Martin Ødegaard lifting the Premier League trophy was a defining image for a generation of Arsenal fans. For months the club and their manager Mikel Arteta have endured debate, mockery and second-guessing, yet none of that changes what matters most: they finished top of the table.
Critics have labelled Arsenal’s football unattractive, nicknamed them ‘Set‑Piece FC’ and accused them of getting lucky with refereeing. That noise is loud, but it ignores the reality of how the season was won. Arsenal have led the division since October and did the hard work week in, week out to take the crown.
Some pundits were particularly scathing — one claimed they would be the “worst Premier League title winners ever” — and social media still throws up the VAR jokes. Even rival managers have pointed to the proportion of set‑piece goals as unusual. But trophies are not awarded for style points: they are given for results.
There are sensible reasons behind some of Arsenal’s perceived limitations. Injuries hammered their attacking continuity: Ødegaard, the creative heartbeat of the team, has played 45 minutes or more in the league just 12 times this season. The longest run an Arsenal front four managed in all competitions was only three matches, and their most effective front three — Bukayo Saka, Viktor Gyökeres and Leandro Trossard — have only started together 14 times in the league. That lack of sustained attacking cohesion helps explain why Arsenal sometimes looked less fluent than others.
Opponents also adjusted to Arsenal’s strengths. Teams routinely crowded the box to deny space in the final third; Arsenal led the league in open‑play shots taken when the opposition had nine or more players in the penalty area. From those crowded positions they converted 12 goals from 112 such shots — the most in the division — showing that Arsenal found ways to hurt teams even when space was scarce. Leandro Trossard’s winner at West Ham, created by Ødegaard’s vision, was a perfect example of scoring through the congestion that many teams tried to impose.
Arteta has been clear about managing expectations given the squad’s resources and injuries. He argued that with the personnel available, chasing 100 goals or a 35‑goal scorer wasn’t realistic; instead, the team maximised the areas where they could be elite, including set‑pieces and defensive organisation. That pragmatic approach is not cheating — it is optimizing the route to victory within the limits the season handed them.
Some observers have criticised Arsenal’s use of physical contact at corners, labelling it unsporting. Yet the Gunners finished the season without a single red card and conceded no penalties, which underlines that their discipline was not the problem critics claimed. If games are tight and margins small, winning and shutting out opponents becomes a premium.
That defensive solidity shows up in results. Arsenal recorded seven 1‑0 wins this season; the only Premier League result more common overall was Manchester City’s 3‑0 scoreline. There’s historical precedent at the club for grinding out narrow victories — a reminder of earlier eras where defensive resilience defined title successes. Since losing consecutive games in April, Arsenal went six matches without conceding from open play, a run that included two Champions League semi‑finals and games to close out the title.
Their Champions League campaign — unbeaten until the final and a test other English sides failed to pass this season — reinforced that this Arsenal can compete on Europe’s biggest stage as well as domestically.
No one is suggesting Arsenal are the greatest title winners in Premier League history. They didn’t dominate possession like some champions and they didn’t have a runaway top scorer in the Golden Boot race. But winning a league is about consistency, squad management, staying fit and finding ways to win when plans are disrupted. By those measures, Arteta’s team were the best over 38 games.
Trophies silence critics more effectively than words. Arteta and his squad have answered plenty of doubters by delivering silverware. Fans will celebrate all summer, and rightly so. Style will always spark arguments — but in football, results are the final arbiter. Arsenal gave their supporters a title, and that achievement stands on its own.