Mikel Arteta jokes Arsenal duo have been "sharing wives" since public bust-up

02 February 2024 , 14:48

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Mikel Arteta was all smiles while discussing Oleksandr Zinchenko's fall-out with Ben White

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has made light of Oleksandr Zinchenko's on-pitch bust-up with team-mate Ben White on Tuesday night, joking the duo have been "sharing wives and everything."

The Gunners pair both featured in Tuesday night's 2-1 win away at Nottingham Forest, but despite picking up all three points tensions were clearly running high at full-time. White and Zinchenko had to be separated by Arsenal's set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, with cameras showing the two defenders pointing and shouting at each other.

It remains unclear as to what actually sparked the row, though some fans feel White took objection to Zinchenko's defending in the build-up to Taiwo Awoniyi's late consolation goal for Forest that threatened to spark a comeback. However, Arteta has since quashed any talk suggesting the feud has continued.

Speaking to the media ahead of Sunday's title showdown with Liverpool, the Arsenal boss joked: "They’ve been in the same house the past few days sharing wives and everything!

"You don't argue with someone if you don’t have a great relationship. That happens because you have the trust and chemistry to react the way they did."

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Even in the immediate aftermath of the clash, Arteta was not interested in blasting either of his players for showing passion at the end of the game. "I love it," he added. "They are demanding more from each other.

"They are not happy with the way they conceded and they are just trying to resolve it. It got a bit heated. But that means that it's enough. Playing the way we played the result has to be bigger and the clean sheet has to be there."

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Mikel Arteta had to calm Oleksandr Zinchenko down at full-time against Forest after falling out with Ben White (Matt West/REX/Shutterstock)

The first footage of Zinchenko's fury suggested it was actually Arteta the full-back had the issue with. In actual fact, the Arsenal boss was simply trying to calm the Ukraine international down before tempers flared further.

Arteta came in for criticism himself for the way he tried to diffuse the incident, with Gunners legend Ian Wright suggesting the Arsenal boss should have let the pair vent their frustrations on the pitch without any intervention from the Spaniard.

"I would have preferred you let them play it out [on the pitch] – it’s not like they were going to have a fight," Wright explained. "You go in the dressing room and deal with it there but to see the manager coming out and talking to him right there and then, I’m thinking, ‘deal with it in the dressing room’."

Josh O'Brien