Arsenal's Evolution: From Set Piece FC to Dominant Force
Arsenal’s title defence has barely begun, but the message from Mikel Arteta is already clear: this version of his team is not content with being “Set Piece FC” anymore.
Three games, three wins, all goals from open play. The champions have started fast, and they’ve started with flair.
From dead balls to dominance
Last season, Arsenal’s reputation from corners and free-kicks became a running joke and a genuine weapon. This year, the focus has shifted. The control is still there, but it’s wrapped in something more expansive, more expressive.
“I like a lot what I’ve seen from the team so far,” Arteta said ahead of the trip to the Stadium of Light. He wasn’t just talking about pretty football. “For sure, it’s for flair but also just making sure what happens on the pitch is what we want. And having that dominance and control and threat in our minds.”
This is evolution by design. Arteta spoke about specific areas of the game that Arsenal have targeted, the subtle tweaks that allow them to look more fluid without losing their edge.
“It’s the way we have to continue and evolve in certain areas and that is an area that we have put a lot of emphasis into and now we have a lot of players back.”
The intent is ruthless. The manager wants his team to keep turning the screw.
“The opportunities and synergies that we create with the team are much stronger and we’re going to continue to be like that. That’s always the intention,” he said. The standard, though, is not fixed. “Sometimes it’s the level of the opponents, sometimes the level of execution and that has to increase as well to be much more efficient and dominant throughout the games and we will continue to do that.”
The bar is high. Arteta wants it higher.
Havertz at the heart of the shift
A key reason this Arsenal side looks different lies in the way Kai Havertz is playing. The German forward has always been difficult to pin down positionally; now he’s becoming even harder to pin down tactically.
He drifts. He links. He finishes. He creates.
Havertz has been “in scintillating form,” as the numbers and performances suggest, contributing goals and chances from a variety of roles across the frontline. Opposition defenders can’t quite grab hold of him, and neither can opposition managers when they sit down to plan.
For Arteta, the explanation is simple: brain power.
“The best position is in relation to what the game demands and what the team demands on the day,” the Arsenal boss explained. “To be as efficient as possible, as unpredictable as possible.”
Then came the real endorsement.
“Kai is extremely intelligent, that's his biggest quality. He understands the game, he's five, ten seconds ahead of the game, he knows what he's having, he doesn't need to think about it, he just acts. And he just makes the people around him better, which is another massive quality.”
That blend of instinct and understanding has turned Havertz into the hinge of Arsenal’s attacking play. He’s not just floating between lines; he’s stitching them together.
“On top of that, he's scoring goals, he's producing chances, his work rate, as we all know, is just outstanding. And he's in a great emotional state at the moment.”
A confident Havertz, in this kind of system, is a problem for everyone else in the league.
Konsa’s instant command at the back
While the front line has been grabbing the attention, the rebuild at the back has been just as important. Ezri Konsa’s arrival from Aston Villa for £55 million has already started to reshape the tone of Arsenal’s defence.
He hasn’t just slotted in. He has stepped up.
The England defender has brought a new layer of leadership to the backline, and Arteta made a point of highlighting how unusual that is for a new signing at a club with title expectations.
“It's certainly something to admire because it's not easy at all and you should not take it for granted,” he said. The manager had done his homework. “But after talking to a lot of people that have worked with him, whether staff members or players, I already had a sense the way everybody was talking about him.”
What did he hear? The same themes, over and over.
“That he's a person that is great at gathering people together. He has a real personality, a lot of leadership skills.”
The impression Konsa made on day one has clearly stuck with Arteta.
“And you saw the first day, he just trained the way he was talking, the way he was presenting himself. It was very impressive and so far he's done a really good job.”
Free-flowing in attack, louder and more assured at the back, Arsenal head to the Stadium of Light playing like a side that knows exactly what it wants to be. The question now is not whether this evolution is real, but how far – and how fast – it can carry them through another title race.
