Arsenal were pegged back twice in Sunday’s North London Derby and Gary Neville believes that Mikel Arteta was partially responsible for the Gunners’ double lapse
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Mikel Arteta reviews Tottenham game
Gary Neville thinks that Arsenal would benefit from Mikel Arteta being less emotional on the touchline following his antics during Sunday’s thrilling North London Derby.
The Gunners twice took the lead and then quickly surrendered it to arch-rivals Tottenham, who earned a deserved 2-2 draw at the Emirates through a Son Heung-min double. Arteta - who’s regularly active on the touchline throughout the 90 minutes, and often strays outside of his technical area - celebrated both of Arsenal’s goals in typically delirious fashion, only to be quietened down by Spurs a few minutes later.
Neville believes that the Spaniard’s players would be better off if he maintained a more composed figure, telling his Sky Sports podcast: “I want to see a composure from this Arsenal team and that’s difficult because the manager’s on the sideline jumping around like you wouldn’t believe.
“I want to see passion, but I want to see composure and a coldness, and that feels like a contradiction. But I want to see it in the right moments at the right times. When they scored that second goal, [Bukayo] Saka’s penalty, which was a beautiful penalty, celebrate it, give your fans something because they want to see it means something.
“But there should be two or three senior players in that group saying, ‘Right, come on. Switch on now, we’re ready and we’re going to see this through’. Your mentality kicks in of knowing when a game’s in danger.”
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Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal lost control of Sunday’s North London Derby (
Image:
Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
While Arteta has admitted on numerous occasions that his emotions sometimes get the better of him, he insists he won’t change. “I hear a lot of times that this team is the mirror of the coach, or the passion - I don’t know,” the Gunners boss declared in January.
“That’s me! I will always try to be better. Whatever I do, if it is tomorrow or the next day, is to make the club stronger, my players better, play better and win.”
Last season, Newcastle legend Alan Shearer slammed Arteta for his continued behaviour on the touchline, saying it was “disrespectful.” The ex-England captain told Premier League Productions after his former side’s feisty draw at Arsenal: “I think Mikel Arteta needs to have a word with himself, or his assistant needs to have a word with him and calm him down.
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“I think he’s disrespectful to the opposition and he’s making it very difficult for the referees, who have a hard enough job as it is. I get he wants to be animated but if his players behaved like him, he wouldn’t like it and it would cost him. He needs to calm down.”
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