Arsenal’s reputation for delays, dark arts and set-piece dependency have been underscored by the latest statistics regarding ball-in-play time across the current Premier League season.
Mikel Arteta’s side—whose fans have taken to singing “set piece again, olé, olé”—have left a glut of embittered opponents in their wake cursing the amount of time which goes behind each dead-ball delivery.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot notably called these tactics a “f------ joke” last season while Manchester City defender John Stones wasn’t too impressed either.
“I wouldn’t say they have mastered it, but they have done it for a few years now, so we knew to expect that,” the England centre back sighed after a particularly prickly meeting with the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium last term. “You can call it clever or dirty, whichever way you want to put it. But they break up the game, which upsets the rhythm. They use it to their advantage.”
These delays are exacerbated at set-play situations. Throughout the first seven weeks of the new Premier League season, Arsenal have taken a combined 40 minutes and six seconds to prepare for corner kicks, at least 11 minutes and 12 seconds more than any other team in England’s top flight, per Opta.
Slowest Set Piece Takers in the Premier League
Data via Opta. Correct as of Oct. 15, 2025.
Arsenal win more corners than any other team in the division, but their pondering is still played out when ratios are considered; the Gunners need an average of 45.4 seconds to set up a corner. Only newly promoted Sunderland (49.5) can top that yawning delay.
Manchester City, by comparison, require just 29.1 seconds to prepare for each corner kick. However, Arsenal are making the most of these delays.
Arsenal’s Set-Piece Prowess Masks Creative Concerns
Arsenal’s dead-ball dominance has almost reached a point of over-saturation. Such is the fame of dedicated set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, the TV cameras have taken to zooming in on him while he wildly gesticulates from the touchline. A fan-led mural of the self-styled corner expert in north London seems slightly overblown.
Nevertheless, despite having several years to try and work out a way to combat Arsenal’s approach from these scenarios, no one has managed to stop them yet.
Arteta’s side have already amassed a league-high seven set-piece goals this season—as many as Manchester City managed across the entirety of the previous campaign. However, while Pep Guardiola’s side continue to create chances from open play, Arsenal have struggled to be as dangerous without the time to prepare for a set piece.
The current Premier League leaders boast the seventh-best open-play xG tally this season, creating opportunities of lower quality than the likes of Crystal Palace, Brighton & Hove Albion as well as Ruben Amorim’s routinely ridiculed Manchester United.
The defiantly patient possession side create a fair few chances, yet the quality of these openings are rarely clear-cut given how often teams are willing to position their packed rearguards behind the ball. The long-term absence of creator-in-chief Martin Ødegaard will not help these struggles for fluency.
Given how much of their attacking threat is reliant upon set-piece situations, it’s little wonder that Arsenal take so long over them.
Stats via Opta. Correct as of Oct. 15, 2025.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Arsenal’s Unwanted Reputation Justified by Damning Statistics.
