Yeah. Football is also a very copycat game. Arsenal’s evolution from becoming title challengers as an exciting in your face side into this has already seen lots of the league follow elements of their game. I would love to see it not rewarded. Partly for pure footballing reasons, but partly I want other teams looking for an effective thing to copy to see a different direction to go in.
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I hope City win it because
- So fucking what.
- I don’t want their brand of dull as shit football to become the blueprint for other managers (including our own) to copy.
- A tight race keeps them from being able to throw everything at the Champions league
- Arsenal fans are particularly arrogant and entitled
- It would be really, really funny.
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Almost Spursy’esk
Point 2 is the reason why I wouldn’t like to see them win it. It’s horrible to watch, and the sad thing is they can play better than that but choose to go back to the same tactic, however they can get lost in relation to Brentford doing it.
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I’m not afraid for the future of football in this league or wherever when it comes to set-pieces.
It means that 19 clubs in the 25/26 season try to copy what Liverpool did in 24/25? Of course it’s not what happens and it’s impossible anyway. To get to the level Arsenal what they do with set-pieces it most probably needs be worked at for a few years and also have the right type of players for it. A portion of it can be improved very quickly and hopefully that’s what happens currently with us post-Briggs.
Set-pieces are an isolated phase (if we break it into 5) of the game where naturally everyone tries to come up with something that can generate more control over it, defending it and an extra way of scoring.
Whether a corner is taken short for extra combination play and trying to also aim for the second phase with good counter-pressing or direct/long, I don’t care as long as in that moment and those few seconds it brings us advantage.
Whether it’s a short throw-in or a long one, I also don’t care. I do understand if someone just by taste doesn’t like seeing Kayode catapulting a long throw into the opponent’s box.
What can also be different is the tempo before taking these set-pieces. I agree that it’s more attractive when it’s not so slow. We’ve seen Virgil sending commands to our corner taker about the pace of the process. Sometimes quicker, sometimes a bit slower.
Nobody likes aimless long balls from the back, but few teams do that anyway these days, because the game has evolved. The game is more broken into different phases. Even lower quality ones like Dyche’s Burnley or Brentford both under Frank and Andrews. What they do in possession can be totally different to what they do when the opponent starts from goal kicks (there can be a very high press, certainly not a deep block at all times), gets into midfield or in your half, both transitions. Set-pieces are the extra phase and isolated.
PSG start many of their games with a long ball out of play, deep into the opponent’s half. They want to stamp their press immediately. It lasts literally a few seconds, then the game becomes ‘normal’ again and most people agree that they’re an exciting team to watch.
I’ve heard all kind of conflicting tastes where people want more direct football, but then might dislike long passes, crosses or throws. Some might want more attractive football with the ball on the floor, but then might dislike short corners and would rather corners to be simply to “stick it in the mixer”. How does that work? It’s impossible to please everyone. People are sometimes unsure themselves about what they like or want to watch.
I don’t think teams will suddenly play a brand of football that can only increase chances of having more set-pieces, but am I surprised that it’s simply a phase of the game that was always there and football in general always tried to come up with different ways to defend/attack better? No. Regardless of the sheer amount of it this season (we’ll see how it is going forward, it cannot go up all the time), you still have variety in styles, how teams play.
And I’d say that’s the thing we all like to see.
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I just think its a fucking bland way of playing football.
Each to their own… enjoy it if you wish.
Should be in the Armchair Tactics thread?
Leave here to discuss that boring, self entitled shower of pricks?
Or the famous random football debate thread.
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I feel dirty for saying it, as they are bad cheats, but I probably want Man City to win the Prem. Just add it to the pile of other meaningless trophies they cheated their way to. And maybe it will fire Arsenal up enough to ask some questions about the 115 charges, and what’s going to happen about that.
Fingers crossed, but maybe when Guardiola steps down (summer?) there might be some action against Man City.
In another universe I would like the less cheaty team to win, which would be Arsenal. But even then, I’ve grown to dislike them so much that I can’t bring myself to wanting them to win anything. Dark arts. Arrogance. Set piece FC. Lego head out of his box.
If Arsenal win it might give them the belief to stick around as winners for a while, given their squad. If they lose, again, it just adds to the self-doubt and possibly opens the door a bit more for next season’s resurgent Liverpool.
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Their 3-1 win against us early in the new year of Klopp’s final season is one of the most complete performances I recall seeing. We were top of the league and flying. Our only loss had been the farce against Spurs in the autumn and we’d just thrashed Newcastle and Chelsea. We had every reason to think we should get a result if we played well, and we did play every bit as well as you’d expect a title challenging side to, but were still deservedly beaten by a team that just did everything a bit better. It was an incredibly impressive performance from them and I dont think they ever played in that way again against another top side.
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‘Lego head out of his box.’ … I’m not sure you meant it the way that I interpreted it , but it made me lol. 
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If it was funny, I almost certainly didn’t mean it 
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What I care about is that long throw ins are now being treated differently by officials, and they need to get a fucking grip because it’s taking the piss.
The game is being paused while the centre backs get up the pitch, the box gets loaded, all the jostling goes on, the ball gets dried and the players takes ages winding up the throw from miles away.
It’s got to the point where the referees will happily let long throw antics carry on for maybe 20-30 seconds after the point where a card would have been shown if the player was setting about a normal throw.
A throw is a throw is a throw. 10 seconds max. If you want a long one, you don’t get any more time to piss about with it.
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Yeah I agree, I’ve touched on how long the process can be.
Maybe something more can be done to speed up the game or not let that extra time wasting.
I know they changed the rule with ball boys and stuff, goal kicks, etc.
Even though I can’t say it bothers me that much, I know a game of football is 90+ minutes, that there can be things that take more time from time wasting to injuries to VAR, etc. By large, it’s still the game I fell in love with. But I know people can be less patient in general than before.
My dad who isn’t a football fan (he follows casually when Croatia play in big tournaments) tells me even when there’s a great neutral game like that Real v City drama from a few years ago, after 10 minutes of such a game, like “do you guys really watch this for 90 minutes?”.
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I don’t particularly want to see Citeh win another title, but I cannot say I am not enjoying seeing these stories pop up
Also, wtf, 18 years ago!!
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Probably in better form that side than this one.
Don’t want arsenal to win anything.
Cant stand arteta and his stupid brand of football
And their fanbase are a set of entitled assholes.
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Agree with your first two points. I really dislike the cynical dour football. The reality is that style and solid defence wins trophies though.
As for the fanbase well you could throw entitled assholes as a description to many other clubs supporters.
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Wolves posted this on their official channels
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