Fabian Hurzeler has a point about Arsenal — but Arne Slot will get his Liverpool wish eventually
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Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler didn't hold back when criticizing Arsenal, with Liverpool head coach Arne Slot also not particularly keen on how the Premier League has changedFabian Hurzeler and Arne Slot.(Image: Getty Images)Arne Slot has been more than willing to speak his mind on set-pieces this season. Liverpool did not see that coming and is playing catch-up; Arsenal looks set to win the league off the back of it.READ MORE: Liverpool USA pre-season tour confirmed as Arne Slot's side to play WrexhamREAD MORE: Virgil van Dijk details 'angry' Arne Slot reaction to Wolves loss with blunt Liverpool verdictFundamentally, Arteta believed that he couldn't beat Manchester City at their own game, so he changed the trajectory and focused on what he knew his players could come out on top in.There is a strong argument that Arsenal, with players like Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Eberechi Eze and Declan Rice, could actually play a much more expansive game — only Manchester City has scored more goals from open play this season — but it has, unequivocally, gone down a different path.Arsenal is set-piece focused and clever with time-wasting, but if it leads to a first Premier League title in 22 years, it will of course have been a success.
In the long term, though, the set-piece obsession across the division is not here to stay.Just as under-11s teams across the country now split their center-backs and play out from the back like a Guardiola team, the game takes note of trends and patterns, consciously or otherwise.Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta(Image: Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)As a result of Arsenal being successful with set-pieces and turning the Premier League into a disrupted and stunted spectacle, plus the likes of Brentford, who have been heading down this route for some time, more and more sides have got involved.Pretty much everyone else has slowly helped edge the Premier League further and further towards set-pieces by copying the trend. As a result of that creeping in, every corner or throw-in now takes 30 seconds to a minute."Let’s hope the one that wins the World Cup has a great style of play, wins it by scoring open-play goal after open-play goal and doesn’t win it for a different reason," Slot said ahead of the trip to Wolves.Even Liverpool, though, has needed to get on board with the set-piece trend to turn its results around.
In a way, if you can't beat them, join them.Mikel Arteta and Arne Slot shake hands before the Premier League clash between Arsenal and Liverpool.(Image: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)There is an argument that if Arsenal wins the Premier League this season, that will be vindication. For ultimately financial reasons if nothing else, it is in the Premier League's interest — not just Hurzeler and Liverpool's — to turn the tide back towards matches that you actually want to watch.