‘In my opinion’: Alan Shearer says Gunners staff must ‘have a word’ with Arsenal man, his behaviour is poor

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Alan Shearer has told Optus Sport that Arsenal staff must ‘have a word’ with Mikel Arteta after his behaviour on the touchline last night.

The Gunners were held to a goalless draw by Newcastle United at the Emirates last night and have now handed Manchester City the opportunity to close their lead at the top of the table.

Arsenal looked the more likely team to open the scoring in the first-half but just couldn’t find a way through the Premier League’s best defence.

Arteta was left frustrated at full-time after he felt his side should have been awarded two penalties in the second-half. Dan Burn appeared to pull Gabriel Magalhaes to the ground before Granit Xhaka’s cross struck Jacob Murphy’s arm.

Much to the frustration of Arteta, Andrew Madley did not point to the spot on both occasions and VAR did not intervene.

The Spaniard was absolutely furious on the touchline and exchanged some heated words with Eddie Howe. And Shearer has criticised the Arsenal boss for his behaviour and feels he needs to ‘calm down’.

Shearer on Arteta

Shearer spoke on Optus Sport’s coverage of the game and says Arteta’s touchline antics are ‘disrespectful’ to opponents. 

“I think Mikel Arteta needs to have a word with himself, or his assistants need to have a word with him and calm him down,” he said.

“I think he’s disrespectful to the opposition. He’s making it very difficult for referees who have a hard enough job as it is anyway.

“I get he wants to be animated on the touchline. If his players were behaving like him, he wouldn’t like it. That would cost him.

“He, in my opinion, needs to calm down. I get the big stakes, I get the top of the league, I get it’s an emotional game. But he’s making it very, very difficult for referees and he’s being disrespectful to the opposition.”

Arteta is certainly an animated figure on the touchline and it’s understandable given the stakes for Arsenal right now.

His energy on the touchline clearly rubs off on his players and he demands that his side play at a relentless pace.

Although Shearer is right that he may need to tone it down slightly as he is running the risk of being sent-off, which would not be ideal for Arsenal as they aim to secure their place at the top of the table.