Arsenal have been criticised for years for playing too cautiously, but Mikel Arteta has built a team and a system that requires fewer risks and is still devastatingly effective.
For much of the time in which Arsenal have been, shall we say, ‘good’, again, there has been an ongoing and consistent criticism that they’re too cautious.
Some called them “boring” to watch. Others insisted they must “take the handbrake off” in attack if they are to ever realise their potential. Winning games 1-0 and relying on set-pieces wasn’t, some said, a reliable route to the title.
Clearly, this Arsenal side have always been much more than a gritty, nasty side who grind out ugly wins and fall back on set-pieces week on week, even if they occasionally did those things and won in a way that fuelled that perception last season.
And for any criticism of how they played, there is now no arguing with the results. A first title in 22 years was wrapped up in May as Mikel Arteta proved beyond any doubt that his methods were worth buying into. Playing the way they did last season was enough to end their drought.
Now, with a title win under their belts and the fear of “bottling” the league banished forever, there is a swagger, an assuredness about Arsenal’s play.
Following a summer of further strengthening a title-winning squad, Arteta’s side look more convincing than ever. With four wins from four in the league (plus three more in other competitions) and just a single goal conceded, they are top of the table and huge favourites to retain the title, doing so in 57.2% of simulations by the Opta supercomputer at the time of writing.
Free of the shackles of worrying about failure, there is a belief in what they are doing. They know that their way of playing works, and they know they have every reason to stay committed to and believe in it.
And they’re right: Arsenal are top of the Premier League and they haven’t needed to fall back on a single set-piece goal (excluding penalties) this season, even though they have played three tricky opponents. They look an even more complete team than they did last season.
There’s no doubt they have benefitted from squad stability. After such a successful 2025-26, nobody important was angling for a move away, and they’ve managed to fine-tune areas of their squad by adding quality in a few positions.
That continuity has meant the well-oiled Arsenal machine has become yet more effective. With small improvements in personnel to an already functional system, Arsenal are benefitting from the fact that their players already know how to play together. The new signings have found it easy to slot in.
Arsenal just look extremely fluid in attack; everyone knows their jobs and knows where others should – and will – be. And that means they need to take fewer risks to be effective.
Not long ago, critics said their football was too safe, too risk-averse; now, they simply don’t need to take as many risks as others, and it is precisely that which makes them so formidable.
There isn’t anything inherently wrong with individuality, but Arsenal’s system functions so smoothly that they need individual skill less than others. They play a high-percentage game, and that means their players rarely go it alone. Arsenal rank 19th for dribbles attempted in the Premier League this season, with just 43, ahead of only Hull (39), who have had less of the ball (29.3% average possession) than anyone else in the league. Arsenal, meanwhile, have averaged 59.4% possession.
Arsenal are also bottom of the Premier League for dribbles completed (17), and that’s even though they have one of the best wingers in the world in
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