Tottenham forward Mathys Tel has branded some of the tactics that have made Arsenal so successful this season ‘boring to watch’.
The Gunners are on the verge of a sensational campaign under Mikel Arteta, still challenging for all four trophies going into the business end of the season.
Arsenal are seven points clear at the top of the Premier League – a trophy that have not lifted since 2004 – and one of the favourites to win the Champions League ahead of their last-16 tie with Bayer Leverkusen.
Arteta’s first chance to secure silverware this season will come later this month when Arsenal face title rivals Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final.
That is not the only domestic cup Arsenal hope to lift, however, with the Gunners set to face Championship side Southampton in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
Despite Arsenal’s success in all four competitions, the north London side have attracted criticism from some fans and pundits for their style of play.
Arsenal have mastered set-pieces this season, scoring 16 goals from corners alone, and have also been accused of time-wasting by the likes of Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler.
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Ex-Premier League manager Alan Pardew even claimed last week that Arsenal’s likely title win would come with an asterisk given their style of play and gamesmanship.
While Tottenham summer signing Tel did not go that far, the former Bayern Munich star has bemoaned the increased importance of set-plays in the Premier League.
‘I’ll tell you the truth, yes, it’s not exciting,’ Tel said on the Zack Nani Foot & Live podcast. ‘It’s boring to watch.
‘It’s really just a clash between two teams with their own ideas. There’s less spectacle. There’s no Vinicius pulling off a sombrero, dribbling past you, no Kylian [Mbappe] accelerating past you.
‘Here, I’d say it’s more structured, maybe too much so, with clear ideas, all the set pieces, little details that can sometimes make the difference. But sometimes you think it might be too much.
‘I told the assistant coach in charge of set pieces: “Don’t put me on that marking job.” Because it’s a zoo in the box.
‘We’re all bunched together, everyone’s pushing, knocking each other to the ground, holding onto each other. Forget it. The goalkeeper can no longer get out, he can no longer see.’
Ex-Premier League striker Chris Sutton has claimed Arsenal will be the ‘ugliest’ title winners should they go on to lift the trophy for the first time since 2004.
But Arteta is unapologetic, telling reporters last week: ‘I’m upset that we don’t score more, and that we concede as well.
‘We want to be the best and the most dominant team in every aspect of the game, and that’s the trajectory and the aim of this team, and as a club, we want to be the same. So we try to do that.’
Ex-Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney, meanwhile, cannot get his head around the ‘unfair’ criticism of Arsenal.
‘I’ve heard over the last week a lot of people talking about Arsenal and how they’re playing,’ he said on his BBC podcast. ‘I think Arsenal have been brilliant.
‘Football is played in different ways and Arsenal have got a good mix of a bit of everything. They’ve got different players who score goals, they’re hard to play against, they keep clean sheets and I actually enjoy watching them play.
‘Set-pieces is part of football, so when Arsenal have done something which they’ve clearly worked on and teams find difficult to defend against, why would you not use it? If teams can’t deal with it, do it more.
‘I think it’s very unfair the criticism which they are receiving.’
Arsenal’s next Premier League game is against Everton on Saturday, while Tottenham and Tel will look to ease their growing relegation fears against Liverpool.
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