We’re a fickle bunch, aren’t we? Not long ago rage against Pep Guardiola’s tiki-taka was in vogue with passing out the back trickling down to League Two.
Now Arsenal are doing us dirty, flooding the six-yard box for corners, scoring from a joint-record 16 of them, and leaving Tony Pulis wondering if he’d be a Premier League title-winning manager were he born 20 years later.
Arsenal get blamed for games they aren’t even playing – that’s when you know you’ve made it – while the hate only gets louder the closer they edge to a first league title for 22 years.
It’s March, Arsenal are still fighting on four fronts, and yet what has proven contagious across the Premier League has also been deemed boring. Sky Sports ushered in Yaya Toure on Sunday, seemingly from an Emirates hospitality box, and he spat out truths against the product that very broadcaster is trying to sell.
“I feel a bit disappointed… We see three goals by set-pieces, for a derby it’s strange,” he said, looking exasperated, and with his woolly hat on, as if he would rather be heading home. “Winning was important for Arsenal, but as a fan I want to see more.”
"I'm a bit disappointed… three goals from set-pieces, a bit strange for a derby!"
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 1, 2026
Yaya Toure wanted to 'see more' from Arsenal's performance in their win against Chelsea todaypic.twitter.com/6zGawzpIdB
A Manchester City voice railing against the Arsenal way only deepened the sense among Gunners fans that everyone is against them.
The fact this lends to siege mentality can actually work wonders, with Mikel Arteta already joking about being “very upset” his side did not score a set-piece goal in the win over Sunderland last month, but does this style bother the paying Arsenal fans?
“Many people just do not care but equally many people are finding it very tough to enjoy,” Arsenal fan Moh Haider tells The i Paper.
“It is not an easy on the eye experience watching Arsenal under Arteta this season, but I have constantly reminded myself this season that it’s the title that’s important, not the style.”
Arsenal’s wait for a league title has become more painful with each near miss, and after the Invincibles were dismantled and a softer, leader-less generation followed, they have become ripe for ridicule regardless of whether the football has been nice on the eye or geared around set pieces.
It is a prevalent theme among Arsenal supporters therefore that they would rather win playing ugly than be mocked for playing beautiful football and falling short.
“We’ve played enough good football over the years and not been rewarded for it,” says James Clark. “At the time people used to call us soft and say we didn’t have what it takes to be winners.
“Now we’re doing whatever it takes to win we’re being called boring… I’d rather see beautiful football but winning is the priority right now.”
Arsenal blogger Sash adds: “I’ve seen the team play liquid football from 2007-2018 but it led to nothing. We didn’t come close to competing for a league title and got embarrassed in Europe.
“Part of the reason we play this way in my opinion is pressure… The team is finding ways to get results. It’s 53 games so far this season across all competitions and only three defeats.
“I can understand why that must be frustrating for rivals when they’re used to seeing us get embarrassed for the best part of the last 22 years. So from my side there’s no frustration with the perspective that’s out there.”
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The apparent anger against Arsenal’s style is also “disingenuous” according to another fan, Rory Cook.
“We were mocked and criticised for years, for playing pretty football but ultimately having a soft underbelly and not winning when it mattered,” he says. “Now Arsenal are physically dominant and finding ways to win games, it’s a huge problem.”
From the outside, the hate reads like jealousy, and Gooners would be right to feel that way too.
Surely any fan swaps style for substance if it meant ending two decades of being the butt of jokes?
The main risk of course is falling short again, particularly with Manchester City in the mood, but what is proving a winning formula for Arsenal is hardly going to be altered with less than three months to go.
Even if rival fans say they will remember, history soon forgets the manner of how silverware is won.
from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/fS5TtQL
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