Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has likened the current state of the Premier League to facing Tony Pulis’s old Stoke City side.
This season has seen a significant spike in goals from dead-ball situations, with nearly 19% of all league goals originating from corners, a figure almost 5% higher than in any previous year on record.
While Guardiola defended the right of managers to adopt any tactical approach, he noted the increasing trend.
The Spanish manager saw his team concede from a set piece in their last game against Aston Villa, where they lost 1-0.
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What Guardiola said about set pieces
Speaking ahead of his team’s Carabao Cup clash, he said, “It’s true that people use every throw-in like a corner and put 10 players there in the box,” Guardiola observed.
“We suffered when we played at Brentford, or look at Brentford against Liverpool… every action [Michael] Kayode put in the box. And Kayode was the man of the match.”
“Today, set pieces are a threat. I remember a long time ago with Sean Dyche at Burnley. Burnley were an incredible threat with long balls and second balls. Dyche is one of the best by far at these kinds of aspects,” he said.
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Pep Guardiola, Man City boss || Imago
“It’s not new,” he continued. “Or Sam Allardyce. Or I remember when I was not here, Stoke City. Do you remember Stoke City when they made the throws? Now it’s just more and more teams doing that, but back then, maybe Stoke was the exception.”
Guardiola recalled discussions from his time at Barcelona and Bayern Munich about the unique challenge of playing at Stoke.
“Arsene Wenger talked about going to play at Stoke City, but now it happens a lot of times,” he explained.
“Maybe it didn’t happen much when I arrived, maybe just at Burnley, but now it’s a fact. And you have to pay attention. But still, I dream to play.”
