COMMENT: Mikel Arteta. With all this spite and animus leveled at him, Arsenal's manager must know he's doing something right...
They're all coming for him, aren't they? The pundits. The exes. They're queuing up to take aim at the Basque. The football. The players. The Premier League leadership. That's all marginal stuff. What the real story should be, apparently, is Arteta and his touchline behaviour...
Ever since it became clear that this Arsenal team were the real thing, they've been lining up. It's personal. How can you suggest otherwise? There's something about Arteta that rubs a certain type the wrong way. A type that inevitably finds their way onto a tv studio sofa. The outrage aimed at Arsenal's manager this week has been ridiculous. Jurgen Klopp has never experienced such venom. Antonio Conte. Pep Guardiola. None of them have been personally attacked as Arteta has this season.
And it is ridiculous. Arteta is animated on the touchline. Spiky. Confrontational... So what? What is it about these pundits that leads them to wag their finger and demand he change? Why do they want to curb the entertainment? Drive down the passion? The craque? What is it with these exes and this school ma'am attitude?
Roy Keane, the Manchester United great, branded Arteta a "sore loser", after the Gunners, as Prem leaders, lost at Old Trafford. That was back in August. And they've been piling on ever since, culminating in the aftermath this week of Arsenal's stalemate at home to Newcastle United.
Alan Shearer, the Toon legend, branded Arteta "disrespectful to the opposition", after his row with opposite number Eddie Howe. Chris Sutton, the former Chelsea striker, declared Arteta's behaviour "embarrassing". Jamie O'Hara, formerly of Tottenham, accused him of "behaving like a fan" and urged Arteta to "calm down". And then we had long-time commentator Richard Keys describing Arteta as "an embarrassment" and demanding action be taken against him.
It's pathetic. Truly pathetic. And as we say, they're all coming for him now.
Of course, this wasn't supposed to happen. Not Arsenal. Not Arteta. With a team still in transition. A team that doesn't possess the best players. That has no €100m signing to boast of. And with a squad dominated by under 25s. The idea Arsenal would be free and clear at the top of the table halfway through the season was just not on the radar of those paid to get these predictions right.
That's the story. At least it should be the story. Arteta, touchline antics 'n all, has found a way to transform this hopelessly underachieving club into contenders. Contenders playing a great brand football. With emerging new stars. And on a budget the fraction of those rivals now looking up at them.
Further, Arteta has done this barely three years into a managerial career. Take his touchline passion away and what are you left with? The same leader? The same inspiration? Of course not. This is one aspect of Mikel Arteta the manager. It's what makes him - and his players - tick. Clips his wings. Tell him to "calm down". And you remove a significant part of his and his team's matchday approach.
It really doesn't matter what the pundits think. It actually matters little what some sections of the Gunners support think. The most important men in all this are the players. And on current evidence, it's there for all to see: they love their manager. They respect him. And the passion he shows on the touchline is simply one more facet in Arsenal's tactical approach.
They're thriving off it. There's no arguing otherwise. This young team. With their young captain. They bounce off the energy from their manager. As do the home support. It's a tired cliché, but it must said: Emirates stadium is becoming a fortress. For the first time in it's 16-year history, the atmosphere on an evening like Tuesday is resembling the very best of Highbury. There's a spark about the place. The club is being revived. The fans can feel it. Touch it. And the level of electricity increases every time they see their manager defending their team's cause on the touchline.
It's part of the game. The theatre. But also contributes - good or bad - to the team's performance. And while some claim Arteta's actions will rattle his young team, what we're seeing played out on the pitch is the exact opposite.
Arteta shouldn't "calm down". He shouldn't "change". He shouldn't do anything other than what he's doing now. If it upsets the finger waggers, so be it. What he's doing. How he behaves. It's working. The proof of that is the spite and animus now being flung his way.
