Mikel Arteta slammed as a ‘lunatic’ for one thing he does at Arsenal
Arsenal came from a goal down to beat Newcastle United 2-1, gaining ground on league leaders Liverpool.
Liverpool lost 2-1 to Crystal Palace before Arsenal beat Newcastle later in the weekend to close the gap at the top of the Premier League to two points.
Arsenal wanted a penalty early in the game against Newcastle, but VAR overturned Jarred Gillett’s on-field decision to deny the Gunners a spot-kick.
Newcastle took the lead against Arsenal before a late double from Mikel Merino and Gabriel Magalhaes secured the points for the visitors.
Richard Keys and Andy Gray slam Mikel Arteta’s touchline behaviour
Before the match, Richard Keys and Andy Gray slammed Mikel Arteta for his behaviour on the touchline so far this season.
Speaking on BEIN Sports in the buildup to Arsenal’s meeting with Newcastle, Keys said: “I’ve always said that about Arteta, for me, he lacks trust in his players, and that’s why he behaves the way he does on the touchline, which is quite frankly like a lunatic.
“You can’t direct 90 minutes, and if you really trust the players you put on the pitch to represent the club, you can afford to sit down like Arsene [Wenger] used to and leave them to it,” Keys finished.
Gray then added: “I look at [Jurgen] Klopp and even Pep [Guardiola] to an extent, they don’t get out there and stand ranting for 90 minutes, you go back and you sit back.
“If you’re a coach, you pick the team, you’ve done your tactics, you’ve told them your tactics, and you then sit down until you see something that you want to change.”
Mikel Arteta pushes Arsenal to victory with late changes
Speaking on talkSPORT during Arsenal’s win over Nottingham Forest Stuart Pearce said: “What has he [Ange Postecoglou] on the bench to make a real dynamic change?
“At the moment I’m not so sure, on the other hand, Arsenal, you look at their bench and it is the bench of potential champions.”
| Arsenal’s last seven goalscorers | Minute subbed on | Minute scored |
| Gabriel Martinelli vs Athletic Club | 71′ | 72′ |
| Leandro Trossard vs Athletic Club | 65′ | 87′ |
| Gabriel Martinelli vs Manchester City | 80′ | 93′ |
| Eberechi Eze vs Port Vale | – | 8′ |
| Leandro Trossard vs Port Vale | 81′ | 86′ |
| Mikel Merino vs Newcastle United | 70′ | 84′ |
| Gabriel vs Newcastle United | – | 96′ |
In Arsenal’s last four games, five of their seven goals have come from substitutes, with Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard scoring late against Athletic Club, before Martinelli scored a late equaliser against Man City, proving Pearce’s comments may have some legs.
Against Newcastle, it was Merino who levelled the affair for Arteta’s side before Gabriel’s dramatic late header.
Arteta will be able to handle comments about his demeanour on the touchline as long as his strong bench continues to yield results for Arsenal.