Arsenal: 3 areas Mikel Arteta must find improvement to gain Champions League football

2. Defending set-pieces

Arteta has substantially improved Arsenal’s defending in open play. Their pressing has been excellent, the distances between the midfield and defence are much smaller, making the entire team harder to play through, while there is a greater focus among the backline, something that has been problematic in the past.

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However, one area where Arsenal have struggled is defending set-pieces. In fact, in all competitions, the Gunners have conceded 12 goals since Arteta took over. Eight of those have come from set-pieces, including Jorginho’s penalty in the 2-2 draw in January.

These include four successive goals from corners or wide set-pieces against Everton and Olympiakos in which the aerial threat of the opposition caused Arsenal fits, the marking painfully lax and uncoordinated. Crystal Palace scored from a freekick, Jorginho scored another after a dreadful Bernd Leno error, while Cesar Azpilicueta scored from a corner.

Much of the responsibility is on the players. They are the ones on the pitch. They must be attentive to potential dangers and correctly organise themselves. However, the culture of being focused, recognising threats, and executing at a high level comes from the manager. It is too early for Arteta to take the blame for this, of course, but Arsenal will not finish in the top five if they continue conceding from set-pieces at the rate they have been.