In defense of Arsenal – is criticism of the Premier League leaders unfair?

Arteta and Arsenal now have to hold the nerve we’ve all questioned.

But it seems somewhat contradictory to fault Arsenal for their style when they fail, and then criticize them when they arrive at March in strong contention for all four major trophies.

This is what Arteta means when he talks about the “hype” surrounding title races, especially if your club hasn’t won a title since 2003/04.

Are the criticisms of Arsenal’s methodical approach really fair?

Arsenal scored the most goals (58) and conceded the fewest goals (22) in the English Premier League. The goal difference of +36 is the highest.

As expected, Arsenal leads by a large margin in the number of goals scored from free kicks, including penalties, with 21 goals compared to 15 goals for Manchester United in second place.

They have scored 27.6% of their goals this season from corner kicks, with 16 goals. Tottenham are at the top of this table, having scored 13 of their 38 goals from corner kicks – a total of 34.2%.

The Gunners have more touches in the opponent’s penalty area (981) than any other team. Liverpool are second with 939. They are second only to Brentford, according to OPTA statistics, in creating big chances. They have 87 compared to City’s 89.

This speaks to the efficiency and success – so far – of this season, although Arteta himself accepts that things have to be better than a panic-stricken ending to a Chelsea win.

“It’s definitely something we’ll discuss as we have to improve and do better,” he said in the immediate aftermath.

“I’m trying to stay calm, but we didn’t get the control we wanted, especially against ten men.

“You see with every team that wins games everyone is struggling and the margins are very slim. But that’s a good thing.”

City have suffered similarly grueling results in their last two league wins against Newcastle United and Leeds United, but isn’t that what champions – or those who want to become champions – do?

Will Arsenal also pay the price for the high level of football provided by Pep Guardiola’s City, where they won six titles under the Catalan team, and their closest rival, Liverpool, under Jurgen Klopp, who won a title before his successor, Arne Slott, repeated this feat in his first season?

Guardiola’s style became the perfect template, while Klopp’s explosive ‘heavy metal football’ provided an exciting point of view.

Arteta has made Arsenal more realistic in his attempt to bring that elusive crown to the Emirates Stadium.

There’s more than one way to win the Premier League title – and if Arteta’s approach ends this 22-year wait, there won’t be a single convincing person at Arsenal who will care what the pundits say.