Mikel Arteta has dared Ivan Toney to tweet another spiky message before Sunday’s showdown between Arsenal and Brentford.
The Arsenal manager used a post from the Bees striker as inspiration ahead of the 2-1 win at the Emirates in February. Now he says he is standing with his whiteboard marker poised just waiting for Ivan Toney to take to Twitter again.
The Brentford hitman is one of the men of the moment, having seen his hat-trick against Leeds last time out rewarded with a call up to the England squad to face Italy and Germany later this month. But in Arteta’s mind, Toney was already making a name for himself over a year ago, when he posted a cheeky tweet after Brentford’s shock opening day win against Arsenal.
The Amazon Prime documentary All or Nothing revealed that the comment was still bugging him when the two teams played the reverse fixture in February. And he reminded his players of it by writing it on his display board just minutes before they headed out to secure a 2-1 win at the Emirates.
“Before I go, because it’s still in my stomach and I have managed to keep it for four months, five months, six months,” said the Spanish coach, pointing to the tweet on the screen. “This is Toney after the game when we played at Brentford. You know what he did? You know his tweet? ‘Nice kick about with the boys’.
“So today they play in our house, guys there is only one team on that f***ing pitch – and it’s us! Only one team, it’s like they don’t play football. We take that f***ing ball, we take the game, we go for it and let’s f***ing win this game!”
Likewise, Arteta will have his social media team keeping their tabs on Toney’s accounts before tomorrow’s lunchtime kick-off.
“I haven’t written the script for the pre-match message on Sunday, so if he has any messages he wants to post before then, I could always write them down,” Arteta smiled.
“I think his is a great story. This country has had stories like this in the last few seasons - the same with Jamie Vardy - and how his career happened is extraordinary.
“It shows opportunities are open for anybody, it is just about showing consistency and quality and belief. It can happen at any age.”
