Teams which do not have “big possession” and no European commitments have won the Premier League title this season and the last, said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, in what seemed like a dig at Chelsea and Leicester City.

Chelsea, who did not play in Europe this season thanks to a 10th-placed finish in 2015-’16, can wrap up the Premier League title on Friday if they beat West Bromwich Albion. Leicester were shock winners of the title last season after also not featuring in Europe in 2014-’15.

Wenger, who has always prided his team’s possession- and passing-based attacking brand of football, said that both Chelsea and Leicester do not try and take the initiative in matches, reported The Guardian.

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“Over the last two seasons, teams who have not big possession have won the league,” Wenger said. “And, as well, teams who were not involved in Europe, at all, won the league. Because the league is so physically difficult, maybe it is very difficult to cope with both. We will see how Chelsea respond next season.”

Wenger urged the sport to encourage teams to take the initiative in games because, according to him, that’s what people pay to see. “I still think sport has to encourage initiative and, if it rewards too much teams who don’t take initiative, then we have to rethink the whole process because people will not, forever, come to watch teams who do not want to take the initiative,” he said. “The responsibility of people who make the rules is always to encourage teams who want to play, because that is what you want to see.”

The Arsenal manager may have been right about Leicester’s lack of possession in their title-winning season, but he wasn’t so spot on regarding Chelsea. According to Opta, Leicester had 42.4% of possession last season, the third-lowest in the league, while Chelsea have had 54.2% this season, which is the sixth-highest.

“I am convinced you still need to have the ball to create goal chances and that you cannot encourage, as well, youth teams to say, ‘We do not want the ball,’” Wenger added. “You cannot buy big players and say, ‘We do not want the ball.’ Big players want the ball.”