Arsenal 'no longer set-piece merchants' says fan backing title bid

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Arsenal's start to the 2026-27 campaign has prompted one supporter to go public with a bold title prediction, even after the club's recent setback against Brighton.

Speaking on BBC Sport, Arsenal fan Watson gave his verdict on the Gunners' opening months, declaring: "I see Arsenal winning the league despite Brighton blip."

The set-piece label

One of the central themes of Watson's assessment was the tag that has followed Mikel Arteta's side around for the past two seasons. The supporter argued that Arsenal can no longer be dismissed as "set-piece merchants" — a label that gained traction across punditry and rival fanbases as the north London side turned corners and free-kicks into a genuine weapon.

It is a criticism that has long irritated sections of the Arsenal support, given the volume of goals the team has produced from open play alongside its dead-ball output. The dedicated set-piece coaching work at London Colney became one of the most talked-about elements of Arteta's project, to the point that it occasionally overshadowed everything else the team did well.

Watson's point is that the balance has shifted, and that Arsenal's attacking profile this season has broadened beyond the routines that made them so dangerous from corners.

Tzolis under the microscope

The fan also used the discussion to flag an area where he wants to see more, naming Christos Tzolis as a player he hopes will step up as the campaign progresses.

Watson spoke about the improvement he would like to see from the winger, suggesting that the supporter base is still waiting for the consistency that would make him a reliable option in the biggest matches.

That kind of scrutiny is part of life in an Arsenal attack where competition for minutes is fierce and where a title race leaves little margin for passengers. For any wide player at the club, the benchmark is set extremely high.

The bigger picture

The Brighton result clearly stung — the word "blip" doing a lot of work in Watson's assessment — but the supporter's view is that it does not derail the wider trajectory of the season.

Arsenal have come close in recent Premier League campaigns without getting over the line, and the frustration of those near-misses has made this fanbase cautious about early-season optimism. Watson's take runs against that caution, framing a single dropped result as a bump rather than a warning sign.

Whether that confidence proves well-placed will depend on how Arteta's side responds in the weeks ahead, and on whether the squad's depth holds up across a congested fixture calendar.

For now, the mood among a section of the support is that the Gunners have evolved into something more rounded than the side that earned the set-piece reputation — and that the Brighton defeat will be remembered as a footnote rather than a turning point.