Sunderland moved their advertising hoardings for Arsenal’s visit, in a change that seemed to be driven more by media narratives than tactical analysis.
Fans watching Arsenal’s game away to Sunderland on Saturday noticed that the hosts appeared to have shifted the location of some of their advertising hoardings.
Though the digital hoardings on one side of the pitch remained in their usual position, the hoardings on the other side seemed to be slightly closer to the touchline.
Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris admitted as much afterwards, saying: “Yeah (moving the hoardings was part of the plan), we tried to find the details to win the game and they are really strong on set pieces.
“We were good as well. It was something obvious that this threat was really important for this game, and in the end it was balanced.”
The media loved it, with plenty of headlines touting the change as one of the reasons why Sunderland ultimately secured a draw. But is that really true?
The reality is, Arsenal aren’t very good at long throws, as most of their current takers struggle to get the ball to go far enough. Riccardo Calafiori is perhaps the best of the starters, but he’s still a bit hit and miss.
Christian Norgaard is undoubtedly a good long-throw taker, but he’s not a starter and didn’t feature in the match. On the other hand, Sunderland actually do have quite a good long throw, and the advertising hoardings were just as close to the pitch for them as for the away side.
The alteration feels like a decision based on the media narrative about Arsenal at the moment, rather than any tactical insight.
Anyone who has been watching the Gunners this season would be aware that the current team have never scored from a long throw. That’s not the case for Sunderland, who scored from one against Chelsea just a fortnight earlier.
Arsenal are undeniably good at set-pieces, but that’s with regards to corners and free-kicks.
It’s tempting for the media to lump long throw-ins into the mix, given they’re becoming increasingly popular throughout the Premier League. So if you just read the talk online ahead of a game, you may well want to move your advertising hoardings in a bit.
But in the end, the change probably impacted the home side more than it affected Arsenal. The Gunners’ lack of a goal from a long throw on Saturday was par for the course.