Mikel Arteta has been advised to stick with his passionate touchline persona, despite it resulting in clashes like the one with Kevin de Bruyne, because it helps Arsenal retain their intensity.
Arteta was shoved by an angry De Bruyne in the second half of Manchester City’s 3-1 win over Arsenal on Wednesday night. The Arsenal boss had nudged the ball away from the City midfielder as he attempted to pick it up and take a quick throw-in.
It is far from the first incident Arteta has been involved in this season, with criticism frequently raining down over his tendency to wander out of his technical area. He has also been slammed for trying to put pressure on the fourth official around important decisions.
But former Premier League goalkeeper Tim Howard believes that, while it may irritate opponents and pundits, Arteta’s exuberance could be key for his side’s momentum. He thinks he should continue showing energy on the sidelines, even if it gets him in a spot of bother every now and then.
"There was the coming together with De Bruyne at one point, coming out of his technical area," Howard said on NBC during the Manchester City game. "It's OK for him to reel it in, but he still has to be himself.
"If this is the way he is going to manage his team and then he comes off the boil, the team is going to see that so whatever façade he has going on, whether it is real or not he has to keep that up. So even though he was a little bit more tame today, I think that he has always got to be himself."
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Ally McCoist made a similar point on the De Bruyne incident while on co-commentary duties for Amazon Prime. "I know what he was up to Arteta, but I'm not sure it deserved that reaction," he said.
"But he was being a bit naughty. Watch, he takes it away there and then gets a little shove for his efforts. But do you know what it's done? It's got the crowd going."
The atmosphere was electric at the Emirates Stadium for the top-of-the-table clash, but the result did not go Arsenal’s way. De Bruyne opened the scoring by pouncing on an under-hit back-pass from Takehiro Tomiyasu, before Bukayo Saka equalised from the penalty spot after Eddie Nketiah was taken out by Ederson.
There were chances at either end in the second half before City took control. Jack Grealish slotted in via a deflection off Tomiyasu to make it 2-1 before De Bruyne found Erling Haaland in the six-yard box to make the game safe.
City’s win saw them go top of the Premier League table on goal difference, but Arsenal do have a game in hand on their rivals. Arteta’s side travel to Aston Villa on Saturday looking to put an end to their four-game winless run in all competitions.
Pep Guardiola’s side face Nottingham Forest this weekend before turning their attention to RB Leipzig in the last-16 of the Champions League.
