Jamie Carragher has now opened up about how Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has changed since his playing days.
During their playing careers, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher and former Arsenal captain Mikel Arteta came up against each other many times in the Premier League.
Nowadays, Arteta is an exuberant presence in the Arsenal dugout. In fact, the Spanish coach has attracted plenty of criticism for his touchline antics.
However, it would seem that he was not always such an expressive figure. Certainly, recalling his days in the middle of the park for the Gunners, he was usually the epitome of calm as he dictated the pace of Arsenal’s play with his metronomic passing. His natural composure was likely one of the factors which convinced then-manager Arsene Wenger to hand him the armband.
Interestingly, Arteta himself has chosen another level-headed midfielder to captain his own Arsenal side. Martin Odegaard is not one to fly off the handle on the pitch or make bombastic displays of anger or frustration.
On the touchline, though, Arteta is seemingly incapable of keeping his own emotions under the surface. He may well feel that his behaviour has a net positive impact. If his energy is infectious and can spread to the players and fire up the Emirates Stadium crowd then he will consider it well worth doing.
Jamie Carragher highlights evolution of Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta
It is a change of character that has baffled Carragher, though. Aside from his encounters with the 41-year-old in an Arsenal shirt, he also came up against Arteta during his Everton days. In those fiery Merseyside derbies, Carragher insists that Arteta remained a bastion of calm.
Speaking on Stick To Football, the former Liverpool defender said, “the thing that fascinates me about Arteta is that what I see on the touchline, it’s almost like a completely different person to the one I played against. He wasn’t really that emotional. We played derby games, he was one of Everton’s best players, he was a silky player, but you would never think he was into his own players or the referee.”
It would be fascinating to know for certain the cause of this apparent change in Arteta’s character. Perhaps he always felt the need to suppress this side of himself as a player, yet it was always there, under the surface.
Alternatively, the nature of management is such that whilst his players are on the pitch he is powerless to directly intervene with a tackle or pass. That sense of being a bystander whilst your dreams, and perhaps even your job, are on the line would drive anyone to the point of gesticulating wildly and barking instructions.
The Arsenal boss does need to make a greater effort to avoid provoking the displeasure of referees with his behaviour. Arteta has already been booked four times this season and has already served one suspension, which doesn’t help himself or anyone at the club.
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