Ahead of Arsenal's trip to Brighton, Mikel Arteta found himself fielding questions on a very familiar theme.
With the Gunners scoring both their goals against Chelsea on Sunday from corners, the attention was once again on their set-piece record.
There is a strange context to the criticism Arsenal have faced. Rarely can any team have faced so much scrutiny and so many disparaging comments for being so good at something.
"Part of the job," was Arteta's blunt reply on Tuesday to the criticism.
In an ominous message to the rest of the Premier League, Arteta also said: "I'm upset that we don't score more and that we concede as well."
Arsenal have scored 16 goals from corners this season, the joint-most by a team in a Premier League season.
In the league, they have 19 goals from set-pieces. The next best is Newcastle with 14, while Manchester City have only six.
The accusation, then, is that Arsenal are over-reliant on them. That they are a boring team, unable to attack from open play and so having to rely on set-pieces to fuel their title bid.
However, only Manchester City have scored more goals from open play. Corners and set-pieces are not won from nowhere - they are earned from attacking and Arsenal get plenty of them.
Fans are entitled to be frustrated at the obsessive focus on set-pieces across the league, but that is not blame that should be aimed at Arsenal.
There have been 138 goals in the Premier League this season, already more than in the entirety of last term, and yet it is the 16 Arsenal have scored that seem to cause most offence.
Almost every side in the league is trying to maximise set-pieces. Teams are now so good at setting up compactly in low and mid blocks. The focus is physicality and with five substitutes able to be brought on, space does not open up due to tired legs in the second half.
As a result, open-play opportunities across the league are few and far between.
The result is that sides, particularly those higher up the table and with the onus on them to break defences down, have had to find other ways to do so.
That tactical trend has been towards set-pieces and Arsenal have simply been the best at adapting to it.
"I would like to play with three players extra in my own half to get some beautiful football and play always against a free man," Arteta said on Tuesday.
"This is not the reality of football. You want to watch that football, you have to go to a different country because in the Premier League, for the last two seasons or three seasons, this is not the case."
Arne Slot said this week that the Premier League is now "not a joy" to watch because of how important set-pieces have come.
That has not stopped Liverpool following the trend. Seven of their last ten goals in the league have come from set-pieces. They scored three in the first-half alone against West Ham just from corners.
Speaking after that match, Slot said: "It's very pleasing because firstly that is the reason we have won."
When Everton played Manchester United last month, there were 13 players surrounding goalkeeper Senne Lammens from corners.
What sets Arsenal apart from the rest of the league is not underhand tactics but world-class delivery and players who are brilliant at attacking the ball.
Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice are both sensational with their in-swinging balls into the box, something Thomas Tuchel will have taken note of as the World Cup draws near.
If all that was needed to score from corners was an aimless cross and a bit of grappling, every team would score as many as Arsenal.
There has been plenty of talk recently that rule changes need to be made to reduce the amount of wrestling and holding from set-pieces. Some have suggested that would stop Arsenal in the tracks.
The opposite is true. Arsenal would love Gabriel to have a free run at the ball from every corner. With Rice and Saka's delivery, he would have eyes on the Golden Boot.
A more valid criticism would be the time Arsenal take over corners, which is the most in the league as Fabian Hurzeler pointed out this week.
Wanting those delays to be cut down is perfectly fair. Taking out frustration at the changing nature of the Premier League on the side who have best responded to the evolution is not.
