A moment of joy. Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard got his hands on the Premier League trophy and lifted it in scenes that will define a generation and an era for the football club.
All season, fans, pundits, analysts and experts have put in their tuppence about Mikel Arteta’s side this season.
Their style of play has been branded “unwatchable”, they have been given the tag ‘Set-Piece FC’ – yet none of that matters when you get your hands on the trophy.
Arsenal have faced their so-called critics despite being consistently top of the table since October.
Earlier this year, Paul Scholes said they would be the “worst Premier League title winners ever”. The notion that Arsenal do not have a clear enough ‘Premier League Player of the Season’ winner has been used as a stick to bash the Gunners with.
It follows criticism throughout the season about their style – the comments made by Fabian Hurzeler about Arsenal’s time-wasting in March appearing to be the height of those complaints. Arteta sarcastically responded: “What a surprise” – a sign he was getting fed up of the criticism of his team.
Even in the days since their title win was confirmed, there have been plenty of comments on social media about how ‘VARsenal’ won the title due to fortunate refereeing decisions.
It included Liverpool head coach Arne Slot having a thinly-veiled dig at Arteta’s Arsenal this week. “Congratulations to them,” he said. “But for me they have been a different champion to the last 10 seasons. It is the first time in 30 years that 40 per cent of goals had come from set-pieces.”
None of that will matter to Arteta, his players and staff – nor the Arsenal supporters whose title celebrations will carry on all summer.
Yes, they did not always show the attacking verve of Manchester City, or have the crucial goalscorer at the top of the Golden Boot rankings. But they did enough in front of goal to win the league – especially when criticism about their style of play has not totally been their own fault.
