{"id":499491,"date":"2026-03-02T15:30:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T15:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/499491\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T15:30:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T15:30:07","slug":"arne-slot-on-set-pieces-premier-league-games-not-a-joy-to-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/499491\/","title":{"rendered":"Arne Slot on set-pieces: Premier League games not a joy to watch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liverpool<\/a> manager Arne Slot says most Premier League games are no longer a “joy to watch” and his “football heart doesn’t like” the emphasis on set-pieces this season.<\/p>\n

Of the total scored in the league this season, 27.5% have been non-penalty set-piece goals – the second-highest rate since 2009-10.<\/p>\n

Arsenal<\/a>‘s prowess from set-pieces has been a key part of their title challenge, with their 16 goals from corners – three more than anyone else – equalling the most in a Premier League season.<\/p>\n

All three of Liverpool<\/a>‘s goals in the first half of their 5-2 win against West Ham United<\/a> on Saturday came from corners.<\/p>\n

Set-piece coach Aaron Briggs left Anfield<\/a> on 30 December and Slot’s side have scored the most goals in the league from set-pieces in 2026, excluding penalties.<\/p>\n

“You have to accept it,” said Slot. “I think it’s mainly here in the Premier League. If I watch other leagues I don’t think there’s so much emphasis on set-pieces. <\/p>\n

“If I watch an Eredivisie game, which I still do, I see goals being disallowed and fouls on goalkeepers being given and I think ‘wow, that’s a big difference’. Here, you can almost hit a goalkeeper in his face and the referee still says ‘just go on’.<\/p>\n

“Do I like it? My football heart doesn’t like it. If you ask me about football, I think about the Barcelona team from 10, 15 years ago. Every Sunday evening you were hoping they would play.<\/p>\n

“Now, most of the games I see in the Premier League are not for me a joy to watch but it’s always interesting because it’s so competitive. <\/p>\n

“That is what makes this league great because there is so much competitiveness. Everyone can win against everyone.”<\/p>\n

Slot accepted that set-pieces are the “new reality of the Premier League” and believes it could even become a theme at junior level.<\/p>\n

“We aren’t going to change it,” added the Dutchman as he previewed Tuesday’s game against Wolverhampton Wanderers<\/a>. <\/p>\n

“I just wouldn’t be surprised if you went to watch a Sunday League match now and the 16-year-olds were completely focused on set-pieces.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liverpool manager Arne Slot says most Premier League games are no longer a “joy to watch” and his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-499491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}