The rise of set pieces has been the story of the season so far. Premier League leaders Arsenal are masters of it under manager Mikel Arteta, and it didn’t take long for many sides to adopt their style.
Free-kicks, long throws and corners are now vital to success and fans are split as to whether it is ruining the beautiful game or changing it for the better.
In an interview with The Athletic, Clichy believes football needs to be drastically changed to suit the modern game as the average fan is becoming frustrated with what they are seeing on the pitch.
“Unless we change the rules to encourage teams to play offensive football (that could become a problem). Say you are losing 4-2 but scoring a third goal in a game counts as 0.5 points. It means you can still get something out of it rather than a team defending, which is counterproductive to the love of the game.
“Every time there is something in place, it is hard to make changes. When you talk about what I just said about 0.5 points or a throw-in becoming a kick-in, people are going to laugh, but remember a few decades ago when you could pass the ball back and forth with the goalkeeper (picking the ball up)?
"The person who proposed (changing that) that probably got laughed at too, because change is uncomfortable.”
The BBC reported that a record 19% of all Premier League goals (3 weeks ago) were scored from corners (45 of 241), the highest share in the competition's history. Arsenal are leading the race in set pieces and as they continue to create chances, more and more voices will come out and potentially back Clichy’s wild ideas.
The Gunners Tottenham in the north London derby at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, where they will not hold back on set pieces despite many teams knowing their tactics.