Arsenal set piece goals become one of the most argued lines of talk of the season in the premier league competition as arsenal side moves nearer to likely title win. Although Arsenal is at the top of the league by a considerable margin and challenging in various competitions, critics have questioned the fact that Arsenal does not play an appealing game that a champion should play. Even some of the ex-players have gone ahead to say that the Gunners can become the ugliest/most boring winners in the history of the premier league. However the figures paint a more delicate picture.

To begin with, it is impossible to overlook the fact that Arsenal is on the leading spot in the table. The North London club has put itself in a strong position in the title race with a margin of seven points between it and its nearest competitors. Simultaneously, they are also competitive in other competitions, as they make the League Cup final, advance the FA Cup, and do not stop competing in the Champions League.

Nevertheless, the criticism increased when Arsenal used two set-piece goals to beat Chelsea. The ex-Striker of the premier league Chris Sutton was asking whether the Gunners could be the least attractive champions in the sporting history the reason being their over dependence on dead-ball scenario. Similar views were mirrored by Paul Scholes, who said the team might be the most boring champions given that they win the trophy.

Mikel Arteta has done away with the argument and rather concentrated on performance. Effectsiveness and not style has consistently been asserted by the Arsenal manager as being the ultimate reward of football. In his opinion, the priority is to perform in a manner that gives the greatest opportunities to win matches.

Arsenal is still performing respectably in terms of attacking output, statistically. They have already made 59 goals out of 30 matches on league with an average of 1.97 goals. Assuming that they keep at this rate they would even beat some former champions.

Although, Arsenal may not have the same scoring rate as a few of the most explosive title winners, it does reasonably well against many effective title winning teams in the new millennium of Premier League football.

The debate however, is stiffer when the scoring of those goals is considered.

The major part of Arsenal chances to score in the current season is as a result of set-pieces, like corner kicks and free kicks. Their 24 set piece goals are 41 percent of their total league goal production, out of the 59 they have already scored in their 59 league goals. This is the highest percentage of any champion in the premier leagues.

Such dependency on dead-ball scenarios has created criticism among pundits. However, it can also be said that the same tactics were implemented by past title winning teams. Interestingly, the an 1994-95 squad led by Blackburn and the 2007-08 squad led by Manchester United who were allied to the critics of Arsenal equally depended on a set piece.

Seeing how open-play scoring is looking, Arsenal numbers seem slightly worse. The average of the team now stands at 1.17 goals per game due to open play. In all of history, the Manchester United championship team of 1992-93 had the lowest number of goals scored through open play.

Nevertheless, these statistics do not sway a large number of football supporters who justify the strategy of Arsenal. Recently, the former England striker Wayne Rooney has been in praise of the team noting that set pieces are a valid and useful aspect of the game. Rooney emphasizes that the teams must never fail to use their strengths when they increase their opportunities of winning.

Fabian Hurzeler, the Brighton manager who earlier on criticized the way the Arsenal did things after their defeat by the Arsenal, has also been left softened. He affirmed that he and Arteta used to exchange messages about the differences in their tactics but he also added that he is proud of the success of Arsenal. Hurzeler stated that in case Arsenal claim the title it will be well deserved.

Another veteran manager of the Premier League, David Moyes, also justified the strategy of the Gunners. Moyes has highlighted that all winning teams finally come to know how to win matches at all cost. He pointed out that tactical pragmatism is one thing that would be needed on a title race.

There is another context in history that supports the debate. The well-known 2015-16 title-winning team of Leicester City was known to have an underdog theme but hardly featured in expansive football. Such a team was quite dependent on the counter-attack, fines and close wins.

On the same note, the track record of Arsenal losing most games in the past by playing 1-0 illustrates that pragmatism has been inherent in winning championships.

Last but certainly not least, the suspicions of dark arts or excessive aggressive ways cannot be observed regarding the present Arsenal squad. The team has only accumulated 40 yellow cards in the 30 games and might turn into the fourth team in the history of the Premier League to win the championship without getting any red card.

To sum up, the controversy of set piece goals in Arsenal clubs is just a manifestation of intolerance on aesthetics over effectiveness in football. Critics can debate the type of the play, but playing the statistics, the style of the play of Arsenal is not something out of the ordinary compared with previous champions of football. In case the Gunners win the title, it will not be recalled as an ugly game but as a game of clever play, good defense and well-executed set pieces- features which have always been the hallmarks of a winning team.

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