Arsenal sits nine points clear at the top of the Premier League with seven matches remaining, but Jamie Carragher has hit back at critics of Mikel Arteta's tactics
Aaron Morris
12:24, 17 Mar 2026
Jamie Carragher has offered his opinion
Jamie Carragher has offered his opinion(Image: Getty Images)
Jamie Carragher has rubbished criticism of Arsenal's reliance on set pieces this season as "absolute nonsense."
The Gunners currently lead the Premier League table with only seven games left to play, holding a nine-point advantage over Manchester City. It has been a near-flawless season under Mikel Arteta, who looks set to bring the first league title to north London in more than 20 years come May — after several seasons of coming agonizingly close.
For perspective, Arsenal has finished as the runner-up in the league in each of the past three campaigns, narrowly beaten by Pep Guardiola's Blues by merely two points in 2023/24 — its closest brush with silverware in recent memory.
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Nevertheless, 2025-26 looks to finally be Arteta's moment, assuming the Spanish manager continues to demand nothing less than excellence from his squad during the run-in.
Set pieces have been a crucial component of the Gunners' success this season, contributing 21 goals from dead-ball situations in the Premier League alone.
This accounts for 34.4 percent of their total goals this term, representing the highest percentage from any side across Europe's top five divisions.
Jamie Carragher speaks alongside Thierry Henry
Jamie Carragher has given his take on Arsenal's season(Image: Sky Sports)
Despite this, some critics have suggested that the Gunners will only be remembered for capitalising on set pieces this campaign, rather than their outstanding collective play and defensive solidity.
Carragher, though, has dismissed that perspective entirely.
Speaking on Sky Sports alongside Thierry Henry and David Jones, the Liverpool icon said: "Some of the nonsense that's been spoke about Arsenal from other people in the game about, 'Should there be an asterisk around their name if they win the league,' or, 'I don't recognize them as title [winners],' is absolute nonsense.
"We analyze football teams on this show every week, all season, every year. There's no right or wrong way to play football; it's about being the best at what you do.
"And right now, whether you like it or not as an Arsenal supporter, they're going to be remembered as a set-piece team.
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"When they win the league, in 10 years' time, people will say, 'It was only set pieces or whatever.'
"But how could he [Arteta] take on Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola — two of the best teams in European football at that time — with less, maybe, wages or less spend at that time?
"He had to find another way, and he's done it."