Chelsea legend says four Arsenal players are suffering because of Mikel Arteta

Arsenal drew with Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League (Picture: Getty)

John Obi Mikel has accused Arsenal of ‘cheating’ their way to a Premier League title and says four players are suffering because of Mikel Arteta ’s ‘ridiculous’ tactics.

Arsenal, who last won the Premier League in 2004, boast a seven-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the table.

Man City have a game in hand over the Gunners, however, and a home match against Arteta’s side to try and close the gap on Arsenal.

Despite competing for all four trophies this season, Arsenal have attracted criticism for their style of play from a number of pundits and a large section of fans .

Ex-Chelsea midfielder Obi Mikel says he ‘will not recognise’ Arsenal as Premier League champions if they go on to clinch the title due to their tactics and reliance on set-play goals.

The two-time Premier League winner also said Arteta’s tactics are having a negative impact on Bukayo Saka , Martin Odegaard , Gabriel Martinelli and Eberechi Eze .

Only Viktor Gyokeres has scored more than six Premier League goals for Arsenal this season, with captain Odegaard and winger Martinelli only netting one apiece.

Former Chelsea title winner John Obi Mikel (Picture: Getty)

‘When I watch Arsenal play they depend solely on corners,’ Obi Mikel told talkSPORT .

‘You have spent almost a billion, Mikel Arteta, and you’re telling me the only way you can win games is through corner kicks? It’s ridiculous.

‘The only reason Arsenal fans are not complaining about the style of football is because they’re top of the league.

❌ "I wouldn't recognise Arsenal as winners!"😡 "For me, they've cheated their way to winning the Premier League!"John Obi Mikel really, really doesn't like the way #AFC are using set pieces to win the Premier League… 👀 pic.twitter.com/x9nUFpFyI3 — talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) March 11, 2026

‘The creativity they have, the potential they have — it’s all gone out of the window. We don’t see the likes of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Eberechi Eze, Martin Odegaard anymore because they depend solely on corners.

‘If they win playing like this, I wouldn’t recognise them as winners. For me it’s a cheat. They’ve cheated their way to winning the Premier League.

‘It’s illegal the way they’re winning games and the Premier League should stamp it out because we don’t want to see it.

@metrosportuk If it works, it works… right? 🤷‍♂️ Arsenal legend Alan Smith tells rival fans who claim the Gunners play boring football and rely on set-pieces to ‘suck it up’. #alansmith #arsenal #setpiece #premierleague #championsleague ♬ original sound – Metro Sport

‘You can’t play like this when you’ve spent a billion, there’s so much creativity in the squad – Eze, Odegaard, Saka – let them express themselves. They are so rigid and dependent on corner kicks.’

Kai Havertz’s late penalty earned Arsenal a 1-1 draw in their Champions League last-16 first-leg against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday night.

Speaking after the draw, Arteta said: ‘The game had different phases, some in the first half when we were very dominant and we had a big chance.

Chelsea drew 1-1 with Bayer Leverkusen (Picture: Getty)

‘When you miss those chances, obviously the game can change. Then after that, we didn’t finish enough actions, every time we got in and around the box, we gave the ball away and that allowed certain counter-attacks and that was very unlike us.

‘Without really considering anything, we needed to show certain things. We discussed that at half-time and we expected to start very fast, especially because we knew certain routines that they have on kick-offs, because they had three at the weekend and still, we got caught.

‘We weren’t ready enough; we conceded a chance on the header and after that we conceded the goal.

‘So, when you give that hope and advantage to the opponent at that level, they’re going to take it and then we had to really dig in because emotionally it becomes a very different challenge.

‘We had 10-15 minutes that we didn’t really have enough threat and enough understanding of how we had to attack that block, but in the last 20 minutes, 25, with the changes I think it was much better.

‘In the end, we found a way to score the goal and draw the game.’

Arsenal continue their Premier League title charge against Everton this weekend before the second leg against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night.