces which can give you the win, like it happened today.”
The criticism is a particularly loaded one, given that Arsenal fans and their old manager Arsene Wenger used to complain about Stoke during their top flight stint from 2008 to 2018.
Wenger was seen as a proponent of attractive, passing football, with Pulis’ Stoke the opposite.
Pulis even claimed in 2020 that Wenger made a complaint asking for throw-ins to be banned by the FA, with former Stoke man Rory Delap an expert at unstoppable lobs into the area.
The Welsh manager later claimed: “Patrick Vieira told me at a coaching conference: ‘We used to hate going to Stoke. You were the only club that Wenger actually talked about and worked on before. We just couldn’t beat you.’
“Wenger came one year and complained about the grass being too long. He wrote a letter to the FA.
“The referees and the linesmen had to come and measure the grass. I know he talked about banning throw-ins and saying they shouldn’t be allowed. That was all music to our ears.”
Of course, Arteta doesn’t care about any of this, he just wants his team to win.
Speaking after the game, he was asked about set pieces.
He said: “We work on what we work. Attacking the box in various ways.
“This is a way we attack the box and we are very efficient. We will find ways to keep improving.”
However, he wasn’t too happy with the suggestion that Arsenal can only score from these sorts of situations.
“Last year, we scored the most goals in the history of this football club. Not because of only set-pieces, because of a lot of things that we have.
“We want to create individual and magic moments. A lot of players can create their own goals.
“We can create goals from short counters and long counters, slow build ups, restarts and the opportunity to open up the opposition. Every single phase of play let’s maximise it, keep working on it, keep improving.”
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