Football Jan 21, 2026

Thomas Gronnemark: Arsenal turn to former Liverpool and Brentford throw-in expert to improve long throws

👤
By Admin
Sports Journalist
Thomas Gronnemark: Arsenal turn to former Liverpool and Brentford throw-in expert to improve long throws

Thomas Gronnemark is working with Arsenal as a long-throw coach.

The Danish coach previously worked as Liverpool's throw-in coach under Jurgen Klopp between 2018 and 2023, while he also worked for Brentford as a throw-in coach on a consultancy basis for the previous three seasons.

Your Site News understands Gronnemark is working with Arsenal as a consultant and not in a full-time role.

At Brentford, Gronnemark helped the Bees become the best long-throw team in the Premier League, with the west Londoners scoring nine goals since the start of last season. Arsenal have failed to score any in that period.

The move for Gronnemark continues a growing link between Arsenal and Brentford in terms of coaching staff.

Mikel Arteta has hired two former Brentford set-piece coaches in Nicolas Jover and Andreas Georgson, who is now at Tottenham with Thomas Frank.

Arsenal also have former Brentford goalkeeper coach Inaki Cana working with former Bees goalkeeper David Raya.

"We want to be the kings of everything," said Mikel Arteta last year. "In corners, best in the world. In open play, the best in the world." Now Arsenal are moving to be the kings of the long throw.

Like most of the Premier League, Arsenal have moved to long throws in a bid to reap marginal gains from set pieces. Declan Rice and Riccardo Calafiori have been tasked with long throws from either side, but have struggled to create meaningful chances from them.

Christian Norgaard is perhaps deemed Arsenal's most effective long-throw taker but has struggled for minutes in the Premier League this season.

So Arsenal have turned to Gronnemark in a bid to improve in this area. Given what he did at Brentford, it's not a bad idea.

Gronnemark took several Brentford players and turned them into what he describes as "world-class long throwers". Michael Kayode is the obvious example, but the likes of Mathias Jensen and Kevin Schade have also developed into top throwers for the Bees.

The fact that Jensen and Schade - both technical players with their feet - can be turned into effective set-piece weapons with their hands shows how effective the Dane is at developing long throwers.

Arteta has earmarked Rice as a potential world-class long thrower himself, based on the Arsenal midfielder's ability to pick up new skills quickly.

"I don't know how good [Kayode] was a year ago, or two years ago or three years ago," said Arteta last month. "I know how good Declan was at taking set pieces three or four years ago and I know how good he is now.

"It does not happen overnight. Things have to be trained, evolved and tweaked. And the player has to believe as well, which is key. When you look at Declan, he can do almost everything you require him to do."

With Thomas Tuchel also looking into long throws as an option for his England team, Gronnemark's move to Arsenal could help the national team in the World Cup next summer, as well as Arteta's Arsenal pick up trophies

But the crucial thing with Gronnemark is he is not just a long-throw expert. Klopp hired him at Liverpool in 2018 because he wanted to use throw-ins as a weapon to attack transitions. The Dane refers to them as "fast and clever" throw-ins.

So Arsenal are turning to their throw-in coach to improve all areas of the game. But if they can add throw-ins to their corner, free-kick and open-play proficiency, then Arteta's side could go up a gear in the second half of the season.

Tags:

football news

Share this article

Related Posts

Bruno Fernandes brilliant for Man Utd as he breaks creativity record in derby win over Man City at Old Trafford

Bruno Fernandes brilliant for Man Utd as he breaks creativity record in derby win over Man City at Old Trafford

Welcome to , a Your Site column in which uses a blend of data and opinion to reflect on some of the key stories from the latest Premier League match...

Nick Woltemade struggling to fill Alexander Isak void at Newcastle - Hits and misses

Nick Woltemade struggling to fill Alexander Isak void at Newcastle - Hits and misses

Nick Woltemade made an instant impact in September, scoring on his Newcastle debut against Wolves. He left Molineux four months later knowing he shou...

Ref Watch LIVE! Premier League, EFL and Scottish Premiership incidents analysed by Dermot Gallagher and Jay Bothroyd

Ref Watch LIVE! Premier League, EFL and Scottish Premiership incidents analysed by Dermot Gallagher and Jay Bothroyd

'Not on the cheap' | What chance of Palace selling Mateta?Wheatley nearing Bradford loan moveLatest from Your Site News' Dan Khan: Manchester Uni...

Scotland: World Cup warm-up games against Japan and Curacao confirmed at Hampden Park as Steve Clarke's side countdown to finals

Scotland: World Cup warm-up games against Japan and Curacao confirmed at Hampden Park as Steve Clarke's side countdown to finals

Scotland will face Japan and Curacao in their two home friendlies ahead of the World Cup.The match against Japan - who were the first nation to qualif...

Next Man Utd manager: Luis Enrique, Julian Nagelsmann and Thomas Tuchel among Jamie Carrgher picks for Old Trafford role

Next Man Utd manager: Luis Enrique, Julian Nagelsmann and Thomas Tuchel among Jamie Carrgher picks for Old Trafford role

Jamie Carragher has outlined his four-man shortlist to be the next Manchester United head coach, suggesting that their next permanent boss must be a c...

The Premier League players attracting loan interest from the the Championship in this transfer window

The Premier League players attracting loan interest from the the Championship in this transfer window

The transfer window is in full swing and as ever Championship clubs are looking to the Premier League for players on the periphery that could be avail...