“Weak. Bullied. Men against boys” is how Jamie Carragher described Arsenal in 2021, but now that the Gunners have ousted those titles, the criticism has gone in an entirely different direction.
Criticism of Arsenal is getting tiring.
It’s petulant and distracting, but most infuriatingly, it’s the same old narrative of nitpicking at Arsenal, even when the Gunners have been, head and shoulders, the best team in the Premier League this season.
The current fixation is on set-pieces, with everyone coming out to suddenly share the opinion that being good at set-play is wrong.
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Arsenal are too strong, Arsenal are too dominant, Arsenal are over-reliant, headlines you’ll read week in and week out, but Mikel Arteta will be used to it, as the evidence shows.
Let’s rewind back to 2021, when Arsenal lost to Brentford on the opening day of the 2021/22 season.
A long throw left the Gunners scrambling, Brentford scored, and Carragher’s reaction on Sky Sports was simply, “It’s just Arsenal. Weak. Bullied. Men against boys again. New season, same old story.”
Gary Neville also chimed in to say, “There’s nothing worse than thinking your team are a little bit soft.”
He later added, “A game of football is really difficult if your centre-backs are getting messed around by the opposition forwards and that’s happened from minute one tonight.”
That’s far from the case now; in fact, it’s not only the opposite of what Arsenal do now, but it’s what Arteta’s side are being slandered for.
Past criticism about Arsenal only proves that Mikel Arteta can never win
Arsenal are no longer bullied in the box; they aren’t weak, but the criticism remains.
There’s been a set-piece-triggered hysteria since the Gunners beat Chelsea on matchday 28.
Managers have called for rule changes because of Arsenal, grappling in the box to firm authority is no longer celebrated; it’s now shunned.
To remind you, that’s the complete opposite of what Carragher and Neville slammed Arsenal for in 2021.
Arsenal fans, what’s your message to Paul Scholes after he said this?
Have no authority in the box: You’re weak and the same old Arsenal.
Have authority in the box and use set-pieces to your advantage: You’re over-reliant and ruining the game.
Arteta cannot win, and quite frankly, he doesn’t need to, as the boss made clear with his fantastic response to the set-piece criticism.
“I’m upset that we don’t score more set-piece goals!” the Arsenal manager explained.
“We want to be the best, the most dominant team in every aspect of the game.”
Arsenal are doing just that by throwing out old habits and replacing them with ones that see them lead the Premier League table. If that’s not enough, which it isn’t, then nothing will be.
And to be honest, that’s just fine.
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