Arsenal dug deep to secure a victory over Nottingham Forest yesterday, but defenders Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko were involved in an altercation at full-time.
Zinchenko was harshly criticised for Forest’s late goal, which also saw William Saliba blamed as he lost an aerial duel with Taiwo Awoniyi, and White was clearly unhappy with Zinchenko’s role in the goal.
Some have criticised the pair for having an argument on the pitch, which saw the two players separated, but Mikel Arteta was delighted that his players showed so much passion and accountability despite securing all three points.
Mikel Arteta was delighted with White and Zinchenko altercation
Speaking after the game, Arteta claimed that the players were caught up in the heat of the moment, but encouraged caution going forward.
“I love it, They are demanding more from each other,” he stated.
“They are not happy with the way they conceded and they are just trying to resolve it.
“It got a bit heated. But that means that it’s enough. Playing the way we played the result has to be bigger and the clean sheet has to be there.”
Aggression within the Arsenal squad is a good sign
During Arsenal’s difficult years in recent seasons, accusations of players not caring enough were often levelled at the squad after lacklustre defeats.
Arsenal battled hard to secure victory, and Zinchenko performed well despite the goal and his argument with White.
Arguments were a regular occurrence in Arsenal’s last side to win the title, the Invincibles, and right-back Lauren once revealed that there was regular infighting within the squad as they pushed each other to achieve greatness.
“How competitive we were – all fighting between ourselves. I had a fight with Thierry, Thierry with Martin [Keown], Patrick with Freddie [Ljungberg],” Lauren stated in 2020.
“We were all very competitive and we were all fighting because we all had big egos, big personalities but by the time the games arrived, we were fighting for the same goal.”
White and Zinchenko are two excellent players and top professionals who are both regular starters under Arteta. Both players are clearly unhappy at conceding goals, despite the positive result, and encouraging each other to be accountable for their errors will only serve Arsenal well as they attempt to challenge for the Premier League title.
Arsenal’s next game is against Liverpool, and if they manage to secure victory against Jurgen Klopp’s side, they will be right back in the title mix after a dip in form in December saw them surrender top spot in the Premier League.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
