Former Chelsea player John Obi Mikel has claimed that he would not recognize Arsenal as Premier League champions because they have ‘cheated’ their way to the title. He believes the Gunners are overreliant on corners and have resorted to illegal tactics to win.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Mikel called for the Premier League to stamp out the corner tactics used by Arsenal, as they are illegal. He does not think they should be considered Premier League champions because they have exploited it and said:
“Not if they’re going and winning the way they’re playing right now. No, I wouldn’t [recognize Arsenal as PL champions]. Because for me it’s a cheat. They’ve cheated their way to winning the Premier League. So I wouldn’t recognize them as winners because, for me, it’s illegal the way they win games. It’s illegal unless the Premier League right now, from this weekend, stamp that out. We don’t want to see that in the game.”
“When I look at the team, there’s so much creativity in that team. So much creativity. Eze, Odegaard, Saka – let them express themselves. When you watch them, they’re so rigid. They depend solely on the corner kick.”
Mikel went on to point at stats of Arsenal from corners, saying they have scored from set pieces in 15 of their 16 wins in the Premier League this season.
“I think 13 games this season when they haven’t scored set pieces they won three of those games and when 15 games when they’ve scored when they’ve scored with set pieces they’ve won I think 16 they’ve won 15 of those games. So it shows you how much they depend solely on corner kicks.”
The Gunners are seven points clear of Manchester City in the Premier League table, with eight matches left for them this season. The Cityzens have a game in hand.
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