Arsenal sealed a hugely important victory away at Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday night, with Bukayo Saka’s early goal enough to overcome Fabian Hurzeler’s side. The result sees the Gunners move seven points clear at the top of the Premier League as Mikel Arteta’s outfit edge closer to a remarkable achievement – one which Alan Pardew is attempting to undermine.
If all goes according to plan, Arsenal can wrap up the title in early May when they visit West Ham United. The North Londoners have built themselves a cushion, and last night’s win at Brighton has certainly shifted the momentum towards them.
While the Gunners’ supporters will be gearing themselves up for a jubilant celebration, many prominent pundits have taken a radical stance on Arteta’s outfit potentially winning the league.
Alan Pardew says Arsenal title win would come with an asterisk
Arsenal have been lamented in the media for their style of play this season, with many outspoken voices arguing that the Gunners have been the pioneers of the latest iteration of Premier League football, which is extremely physical and focused on set-pieces.
The North London outfit haven’t been as ferocious an attacking team as many recent title winners, and thus, Arteta’s men are being labelled with all sorts of negative tags. Alan Pardew is the latest to chime in, describing Arsenal as ‘functional’ and claiming that there is ‘nothing beautiful about them’.
However, perhaps his most damning statement was that there’ll be an ‘asterisk’ next to the Gunners’ name if they do go on to win the title.
“When I’m looking at them with my football manager’s head on, they’re so professional,” Pardew said on talkSPORT during the coverage of the Brighton clash.
“They do every bit of gamesmanship to get it over the line. But really and truly, Brighton, although they have definitely upped the tempo and looked better in the second half, they’ve not really hurt Arsenal.
“And at the moment it looks like Arsenal are going to see it through. There’ll be an asterisk next to their name because you’ve only got to look at them really in these type of performances and say it’s just a functional display.
“It’s a professional, functional display. They’re good, they’re strong, they’re powerful. But there is nothing beautiful about them. That’s the truth.”
| Brighton | Stats | Arsenal |
| 60% | Possession | 40% |
| 11 | Shots | 7 |
| 3 | Shots on Target | 2 |
| 4 | Corners | 3 |
| 0.8 | Expected Goals | 0.43 |
Arsenal aren’t obliged to entertain the neutral
Fabian Hurzeler wasn’t happy with Arsenal and the way the Gunners ate up time by delaying restarts at the Amex on Wednesday. The German pounced on the opportunity to contribute to the growing anti-Arsenal rhetoric in the media, and it seems as though this is something Arteta’s team will simply have to put up with until they win a major honour.
For years, Arsenal were berated for being weak and a ‘soft touch’. Men against boys was a commonly used term in the lexicon around the Gunners, despite their generally pretty style of attacking football.
Now they’re winning, and on the cusp of major silverware, they’re being criticised for the exact opposite so-called crimes. The same people who relentlessly battered Arsenal for not being able to win doggedly now take issue with their ability to do so on a regular basis.
Arsenal aren’t obliged to entertain the neutral or those posing as neutrals. The reality is, however, that they will never receive validation from certain people who have found themselves conditioned to find ways of criticising the North London club.
