Mikel Arteta returns to St James’ Park, the scene of ‘desgracia-gate’, in a zen state compared to how he left last November.
Saturday’s visit to Newcastle United comes almost a year to the day since he let loose at VAR and Premier League officiating standards following the controversial 1-0 loss to Eddie Howe’s side.
Twelve months on, he returns with the outside perception around his temperament undergoing something of an evolution.
Arteta was booked the joint-most times of any Premier League manager last season, alongside former Brighton head coach Roberto De Zerbi, having received five yellow cards. His post-match rant at Newcastle and animated presence on the touchline made him a divisive figure.
This season he is one of only five managers yet to be cautioned after the opening nine games and has he opted to plead the fifth when asked about major decisions which have gone against Arsenal so far.
Arteta recently revealed how his wife, an actress who has become a spiritual coach, introduced him to meditation over the past few years. He uses it as a daily afternoon ritual to help calm his mind from the relentless pressure of being a Premier League manager.
Has it helped him keep his cool when it comes to refereeing decisions?
“On the touchline, I haven’t got to that point where I am in meditation mode yet, but maybe it is something that has to happen,” Arteta said on Friday, laughing as he struck a pose with his eyes shut and both thumbs and forefingers touching.
“I just want the best for the team and I want to give the team the best chance to be as competitive as possible. When they changed the rules and certain behaviours towards the touchline we need to adapt to that and evolve. That is what I try to do.
“I don’t want to miss any games, that is for sure. I cannot promise you that if we score a goal, I am not going to be jumping up and down the touchline. Hopefully, as well, they have adapted and they have understood that emotions are a big part of that.”
Asked whether the standard of refereeing has improved since his comments last year, it was more revealing what was left unsaid. “They are certainly trying their best,” was the curt reply.
Arteta watched back the Newcastle defeat in preparation for this Saturday’s trip, but he chose not to pause on Anthony Gordon’s disputed winning goal, which is the incident that led to his clash with the authorities.
There was a four-minute delay as VAR checked three potential illegalities in the one goal: whether the ball had gone out of play in the build-up, whether Joelinton had pushed Gabriel Magalhaes and whether there was an offside.
The goal was awarded but Arsenal released a strongly-worded statement that evening backing their manager’s call for improved standards. Arteta appeared on TV at full time lambasting the decision, then arrived in the press conference room to continue the most impassioned outburst of his managerial career.
Among the two pages of Arteta’s quotes from his three post-match interviews, the greatest hits included: “I have been 20 years in this country and now I feel ashamed”; “It’s an absolute disgrace, I feel embarrassed”; “We are wasting our time. I don’t want to be in the hands of people. It’s difficult enough to compete against this team (Newcastle)”; and “I feel sick to be part of this”.
That the Premier League’s five-person independent match panel sided with VAR on all three questionable aspects of the goal did not help the mood. They unanimously agreed with VAR that the ball was in play, agreed 4-1 that Joelinton did not foul Gabriel and were unanimous again that VAR was correct not to rule offside.
Arteta has reflected on his post-match comments, having been shown the tape during the disciplinary hearing at Wembley in December in which he contested the charge of breaching Football Association (FA) Rule E3.
It states that: ‘A participant shall at all times act in the best interests of the game and shall not act in any manner which is improper or brings the game into disrepute or use any one, or a combination of, violent conduct, serious foul play, threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting words or behaviour’.
The charge was found not proven and Arteta, backed by a five-strong legal team including managing director Richard Garlick, escaped punishment.
Amid the wider conversation around refereeing and accountability, it was a seismic moment. What made it even more incendiary was that Arteta had met with the PGMOL (the referees’ body) just two days before the match to discuss the VAR system and processes.
It was the FA’s case that he had brought the game into disrepute and they asked for his comments in their totality as one breach. Curiously, they put in bold and underlined certain passages from the interview transcripts submitted as part of the charge letter, and had to subsequently clarify that it was only these highlighted words which amounted to a breach.
Arteta provided a written response denying that his comments had been personal or cast aspersions about individual officials. He included examples of post-match media comments made by other managers which had not given rise to any charge from the FA. It was his view that he only expressed his frustration at the one VAR decision and the standard of refereeing and VAR in the Premier League.
He was found to be an “impressive” witness, with the hearing board accepting his testimony as careful and honest. Contrary to the FA’s contention, the panel did not consider the manner in which Arteta delivered his words improper or inappropriate.
“We accept that it was certainly not his intention to insult any match official or to act other than in the interests of the game when making the comments that he did during the interviews,” the report read.
“He plainly had a good understanding not only of the need for respect to be shown to match officials, but also of the reasons why such respect is essential at every level of the game, and particularly why respect must be shown by individuals who are role models to others in the game.”
Arteta’s lawyer, Mr Mill KC, referenced two decisions from disciplinary bodies — a 2014 dispute between the FA and Jose Mourinho and a 2020 dispute between Paris Saint-Germain, Neymar and UEFA — which accepted that refereeing decisions and standards could legitimately be criticised, as long as they did not cross the line in the eye of a reasonable bystander.
Among the defences, however, there was a more spurious claim. Clause 12d suggested that Arteta, a man who speaks seven languages, had perhaps confused the meanings of the word ‘disgrace’ with the Spanish word ‘desgracia’, which had “connotations of misfortune, tragedy or bad luck rather than the connotations of the English equivalent which suggest contempt, dishonour or disrespect”. Arteta rejected this at his personal hearing, attributing it to a miscommunication between him and the club.
Nevertheless, since that very public experience which saw Arteta asked about his conduct for numerous weeks afterwards, he has certainly mellowed in his post-match interviews.
There is the abiding debate about how fair it is on managers, whose jobs are dictated by results that are influenced by referee and VAR decisions, that they feel unable to give a true opinion for fear of landing themselves with a touchline ban and a hefty fine.
But the first example of a more level-headed approach came in March, after Arsenal were denied a late penalty against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
“I haven’t seen it,” he said. “The decision is made, we cannot change that. We have to focus on other aspects we can control and that we could’ve done much better tonight.”
After William Saliba’s red card in the 2-0 defeat by Bournemouth last month, he declined to say whether Arsenal would appeal against the decision. “I leave that more to the club to understand the circumstances and other examples that are very clear in the same position and they will have to decide it,” he said.
When Declan Rice was shown a second yellow against Brighton, a game Arsenal went on to draw 1-1, he was clearly frustrated but he worded his response in a subtle way that still got across his displeasure.
“I was amazed. Amazed, amazed, amazed because of how inconsistent decisions can be,” said Arteta.
“In the first half, there are two incidents and nothing happens. Then, in a non-critical area, the ball hits Declan (on the back of his leg), he turns around, he doesn’t see the player coming and he touches the ball.
“By law, he (the referee) can make that call, but then by law he needs to make the next call, which is a red card so we play 10 vs 10. This is what amazed me. At this level it’s amazing.”
When they suffered a similar fate against Manchester City, a game in which they also dropped two points having been ahead with a full set of players, he managed to make clear his opinion without stepping over the line.
“It is very obvious, I don’t need to talk about it. I think the red card is very clear, very obvious what people think,” Arteta said.
“It is not my job to come here and judge what happened. My job is to survive in one of the most difficult environments there is in football for 55 minutes and try to get things done to survive.”
Survival will be the aim on Saturday in a game that Arsenal need to win if they are to stay within touching distance of the leaders.
The baggage of last year and the raucous atmosphere at St James’ means this will be the ultimate litmus test of just how much progress he has made in containing his emotions.
(Top photo: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
