Hypocritical Arsenal Criticism Leaves Declan Rice Confused

The Gunners have faced real criticism for a perceived reliance on set pieces.

Declan Rice plays a big part in Arsenal’s set-piece supremacy. | Rob Newell/CameraSport/Getty Images

Declan Rice has hit out of ongoing criticism of Arsenal, insisting the Gunners attract unfair scrutiny for their use of set pieces simply because they are so good at them.

A total of 19 Arsenal goals have come from either corners of free kicks this season, at least five more than any other side in the Premier League and more than double the return of 10 teams in the division.

“Everyone talks about it and then everyone does it—so it’s confusing!” Rice mused to The i Paper.

“But they’re not doing it to the level that we do it. You can see that when you’re seeing teams take corners. We can still get better and that’s the good thing about it.”

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Mathys Tel Joins Long List of Critics of Modern Premier League Game

Mathys Tel is not impressed by the direction of the Premier League. | Harry Murphy/Danehouse/Getty Images

While issues with Arsenal’s tactics have been common all season, criticism has been amplified in recent weeks thanks, in part, to Liverpool manager Arne Slot.

After the Gunners saw off Chelsea 2–1 earlier this month in a game which featured three set-piece goals, Slot insisted modern soccer simply was “not a pleasure” to watch anymore as he questioned the reluctance to punish excess physicality in the box.

Slot’s comments were recently put to Tottenham Hotspur winger Mathys Tel during an appearance on ZACK, and the Frenchman did not hesitate to agree as he described the penalty box on corner kicks as a “zoo.”

“We’re all bunched together, everyone’s pushing, knocking each other to the ground, holding on to each other,” Tel lamented. “Forget it. The goalkeeper can no longer get out, he can no longer see.”

On the Premier League in general, Tel added: “I’m going to tell the truth, yes [it’s less exciting]. In the sense that it’s no longer a show, it’s really annoying to watch.

“There are fewer spectacles. There isn’t a Vinicius [Junior] pulling off a sombrero, dribbling past you, or a Kylian [Mbappé] bursting past you. Here, I’d say it’s more structured, maybe too much so, with clear ideas, all the set pieces, little details that can sometimes make the difference. But sometimes you think it might be too much.”

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Wayne Rooney: ‘Brilliant’ Arsenal Right to Play This Way

Wayne Rooney was a surprising source of praise. | Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images

While Tel cries out for a return to the style of years gone by, one of the headline acts of Premier League yesteryear jumped up to defend Arsenal’s approach.

Wayne Rooney, Manchester United’s all-time top scorer, spoke of his delight towards Arsenal’s style of play on his self-titled podcast, going as far as to claim Mikel Arteta’s side do not actually rely on set pieces enough.

“I’ve heard a lot of people talking about Arsenal and the way they’re playing but I think they’ve been brilliant,” Rooney argued. “The set pieces are part of football—why would you not use it? They put bodies in the box, if teams aren’t clever enough or haven’t got the players to deal with it, why wouldn’t Arsenal continue to do that?

“I would be doing it even more if I was Mikel Arteta. It’s part of the game and I love it. They don’t have to change anything. They maybe haven’t scored as many goals from open play as they would like but they’ve made up for it in other ways.

“The last league title [Man Utd] won, we wasn’t great as a team, but nobody is talking about that now. I don’t think Arsenal have been as bad as people are saying, I really don’t.

“I’m not saying this because I like Arsenal, I’m saying this because I think the criticism they’re received is very unfair.”

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