It used to be that criticism of Mikel Arteta for straying from his technical area was reserved for fringe parts of the internet and Richard Keys, although it could probably be argued that the two intersect on the Venn diagram of social media relevance these days. However, as people awoke on Wednesday morning following Arsenal's 0-0 draw with Newcastle they were greeted with the shocking reality that the viewpoint has become more mainstream.
Several outlets carried takes about as hot as the January weather claiming that Arteta had played a part in his team's failure to win a Premier League home game for the first time this season with his antics on the touchline. A clip of the Spaniard fervently appealing for a late penalty before exchanging heated words with Eddie Howe went viral, and his bench behaviour has now become a huge topic of discussion.
Some have called it disrespectful, others have called it inexperienced and Richard Keys has even... actually do we even go there? What's lost in the melee of commentators falling over themselves to express their indignation, is how inconsistent and incorrect this criticism really is.
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Only a week ago Pep Guardiola leathered a water bottle in the direction of the opposition bench as Manchester City cruised to a 3-1 win over Leeds. Perhaps due to the comedic nature of his immediate apology, the incident has passed without comment for the most part and been held up as an example of the standards Guardiola sets for his players even when they are winning.
Jurgen Klopp meanwhile was given a one-match touchline ban and £30,000 fine for screaming in the face of assistant referee Gary Beswick during Liverpool's 1-0 victory over City earlier this season, not the first time he has been guilty of such behaviour in his career. There has been no suggestion that his aggressive behaviour in the dugout has contributed to his side's below par start to the season however. Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte also had to be dragged apart in the aftermath of Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Tottenham in August, but instead of leading to comment pieces criticising their behaviour it was portrayed as part of the drama that makes us love the Premier League.
The inconsistency is startling.
There probably is a fair debate to be had when it comes to the standards Premier League managers set with their behaviour on the touchline. A report earlier this year claimed that nine in 10 referees at grassroots level had been victims of physical or verbal abuse, while the FA are trialling body cameras for grassroots referees this year after they had to hand out 380 bans at that level last season. This in no doubt plays a part in why the recruitment pool for officials is so slim and why English referees are no longer in charge of the biggest games in football.
But Eddie Howe perhaps summed it best when asked about the penalty appeal against his side late in Tuesday night's clash. "I think if it was the other way round I'd be shouting for it," he told reporters. "Probably not with the belief it should be given because the distance is too tight."
Each Premier League manager does it, even someone as mild-mannered as Howe. The reality is that if Arsenal had been given the late penalty to win the game, then we probably wouldn't even be discussing the matter. The results-based nature of the criticism feels fundamentally flawed. The debate we should be having instead is over the culture of aggression towards officials in general rather than simply piling in to Mikel Arteta.
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