Wayne Rooney makes Arsenal title claim and responds to Mikel Arteta criticism
Wayne Rooney has defended Arsenal over the ‘unfair’ criticism they have received while they bid to win the Premier League.
Despite moving seven points clear at the top of the Premier League, Arsenal have attracted criticism from some pundits and fans.
Last week former Premier League manager Alan Pardew claimed Arsenal’s likely title win would ‘come with an asterisk’ given their style of play.
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, meanwhile, accused Arsenal of ‘making their own rules’ and claimed Mikel Arteta’s side were not even ‘trying to play football’ during their 1-0 win at the Amex Stadium.
But former Manchester United and England captain Rooney cannot understand the criticism of Arsenal and insists he ‘enjoys’ watching the Gunners.
Speaking on his BBC podcast, Rooney said: ‘I’ve heard a lot of people talking about Arsenal and the way they’re playing but I think they’ve been brilliant.
‘Football is played in different ways. Man City have had spells when they were absolutely incredible, the same for my Man United team.
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‘But Arsenal have got a good mix, they’ve got different players who score goals, they’re hard to play against, they keep clean sheets. I actually enjoy watching them play.
‘The set-pieces are part of football – why would you not use it? They put bodies in the box, if teams aren’t clever enough or haven’t got the players to deal with it, why wouldn’t Arsenal continue to do that?
‘I would be doing it even more if I was Mikel Arteta. It’s part of the game and I love it – they don’t have to change anything.
Criticism of Arsenal
ALAN PARDEW
‘When I’m looking at them with my football manager’s head on, they’re so professional,’ Pardew said on talkSPORT. ‘They do every bit of gamesmanship to get it over the line.
‘But really and truly, Brighton, although they have definitely upped the tempo and looked better second half, they’ve not really hurt Arsenal.
‘And at the moment it looks like Arsenal are going to see it through. There’ll be an asterisk next to their name because you’ve only got to look at them really in these type of performances and say it’s just a functional display.
‘It’s a professional, functional display. They’re good, they’re strong, they’re powerful. But there is nothing beautiful about them. That’s the truth.’
FABIAN HURZELER
‘I will never be the kind of manager who tries to win in that way,’ Hurzeler said after Brighton’s defeat to Arsenal.
‘If I ask everyone in the room, did he really enjoy this game? I’m sure maybe one raises his arm because he’s a big Arsenal fan.
‘Where will this go in the future? Is this what the supporters are paying for?’
‘They maybe haven’t scored as many goals from open play as they would like but they’ve made up for it in other ways.
‘The last league title we won, we wasn’t great as a team, but nobody is talking about that now. I don’t think Arsenal have been as bad as people are saying, I really don’t.
‘I’m not saying this because I like Arsenal, I’m saying this because I think the criticism they’re received is very unfair.’
While Rooney leaped to the defence of Arsenal and Arteta, he insisted they are not home and hosed in the Premier League title race.
The Gunners lead second-placed Manchester City by seven points but Pep Guardiola’s side do have a game in hand and a home match against Arsenal to close the gap.
‘I don’t think the Premier League is out of reach for Man City yet,’ Rooney added. ‘They’re well within the title race.’
Arsenal produced another somewhat underwhelming performance on Saturday, beating League One strugglers Mansfield Town 2-1 in the FA Cup.
The Gunners’ next Premier League fixture is a home match against Everton on Saturday. A win would put the Gunners ten points clear ahead of Manchester City’s game against West Ham later in the day.
Before that Arsenal will look to maintain their incredible Champions League momentum when they travel to Germany on Wednesday to face Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their last-16 tie.
Arteta’s side finished a flawless group stage campaign with eight wins from eight and a goal difference of plus 19.
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