BBC pundit Garth Crooks has had a go at Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta for his antics on the touchline during the game against Newcastle United.
The £160,000-a-week Spaniard is one of the most animated characters in the Premier League. He’s often seen jumping around and shouting out instructions to his players, and that, as the table shows, has proved to be beneficial for Arsenal.
However, it has also attracted a ton of criticism from the neutrals.
BBC pundit says Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is making himself look ridiculous on the touchline
Newcastle United had a game plan going into the clash at the Emirates and they executed it perfectly.
Eddie Howe knew his side would get battered if they tried to play free-flowing football against Arsenal. That’s why he instructed his players to disrupt the game as much as possible, and that prevented the Gunners from finding their usual rhythm.
However, Arsenal still had a few chances to win the game. Martin Odegaard blew a volley over the bar, while Eddie Nketiah was denied by a brilliant stop from Nick Pope.
The biggest talking points, however, were the two penalty shouts. The referee decided not to point to the spot on both occasions, and Arteta was beyond infuriated on the touchline.
Crooks claims the Arsenal boss made himself look ridiculous and went on to blame his antics for the Gunners not being able to take all three points from the game.
He wrote on BBC Sport: “Burn’s challenge on Gabriel in the box caused Mikel Arteta to blow a fuse when the penalty appeal was denied. I don’t know why – he doesn’t complain when his team are awarded the occasional disputed penalty.
“Arteta’s hysterics on the touchline are making him look ridiculous. A cooler head from their manager in the latter stages of this encounter might have produced a better result.”
Our View:
Arsenal definitely had a case on both occasions – one more than the other.
The challenge from Burn on Gabriel inside the box, in our opinion, is a stonewall penalty – there’s just no debate there. The second penalty shout late in the game is much more open to debate. The ball definitely struck Jacob Murphy’s arm, but proximity played a part there, which is why it’s understandable that VAR didn’t overturn that decision.
In the heat of the moment, it’s no surprise at all that Arteta was furious on the touchline. He had arguments with the fourth official as well as Newcastle’s coaching staff, and that seems to have rubbed a few people the wrong way.
However, that’s just how Arteta is and that sort of passion is not a bad thing at all – most great managers in the world react the same way on the touchline when things don’t go their way.
