Graeme Souness critical of Arsenal’s set-piece strategy: ‘You block anyone on the pitch…’

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3 min readUpdated: Mar 21, 2026 07:25 PM IST

Arsenal Arsenal team in action. (FILE photo)

Former Liverpool boss Graeme Souness was critical of Arsenal’s set-piece tactics but also predicted them to win the Premier League trophy. The Gunners are at the top of the table with 70 points from 31 games, which is 10 points more than Manchester City, who are placed in second spot with 60 points from 31 games.

“Arsenal get away with a hell of a lot by crowding goalkeepers and blocking goalkeepers. You block anyone on the pitch, anywhere else on the pitch – a centre-half half blocks a centre forward as he’s trying to make a run – and that’s a foul. ‘I just think we’ve got daft referees. We’ve got poor referees who don’t really understand the game. They know all the rules from the first page to the last one, but nuances of the game they don’t get,” said Souness to Daily Mail.

“I love the term ‘free-kick guru’. Their guru [Jover] is all about fouling the goalkeeper. That’s as simple as, black and white. Now, of course, there’s people like Gabriel, Saliba who are really brave and will put their heads where most people wouldn’t put their feet, and they attack these balls that Declan Rice whips in, and they’re great quality.”

Mikel Arteta, speaking ahead of the Premier League game against Brighton, said he was upset that his team did not score from the set-pieces. “I am upset we haven’t scored more and that we have conceded [from set-pieces] as well. We want to be the best and most dominant team in every aspect of the game. That is the trajectory and the aim of this team,” Arteta said.

“Teams are adapting, teams know after every sequence of play – whether it is a throw-in, a restart of play, an open-pitch situation – after that, they know exactly what they have to do and everything is almost man to man. So it is not going to be a different game, unless we change the rules, because the evolution of the game is that,” he added.

Speaking of the league winner Souness said: “I think Arsenal will win the league.” [On quadruple] No, but they’re a pragmatic team. They know how to win football matches, and it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But I’ve won leagues and were we always the prettiest outfit? No, we just got the job done. And no one will remember how we did it,” he further added.

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