Jamie Carragher calls Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta a ‘lunatic’

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Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has shared his assessment of Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is an extremely animated figure on the touchline. He shouts instructions, gesticulates wildly, and bounds around within and indeed beyond the confines of his technical area throughout every match. 

At times his energy fuels the Emirates Stadium atmosphere and is transmitted to the players of the pitch. On other occasions it can seem like an unwelcome distraction. 

Jamie Carragher has now had his say on Arteta’s touchline behaviour. Speaking on The Overlap, the Sky Sports pundit referred back to Arsenal’s Community Shield win over Manchester City and said, “I felt like I was watching Arsenal in the run in and it’s only the start of the season…I remember Arteta on the side of the pitch after 20 minutes was like a lunatic to the referee because he hadn’t booked a City player, and it’s still half a friendly, I know it’s a big rivalry but I thought that almost felt too intense for the stakes…It was like, you have another 10 months of this.”

Arsenal playing emotional game

Arsenal are a rather emotional team on the pitch. Arteta has built a young squad, and is a young and relatively unexperienced manager himself. In the last two seasons, when the pressure has mounted, the Gunners have fallen short late on. 

First, they were pipped to Champions League qualification by bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur, and last time out they stumbled during the run in and lost out to Manchester City in the Premier League title race.

At times this season, Arsenal will once again find themselves under intense pressure and need to show that they can keep cool heads. In these instances, Arteta’s touchline mannerisms could potentially be counter productive.

However, given how much Arsenal have improved since Arteta took on the job at the Emirates Stadium, it is harsh to be overly critical of his style. It may also be the case that his squad feel that they benefit greatly from the Spanish coach’s enthusiasm.

Arteta is unlikely to change his behaviour to any great extent, and the commentary and reaction to his antics will not abate. As long as his side are regularly winning matches, though, his touchline movements will be seen as being of little consequence at the club.