Arsenal - John Mikel Obi
Set-piece routines are in the laws. Financial charges are in a commission report. Pundits do not always treat the two as different things.
A player who won titles under a pragmatic coach can still dislike another club’s corners. The same player can refuse to take medals off a squad that has just been found guilty.
The contradiction is the story. The quotes are his.
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John Obi Mikel has called Arsenal’s corner routines illegal and said he would not recognise them as winners, while arguing Manchester City’s players should not be discredited after a guilty verdict on financial charges. The Arsenal comments were made before last season’s title. The City comments came on The Obi One Podcast after the commission published its findings.
On Arsenal he said: “When I watch Arsenal play right now, they depend solely, solely on corner kicks. You have spent almost a billion, Mikel Arteta, almost a billion.
“And you’re telling me the only way you can win games is through corner kicks? You look at the corner kicks, they holding the players… It’s illegal.
“The creativity that they have, the potentials that they have, it’s all gone out of the window. We don’t see them anymore because they depend solely on corner kicks.”
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He added: “Because for me, they’ve cheated their way to winning the Premier League. It’s illegal the way they’re winning games. It’s illegal.”
Corners are permitted. Holding in the box is a foul if the referee gives it. Arsenal won the 2025-26 title. Blocking a goalkeeper is policed on the pitch, not in a regulatory hearing.
On City, after the club were found guilty of the vast majority of 115 charges, he told Chris McHardy: “I’m not about to discredit what Manchester City’s players achieved on the pitch.”
He said: “I wouldn’t want to be handed a Premier League now and saying, yeah, strip it and say, give me a Premier League. No, no, I wouldn’t want to be in the Premier League that way.
“Absolutely not. Because we like to compete. We like to compete on the pitch.”
He accepted the off-field help. “Yes, that cheating helped them create and organize and form one of the best squads. Yes. Put together some the best. Yes. But at the end of the day, you compete as players.” He added: “Should they face the punishment? Absolutely.”
City deny wrongdoing and have until Friday to appeal. Rival executives have told the Guardian a one-season relegation would be insufficient. Mikel’s split is simpler than that. Legal set-pieces are cheating. A disguised funding scheme of more than £900million is a boardroom issue the players should be excused for. The commission has not made that distinction. He has.
Arsenal huddle
Arsenal huddle