Arsenal were beaten at Liverpool on Sunday and Peter Schmeichel has called out their over reliance on set pieces as he took aim at their negative brand of football
Peter Schmeichel has hammered Arsenal for their “ugly brand of football” which is “so annoying to watch” after they were beaten at Liverpool on Sunday.
The Gunners were looking to snap their poor record at Anfield with their last win coming back when Mikel Arteta was playing for them. It took a stunning Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick to down the north Londoners, but their performance has copped criticism from several onlookers.
Arsenal have been accused of lacking the element of risk in their game with much of their threat coming courtesy of set pieces, where they’ve enjoyed huge success. Some claim that Arteta’s side are living off the possibilities that come from corners and free-kicks.
Schmeichel is among those to find the Gunners a difficult side to watch and claimed that much of their gameplan centres around them trying to win set pieces – which didn’t pay off against Liverpool.
He said on Viaplay: “I have never in my life ever wanted a team to win a game of football more than Liverpool today. Arsenal bring an ugly brand of football to our game!”
READ MORE: Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher agree on Liverpool after surviving Arsenal scareREAD MORE: Gary Neville hammers ‘same old Arsenal’ and aims brutal dig after Liverpool defeat
The ex-Manchester United goalkeeper also claimed: “I don’t want to insult Arsenal but their brand of football is so annoying to watch, it’s designed to exploit opponents while waiting for set pieces.”
Arsenal’s winner in their opening weekend win at Old Trafford came from a corner. That was also the route they used to open the scoring against Leeds before the floodgates opened eight days ago. Gary Neville was also critical of the way the Gunners refused to go after a winner at Liverpool, before being hit with a late sucker punch.
He said on commentary: “Same old, same old for those Arsenal fans – they’ve seen this before. They look comfortable in a big game, but at this moment in time haven’t got that risk in their game, that courage to go and think they can win.”
Arsenal have been regarded as set piece specialists for well over a year, and that has helped them win several big games, but on multiple occasions they’ve been criticised for being unable to play through teams. Their set piece success dwarfs the rest of the Premier League, but they were unable to enjoy much joy in the final third at Liverpool on Sunday.
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