Jamie O’Hara says Arsenal’s reliance on set-pieces has ‘killed the Premier League’, with teams at each ends of the table now ‘copying’ the ‘boring’ Gunners.
Arsenal sit three points clear of Manchester City on the summit, well placed to finish their painful wait for the famous trophy which has eluded them for over twenty years.
A 1-0 defeat away to the champions Liverpool, through which Dominik Szoboszlafired home a dramatic late free-kick, stays Arsenal’s one and only loss at this early stage of the season.
After edging out Fulham at Craven Cottage, Mikel Arteta’s men will look to tighten their grip on top spot once they return to motion at home to Crystal Palace this weekend.
Arsenal’s defensive solidity has been a significant factor within the club’s return as a big force under Arteta, with Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba widely considered to be among the many finest centre-back pairings in European football.
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But a more general desire to get ‘back to basics’ has been central in Arteta’s pondering throughout his reign and the side’s threat from dead-ball situations has proven a useful weapon – a lot in order that a mural of set-piece coach Nicolas Jover was painted outside the Emirates last season.
Ten of Arsenal’s 15 league goals this term have come from set-pieces, which has drawn each praise and criticism from fans and pundits alike.
Giving his thoughts on Sky Sports News, ex-Tottenham midfielder O’Hara made it clear exactly where he stood regarding the added deal with set-pieces and the apparent death of ‘fluid football’.
‘I can’t stand it, I hate it. It’s killing the sport, especially the Premier League, the product,’ O’Hara asked when asked in regards to the rise of long throw-ins.
‘It’s like watching non-league for the time being, a number of the football I’m watching.
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‘Spurs on the weekend: territory football, head it out, [Kevin] Danso comes up, gets the towel out and starts throwing… it’s so one-dimensional.
‘Jamie Carragher is true, I get it, a number of the lesser teams like Brentford, should you’ve got an extended throw then it could actually cause problems and possibly create a probability.
‘However the top teams doing throw-ins? I can’t consider what I’m watching.
‘It’s all right down to Arsenal, Arsenal began this. Arsenal began the long throw, the set-pieces. They’ve killed the Premier League by way of fluid football and enjoyable football.’
Put to O’Hara that Arsenal do still play attractive football, he responded: ‘No, they don’t, they don’t.
‘Arsenal are the very best at it, set-pieces and throw-ins, Arsenal are the very best.
‘But everyone seems to be now copying what they’re doing and so they can’t do it like that.
‘I’m seeing teams do long throw-ins and so they haven’t even got an extended throw! It’s not even reaching the six-yard box. But everyone seems to be attempting to do it and it’s so one-dimensional.’
O’Hara blasted the ‘boring’ brand of football he had seen within the Premier League this season, reminding the division’s top players and coaches that they’re presupposed to be ‘the very best of the very best’.
‘What do you get from an extended throw-in? You pack the box out, you throw it and you may get a flick-on or create a probability,’ he went on.
‘But it surely’s so boring to observe and it’s so non-league. That is the Premier League we’re talking about and also you’re meant to be the very best of the very best.
‘I can understand it every so often or within the last five minutes of the sport, you wish to get the ball within the box and cause a little bit of chaos. But each time we’re long-throws: stop, start, stop, start.
‘What happened to getting the ball down, moving it quick, crosses within the box, attending to the byline?
‘Thomas Frank has been doing it at Spurs and I don’t like that. I’m not a fan of it and I believe it’s killing the Premier League.’
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