‘It’s just poor’: TalkSPORT pundit says he wishes Arsenal had 52-year-old manager in charge instead of Arteta

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TalkSPORT’s Jay Bothroyd has criticised Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and even suggested he wishes that the Gunners had Antonio Conte in charge.

Arsenal were swept aside by Tottenham last night as Conte’s men took the spoils in what was a huge north London derby. Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son once again did the damage for Spurs, while Arsenal shot themselves in the foot by getting Rob Holding sent off then giving away a penalty.

The red card for Holding was yet another in a long line of dismissals this season. And speaking on TalkSPORT, former Arsenal youth player Bothroyd believes things would be different with Antonio Conte in charge.

‘These are the kind of situations where I talk about Arteta’s leadership qualities. These are the sort of situation where I question whether he’s the right man for the job, I’m sorry. Arsenal’s discipline has been terrible this season. It’s just not good enough. They don’t have those leadership qualities that we used to have back when I was younger. I don’t see it in this squad at all, I don’t see leadership qualities at all,” Bothroyd commented.

“It’s just poor. It’s mentally weak. And it stems from Arteta unfortunately. These are the sorts of games where I questioned Arteta. You can play against Brighton, Burnley, and Arsenal win and you can say he’s great. But in these games, I don’t think this would have happened with Conte. I wish Arsenal had took Conte, before Tottenham did.”

TBR’s View: Mikel Arteta Can’t Complain About Being Criticised

There is no doubt there is an underlying issue in this Arsenal team around discipline. Rob Holding lost his head completely last night and others have done it earlier in the season as well.

If they do miss out on the top four, then you’d have a strong argument to say that discipline has cost them. Bothroyd makes a good point here in that you don’t see Tottenham’s players doing the same sort of thing.

It comes down to decision making at the end of the day. And Arsenal make too many wrong ones in big moments, in big games. Mikel Arteta, then, simple has to take being criticised on the chin.