Arsenal lift the Premier League trophy: Why Mikel Arteta's side are worthy champions despite criticism over style of play

A moment of joy. Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard got his hands on the Premier League trophy and lifted it in scenes that will define a generation and an era for the football club.

All season, fans, pundits, analysts and experts have put in their tuppence about Mikel Arteta's side this season.

Their style of play has been branded "unwatchable", they have been given the tag 'Set-Piece FC' - yet none of that matters when you get your hands on the trophy.

Arsenal have faced their so-called critics despite being consistently top of the table since October.

Earlier this year, Paul Scholes said they would be the "worst Premier League title winners ever". The notion that Arsenal do not have a clear enough 'Premier League Player of the Season' winner has been used as a stick to bash the Gunners with.

It follows criticism throughout the season about their style - the comments made by Fabian Hurzeler about Arsenal's time-wasting in March appearing to be the height of those complaints. Arteta sarcastically responded: "What a surprise" - a sign he was getting fed up of the criticism of his team.

Even in the days since their title win was confirmed, there have been plenty of comments on social media about how 'VARsenal' won the title due to fortunate refereeing decisions.

It included Liverpool head coach Arne Slot having a thinly-veiled dig at Arteta's Arsenal this week. "Congratulations to them," he said. "But for me they have been a different champion to the last 10 seasons. It is the first time in 30 years that 40 per cent of goals had come from set-pieces."

None of that will matter to Arteta, his players and staff - nor the Arsenal supporters whose title celebrations will carry on all summer.

Yes, they did not always show the attacking verve of Manchester City, or have the crucial goalscorer at the top of the Golden Boot rankings. But they did enough in front of goal to win the league - especially when criticism about their style of play has not totally been their own fault.

All season, opposition teams have gone - or dropped - to huge lengths to stop Arsenal getting their way in the final third.

The numbers help show how guarded opposition teams have been against Arsenal. This season, Arsenal have taken the most open-play shots in the Premier League where the opposition has nine or more players in the penalty box at the time.

Even Manchester City were forced into this approach. The Gunners forced them into a low block, a back five and a record-low 33.2 per cent possession when Pep Guardiola's team came to the Emirates in September.

And what happens if you open up against Arsenal? The Champions League is a good example of that. Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid have all tried to play 'their way' against Arsenal, and all of them lost.

Those players in the penalty area have not been able to stop the Gunners - they have scored 12 goals from those open-play 112 shots, which is also the most in the league. The last of those goals was Leandro Trossard's vital winner away at West Ham, arguably the most pivotal goal Arsenal scored on the way to the title.

That Trossard goal came via the skill of Odegaard filtering through the bodies and creating space for the Belgian. The Arsenal captain - so vital to the team's creativity and attacking cohesion - has played 45 minutes or more just 12 times in the league this season.

If Arsenal had had Odegaard fit for more games, perhaps their attacking numbers would be higher. And the point on the Norwegian can also be spread on a wider level.

Arsenal have struggled for attacking cohesion due to injuries hampering the team. The longest run of matches an Arsenal front four has managed in all competitions all season is three. Arsenal's most successful front three of Bukayo Saka, Viktor Gyokeres and Trossard - which is yet to lose a league game in which all three have started - have begun on the pitch together just 14 times out of 38 matches.

This week, Arteta even referenced two key periods when he thought the title was nearly lost. "One was before Christmas when we had the frontline with a lot of injuries.

"And then in the international break in March" - which was when Arsenal saw a lot of players withdraw from international duty due to injury, including Saka who was ruled out for a month.