Will Arsenal be the ‘ugliest Premier League title winners ever’?

Having said all this, is scoring from dead balls inherently ugly? Wayne Rooney doesn’t think so.

Speaking on the Wayne Rooney Show, external This week, the five-time champion said: “I’ve heard a lot of people talking about Arsenal and how they play. I think Arsenal have been fantastic.

“I really enjoy watching them play. Set pieces are part of football, why not use them?”

One of Arsenal’s most prominent critics was Brighton manager Fabian Horzler, before and after his side’s 1-0 loss to Arsenal earlier this month.

He revealed on Friday that he and Arteta had a “good exchange” via text, where he “shared his opinion and I shared mine.”

“This is football, everyone defends their team,” said Horzler, who also told Arteta. “I have great respect for everyone at Arsenal.”

The German added: “If they win the Premier League, they definitely deserve it.”

Arsenal still has a chance to win all four major trophies this season and will host Everton in the Premier League on Saturday.

Arteta spent five years as an Everton player under current Everton manager David Moyes, who has also championed Arsenal’s approach.

Arteta said he had spoken with Moyes “several times” this season and had “great gratitude” to the veteran Scottish coach, whom he described as “one of the greatest Premier League coaches.”

“You make it look like a problem because they are good at free kicks and they are a strong, physical team,” Moyes said. “I don’t see any problem. It’s part of the game.”

He added: “You’ve seen Mikel over a few years, he has dark arts, like we’ve all had to do at different times because you’re desperate for your team to win.

“You have to find ways to win, that’s part of the job. You can play as well as you want, but winning is the really important thing.”

Even if people disagree, there are other ‘ugly win’ methods that Premier League champions have used in the past.

Although it was a miracle that Leicester won the title, the football that Leicester played in the 2015-16 season was not always pretty.

Ten of their 68 goals came from the penalty spot, they had the fewest shots and touches in the opposition penalty area ever, and 14 of their 23 wins were by one goal (61%).

And although “1-0 to Arsenal” is a well-known chant, only five of their 20 wins this season have been by that result – far fewer than the 11 that Chelsea achieved in 2004-05 or the 10 that Manchester United achieved in 2008-09.