“It’s a disgrace. It’s embarrassing” were the now immortal words of Arteta after VAR saw no concrete evidence to disagree with the referee’s on-pitch decision to allow Gordon’s goal to stand. Was the ball still in play? Inconclusive. Was Gordon offside? No. Did Joelinton unfairly shove the man mountain that is Gabriel to the floor as he stooped to meet the ball? No - fouls are a subjective factor of football most of the time, and despite his team managing just one shot on target all game, Arteta saw that fateful night in November 23 as three points dropped, let alone one.
Unfortunately for Newcastle (and the Premier League), Arteta’s meltdown wasn’t the end of it. Arsenal Football Club released a statement defending their manager’s unprofessional rant; two Newcastle players (Bruno Guimaraes and Joe Willock) were targeted by racial slurs on Instagram by Arsenal fanatics. This is Joe Willock who (let me remind everyone) played over 40 times for Mikel Arteta and came through the Arsenal youth ranks. There were even petitions on Facebook for the fans inside the Emirates in the reverse fixture to stage a protest in the 64th minute; the same minute that Gordon scored the contested winner. The petty attention to detail was… in many ways… impressive, but unfortunately synonymous with the modern day angry mob mentality of the online Arsenal fanbase.
Disgrace
"It's a disgrace. It's embarrassing" - Newcastle 1 - 0 Arsenal
Will touchline and post-match antics prove to be Arteta's lasting legacy as opposed to on-pitch success?
Fortunately for Kevin Keegan, social media was not a thing when he made his infamous rant. Arteta was not so lucky; and often now whenever the Spaniard makes the headlines for good or bad, it is usually received in comments sections around the world with a crying face filter over the Arsenal manager’s head. Perceived ‘lesser’ managers have been criticised and fired despite bringing more trophies to their CVs since Arteta lifted the FA Cup during the infancy of his tenure. Notably, Erik ten Hag at Manchester United, who eclipsed the Spaniard’s trophy haul in just over two chaotic and much-maligned years. Thomas Tuchel was also hired as Chelsea boss, won a Champions League, sacked as Chelsea boss, hired and fired at Bayern, and hired as the England manager since that solitary FA Cup of Arteta’s.
Being a sore loser and a pantomime villain is fine; Jose Mourinho did it for years at Chelsea… but the difference was that Mourinho became a serial winner at Chelsea. He had the trophy clout to back up his narcissism. If Arteta leaves Arsenal with only that early FA Cup to his name, he’ll largely be remembered for bottling the title and throwing a hissy fit every time he played Newcastle.
Unfortunately, Arteta’s latest failure at SJP (that’s now three defeats in the last four at SJP for the Gunners), hasn’t clipped the wings of some online Arsenal fans. Lazy retorts that Saturday’s game was ‘Newcastle’s cup final’ are humorously ironic; given the level that Arsenal players celebrated a league victory over Liverpool last season. Yes, the one with the iconic picture of Martin Odegaard taking the camera from the club photographer and getting a few gleeful snaps of an impromptu staff pitch invasion.
Mikel Arteta’s antics won’t be keeping him up at night, he’ll feel he is genuinely entitled to get in scraps with Eddie Howe, slaughter the PGMOL live on television and criticise the opposition’s play-stye when facing defeat. But the barren trophy run certainly will keep him up at night. And if he doesn’t start to turn things around, this latest implosion at St James’ Park could be the beginning of the end… both for Arteta at Arsenal, and for the strangest rivalry we’ve had in recent years at Newcastle. Maybe when Arteta is gone, most of us Geordies can go back to having a soft spot for the Gunners like we did in the Wenger days, where they regularly competed with the big guns with none of the player expenditure.
Until then, keep whinging, Mikel, and keep digging yourself into a deeper and deeper hole.
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