Newcastle United drew 0-0 with Arsenal on Tuesday night, and Gunners boss Mikel Arteta reportedly was not happy with one member of Eddie Howe’s staff.
The Magpies seriously frustrated Arsenal, and managed to put a dint in their opponents’ title bid whilst extending their own unbeaten run. Newcastle are now 15 games without defeat in all competitions, and have kept six clean sheets in a row.
It was a wonderful performance from Howe’s side, who dug in to earn the point that they deserved. It wasn’t pretty, but it was certainly effective. And essential against a team that has been pretty much unstoppable this season.
The Emirates was a frosty place on Tuesday night, with Arsenal folk seemingly furious with anything and everything that anyone associated with Newcastle did.
And the crowd was orchestrated by an irate Mikel Arteta, who stomped up and down the touchline like a spoiled brat who didn’t get what he wanted for Christmas.
The Spaniard appeared to be livid from minute one, and reportedly had an issue with Howe’s assistant boss Jason Tindall.
Mikel Arteta not happy with Jason Tindall
According to the Chronicle, Arteta was annoyed with Tindall during the game. They report that the Arsenal manager was unhappy at how often Tindall was out of the technical area and speaking to the fourth official.
For reference, this is Mikel Arteta who was annoyed, the man who storms up and down the touchline and ignores his technical area completely every week. He was so close to being on the pitch at one point that it looked like he might actually tackle Kieran Trippier like Jose Mourinho did to Olly Murs all those years ago at Soccer Aid.
As Richard Keys always points out, Arteta is terrible for charging out of his designated area. Agreeing with Keys to make a point is a desperate state of affairs, but the fact remains that Arteta has no leg to stand on here.
The former Everton midfielder seemed up a height for the entire game. And the way he went on for the penalty appeal in stoppage time was embarrassing – so much so that Howe even had words.
If that penalty had been given against Arteta, he would have been absolutely raging. The way he went on was laughable, and highlights the fickle nature of the game we love.
Tindall is no saint when it comes to his touchline demeanour, but for Arteta to be annoyed with him is pure hypocrisy.
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