Arsenal return to scene of Arteta's angriest meltdown with stakes even higher
Mikel Arteta still has flashbacks from his angriest dressing room meltdown.
It was at Newcastle last season when Arsenal’s season unravelled and defeat at St James’s Park effectively ended their chances of finishing in the top four.
Amazon’s fly-on-the-wall All Or Nothing documentary captured Arteta blowing his top with a foul mouthed rant at his players as he branded the performance “f***ing embarrassing and unacceptable.”
Fast forward 12 months and Arteta takes Arsenal to St James’s Park with high stakes involved again because they have to win to keep the pressure on Manchester City in the title race.
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It promises to be another raucous and testing atmosphere at Newcastle but Arteta insists his players cannot have a repeat of last year’s defeat.
“I haven’t seen the programme back, I have a few flashbacks of how it was and it was a difficult game and difficult day, that’s for sure,” said Arteta when asked whether his Newcastle meltdown was the angriest he has ever been.
“Maybe yes, maybe I’ve been angrier but I haven’t expressed it like that. Some days we can do that (get angry) when we win - depending on the performance! Every game is different.”
Arteta admits that he is still haunted by that day in May last year as Arsenal’s whole campaign came off the rails with defeat at Tottenham on a Thursday, followed by the defeat at Newcastle four days later.
Gunners boss Arteta said: “It’s about whether something hurts or not. I have moments in my professional career, as a player as well, that defeats that I had or I didn’t maximise what I could have done. They are still there and never go away.
“The feeling in those moments will stay with me forever. So the anger, or the passion or what you show in the moment is something, but it’s really what sticks inside.
Arteta returns to the scene of his angriest dressing room meltdown“It was difficult last year because we didn’t achieve what we came to very close to achieving and that was the disappointment that we have to deal with.
“It’s a very different game. Different players, different game. We’re gonna have to play better than last year that’s for sure because we know at home they’ve been really good.”
Arteta also took exception to the accusation that Arsenal have “bottled it” this season as they find themselves behind City despite being eight points clear going into the last international break in March.
But they have crumbled and blew the chance to go 11 points clear before going to the Etihad after dropping points with three consecutive draws at Liverpool, West Ham and at home to Southampton.
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Arteta said: “I think we have 38 tests – not one or two – during the season. If not you are not where we are for 10 and a half months. But this is my opinion.
“I cannot control what people think. We try to do our best and make our people as proud as possible and try as hard as possible to win the games. That’s what we have to do.
Aaron Ramsdale reacts to Arsenal's defeat by Newcastle on Tyneside last season (AFP via Getty Images)“It’s what happens in this league when you make errors. The teams punish you. Sometimes we get lucky and they don’t. But it happened in the last few games when we have made those errors that the teams have punished us and it cost us points, that’s for sure.”
Arsenal are confident Brazil defender Gabriel will be fit to face Newcastle after an ankle injury forced him to limp out of the win over Chelsea.
Meanwhile, Arteta has insisted they are determined to keep France defender William Saliba despite growing concern over his long term future.
Arsenal have activated a 12 month extension option on Saliba’s current deal securing him until 2024 but there has so far been a stalemate on the 22-year-old’s contract talks.
The Gunners will not want to risk Saliba running his deal down and walking away for free so the pressure will be on him to sign.
Arsenal are keen to tie Saliba to a fresh deal at the EmiratesBut Arteta insisted that technical director Edu is confident of reaching agreement and rewarding Saliba’s performances this season with a big-money long term deal.
Arteta said: “We want to keep our best talent. Especially the players that deserve some recognition. I think he has been incredible since he came back from his loan period and we want to reward him, that is for sure. We will find the right moment to do that.
“Obviously Edu and the board are on top of every negotiation regarding new contracts and now we are doing everything we possibly can to do that in the right moment at the right time. The communication and the relationship is super. It is about timing, I think. Nothing else.”
Arsenal are close to announcing a new deal for Bukayo Saka but Reiss Nelson is set to leave the Emirates on a free transfer this summer.
Saliba is set to miss the rest of the season with a back injury.
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