Fans quickly realized a new Arsenal strategy against MU in the first round of the Premier League.
The two giants encountered at Old Trafford with a series of rookies debuting. But more remarkable is the appearance of a new rule applied, directly affecting the plan of coach Mikel Arteta.
According to the newly enacted law, the goalkeeper is required to drop the ball for up to 8 seconds. If you keep longer, the enemy team will enjoy a corner.
And the master of the fixed situation at Arteta immediately tried to “circumvent the law” with a bold trick.
In order to delay MU's football situations, the Arsenal players stood in turn to goalkeeper Altay Bayindir whenever he had the ball in his hand. The intention is forcing the Turkish goalkeeper to keep the ball for a long time, cross the 8 seconds and give Arsenal a corner.
Since the beginning of the 2023/24 season, Arsenal has scored 31 goals from the corner situations in the Premier League – 11 more goals than the following team Liverpool. Obviously coach Arteta considers to earn an additional 1 to 2 corners as a worthy effort.
However, referee Simon Hooper quickly realized Arsenal's intentions. He asked the players to stay away from Bayindir before starting to count down his clock.
Although not successful, Arsenal's “play” still made the fans both funny and annoyed:
- One commented: “Just to have a small advantage that they do all kinds of ways.”
- Others sarcastically: “One more season, Arsenal collided with the goalkeeper and defender in corner situations.”
- There are fans who briefly said: “Too typical”.
- Another added: “Deliberately slowing our goalkeeper just to earn an extra corner.”
Anyway, Arsenal still get what I need is the first 3 points in the Premier League 2025/26 to start smoothly.
