Declan Rice: People Are Looking For Fouls In Our Set-Piece Routines

By The Editor
on 30th September 2024

Declan Rice hits back at “cheat” claims…

Arsenal general Declan Rice believes onlookers are going out of their way to look for fouls in our set-piece routines as we continue our tradition of being dangerous from dead-ball situations, The Standard reports.

The Gunners secured an injury-time winner against Leicester City from a corner after Leandro Trossard directed Bukayo Saka’s sensational delivery towards goal.

Wilfried Ndidi eventually deflected the ball in his net before Kai Havertz bundled in a fourth to make the scoreline look more pretty.

However, Arsenal’s set-piece potency was once again the discussion after the game as we scored from a corner for a third consecutive league game.

The movement our players make towards the opposition keeper has made many uncomfortable and while the PGMOL have introduced new rules regarding ‘blocking’, Rice believes our practices are legal.

“I think we do a little bit of work [on the delivery of set-pieces] when we can,” the 25-year-old was quoted as saying after the Leicester City game.

“Obviously with the game schedule, it is really tough to get onto the grass and really practice, so we just have internal discussions about what we are going to do.

“Look, there is always going to be conversations about us blocking and making fouls, but I think the goals we have scored from set-pieces this season, I don’t think there has been one foul involved.

“Sometimes people look for a foul or people are mentioning that we are cheating in a way on set-pieces because we are blocking, but it’s part of the game. Teams do it to us and we are just trying to exploit other teams’ weaknesses,” Rice added.

Nicolas Jover, our set-piece coach, certainly deserves his flowers for constantly evolving our routines from corners, especially with how little time the team has to prepare for games.

Other squads have set-piece coaches too, but not many have a player in Bukayo Saka who can consistently deliver the ball with the right trajectory to the exact same spot.

Also, few have the plethora of height we have across our team with the likes of William Saliba, Gabriel and Kai Havertz attacking the ball.