AFTER Mikel Arteta threw a wobbler on the touchline the other night, I’ve heard a few people urging the Arsenal boss to keep calm.They reckon that it’s important not to lose your head, especially in a title race, and that Arteta’s antics might have a negative effect on his team.
Mikel Arteta’s touchline antics vs Newcastle were criticised by someCredit: Alamy
But Troy Deeney has backed Arteta for setting a tone for his playersCredit: Getty
But I disagree with that and I think his players will, too.
If you’re playing a crucial match, you want to know your manager is in the trenches with you.
It’s not so much about showing ‘passion’. It’s about intensity. It’s about a manager setting a tone for his players.
I see Arteta kicking every ball, slinging the ball back in for throw-ins and getting in the ear of the match officials — and I like it.
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Against Newcastle on Tuesday night, Arteta was particularly hyper and I think he overstepped the mark right at the end when he was appealing for a penalty for handball.
That was a case of clutching at straws and it looked as if he felt Arsenal were simply entitled to get a penalty.
But, generally, I love Arteta’s demeanour on the touchline.
One thing I do know for a fact is that the Spaniard is not putting on any kind of a show during matches.
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I’ve heard from his players that he has the same sort of intensity during every training session.
I think this is one of the reasons why Arteta is really getting a tune out of his players this season.
Most of the very best managers are the same — Sir Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola.
Even Arsene Wenger, supposedly one of the nicest gentlemen in the game, was sent off several times.
Being successful in management is not all about keeping a cool head. I’ve had managers who are even more manic than Arteta — one in particular, Walter Mazzarri at Watford.
To be honest, he was an absolute nutter during matches.
Mazzarri would be up and down the touchline, frequently on the pitch while the ball was in play, swearing in Italian, sweating profusely.
He was maybe a little over the top. If you were winning, you’d have a sly smile at him.
If you were losing, you did wonder whether he was doing more harm than good — that some players wouldn’t react well.
Mazzarri’s successor, Marco Silva, was clever. He would leave it to his fitness coach or other assistants to get into the referee’s ear on his behalf.
I see Arteta kicking every ball, slinging the ball back in for throw-ins and getting in the ear of the match officials — and I like it. Troy Deeney
Nigel Pearson knew he had a bit of a reputation with referees so, by the time he was at Watford, he would try to kill the fourth official with kindness.
I tell you something, though, however loud it is inside a stadium, players always hear what their manager is shouting — pretty much every word.
It then becomes a case of selective hearing.
We will hear every word of praise we get from a gaffer but if we’re getting criticism we will cock a deaf ’un.
But the way managers act and what they say during matches really can have an affect on the outcome of a game.
Arteta will not be calming down on the touchline any time soon and his players won’t want him to.
As he enters his first title race as a manager, he will be even more aware of the effect his words and actions have — it becomes psychological warfare.
Arteta described it as ‘scandalous’ that Arsenal’s two penalty shouts against Newcastle were turned down by the officials. That was a classic deflection technique.
Putting the blame on the referee and VAR when Arsenal simply hadn’t done enough to break down an excellent Newcastle defence in the 0-0 draw at the Emirates.
Just like Jurgen Klopp, when Liverpool were well beaten at Brentford the previous night.
Klopp claimed talking to referees was like speaking to his microwave. He knew it was an easy headline to deflect the fact that his team hadn’t been good enough.
Players appreciate that kind of thing too — especially if you know that you personally have had a stinker.
You know your manager has taken some heat off you.
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Of course, Arteta doesn’t want to have a Kevin Keegan-style meltdown in front of the cameras and I don’t think he will.
But if you are expecting the Arsenal manager to chill out on the touchline, you can think again — he’s probably going to get even more intense from here on in. More
