26/05/2026
I have to congratulate Arsenal on winning the league. It is hard to argue they did not deserve it in the end because too many clubs were clearly underperforming.
But one thing I will never praise is the way Arsenal won it.
Arsenal did almost everything against the traditions and core values people usually associate with football. Becoming masters of the dark arts and setting up primarily not to lose made them very boring to watch. Using four centre backs and two holding midfielders, then relying heavily on height and set pieces, was really underwhelming.
Arsenal also benefited from a huge number of own goals in key moments, something that felt unusual across a title winning campaign. On top of that, VAR decisions went their way on several occasions, which only added to the frustration of rival fans.
The biggest factor in Arsenal’s title win, in my opinion, was time wasting. So much time disappeared after set pieces, with players constantly going down and stopping momentum. Statistics showed that once Arsenal took the lead, or whenever momentum shifted, a different player would often go down injured. Reports also suggested Arsenal added an average of around 14 extra seconds to free kicks while leading, creating frustration and drawing unnecessary yellow cards for opposition teams.
Arsenal also set a record this season against Brighton, recording 30 minutes and 51 seconds of restart delays, the most by a single team in Premier League history. That match ended with the ball actually being in play for only 46 minutes.
This style of winning a title will probably never happen again and arguably should never have been possible. Time wasting has become such a major issue that it will likely be addressed next season.
Fans are clearly being cheated out of seeing 90 minutes of football. New rule changes are being discussed to make teams think twice about wasting time. Proposals include forcing the player responsible for a foul to leave the pitch temporarily, reducing delays at throw ins, by making the closest player to the ball take it and making changes to include throw ins to the offside rule are being interpreted. These ideas are clearly aimed at reducing bad gamesmanship.
Retaining a title is a much bigger challenge than winning one. This style of football is difficult to sustain and may only have worked because the teams around Arsenal massively underperformed many teams struggled to deal with long throws and set piece pressure. But next season teams will adjust, defend better, and learn to combat the threat next season.
Call me salty if you like, but deep down Arsenal fans all know this title was helped massively by VAR decisions and players time wasting.