Theo Walcott says Arsenal players will now be talking about something that they shouldn't
Arsenal have had a very decent start to the new season.
The Gunners have won every single game bar the 3-0 thrashing at Brighton, and they still remain the favourites to win the Premier League title.
However, Mikel Arteta will know very well how much room there is for his side to improve, and we’re sure he will be working on it throughout this international break.
One such area is set pieces, a department Arsenal have been better than most other teams on the planet in previous seasons. Things have been different this time around.
Theo Walcott thinks Arsenal players will be talking about set-piece problems
Arsenal were often labelled as ‘Set-Piece FC’ over the last few years because of how good they were from corners and free-kicks.
Nicolas Jover had turned the Gunners into one of the best teams in the world in that department, so much so that opponents were scared to concede corners during games.
However, this season, Arsenal have scored 16 goals in all competitions, but not a single one has come from a set-piece situation. Nobody would’ve guessed that before a ball was kicked this term.
The improvement in open-play goals is definitely a massive positive, but Theo Walcott believes players will be second-guessing their ability from set-pieces now, even though the coaching staff won’t want them to be talking about it.
He said on talkSPORT: “I even look at him (Arteta) now, and I know it’s really early, but it looks like a stressful environment already.
“You look at the set-piece side of things, it hasn’t really happened yet. We scored a lot of set-pieces at this stage last season, five games in. That hasn’t happened yet. Take that away, and the players will be thinking: “Are we doing something right?”
“You don’t want the players to start having those conversations, but deep down they will be, because it hasn’t quite gone to plan.”
Nicolas Jover needs to step up for Arsenal
Jover has earned nothing but praise in recent seasons, but he needs to prove himself again after a difficult start to this season.
Arsenal have barely even come close to scoring from a set-piece this season, which is odd considering that Declan Rice, Gabriel Magalhaes and Bukayo Saka have all been involved regularly.
The new rules around grappling inside the box may well have limited the Gunners’ ability, but they should be doing a lot more to find the net in those situations.
Hopefully, this three-week international break would’ve given Jover all the time and data he needs to make Arsenal the best set-piece team in world football again.