Arsenal play Newcastle on Sunday afternoon hoping to enjoy a better day out than on their last trip to St James’ Park.
The Gunners travel to the north east buoyed by the confidence taken from their comfortable 3-1 win over Chelsea on Tuesday. That result put an end to a run of four games without a win which had derailed their Premier League title push.
Mikel Arteta will not have fond memories of Tyneside, with his side having suffered a hugely damaging defeat on May 16, 2022. Having been beaten 3-0 at bitter rivals Tottenham just four days before, Arteta was desperate for his side to show character and bounce back against the Magpies.
Victory was imperative, with the race for a Champions League place having taken a swing in north London in midweek. They failed to show up, as Eddie Howe’s side eased to a 2-0 victory, courtesy of a Ben White own goal and Bruno Guimaraes’ drive.
Back-to-back defeats in a week meant Tottenham had a two-point advantage going into the final day of the Premier League season. It meant Arsenal had to beat Everton and hope Spurs lost at relegated Norwich.
Arteta knew its significance. He was visibly crestfallen in his post-match interviews and conceded that Newcastle were the better team “by a mile”. The Arsenal manager had been hiding his true feelings pretty well, keeping a professional face for the media.
In the dressing room, he had reacted completely differently. The cameras for Amazon’s All or Nothing documentary captured an extraordinary rant from Arteta, in which he displayed uncharacteristic anger, which underlined the importance of the game they had just lost.
"It doesn't matter what I say, it doesn't matter what you say, now it's too late,” he began as he paced up and down and addressed his stony-faced players. “They were 10,000 times better than us today. In everything, with earning the right to play, we didn't win a f****** duel, we didn't win a second ball, we were horrible with the f****** ball.
"With the organisation, we have nothing, guys. No-thing. So now, shut your mouth and eat it. We could have conceded eight goals. If you see their chances (now), you will cry. You will cry the way we have competed. It's not that we competed (badly), we didn't compete at all in the game. It's f****** embarrassing to come here and work the way we have done it. Embarrassing, guys.
"What happened today is f****** unacceptable. And if you accept something like this, you live in a different world, guys. A different world."
The explosive outburst from Arteta, which ended with him storming out of the room, showed his passion for the project. In the end Arsenal did miss out on Champions League football, as Spurs pasted Norwich 5-0 on the final day of the season to secure fourth place.
But the two clubs’ fortunes have shifted over the 12 months. This time around at Newcastle Arteta will demand his players put in a performance worthy of their current standing.
