Mikel Arteta Sends Bizarre Warning to Every Other Premier League Manager
After receiving his second yellow card of the season on Saturday, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta revealed he’s “clipping” all the other Premier League managers who also leave their technical area, but go unpunished.
The Spaniard entered the referee’s book in the 64th minute of the Gunners’ 2–0 win over Everton at the Emirates Stadium. Arteta strayed from his allotted area on the touchline to pick up his second caution of the season—the first came for a similar infraction at Sunderland back in September.
The tactician, who is always active and reactionary on the touchline, believes he is being unfairly treated by the referees when compared to his fellow managers in the English top flight.
“I do have to be careful,” Arteta said when asked about his caution in his postgame press conference. “And we need to have good sensors there. There are managers that have the record in the league, 36 times in 10 minutes leave the touchline, no yellows.
“So I’m clipping all of that. I have a massive storage of images. So if somebody is going to say, ‘I’m not in the record yet, somebody else has the record.’
“Then it’s 36 yellow cards in 10 minutes for the manager. I don’t know where we’re going to be. Let’s see.”
The Punishments Facing Arteta For His Touchline Antics
In isolation, picking up a yellow card as a manager is not a very big deal, so long as there is not another one coming before the final whistle sounds. But collecting multiple cautions across a span of matches comes with consequences.
Three yellow cards for a manager equal an automatic one-game suspension. Six cautions bring a two-match ban, and nine come with the punishment of three matches on the sidelines.
It’s only late October and Arteta already has two to his name. The next time he enters the referee’s book, he will be hit with a one-match ban, leaving Arsenal without their manager on the touchline for whatever the next game on the schedule is.
Even if Arteta pulls a José Mourinho and shows up to a press conference with his “massive storage of images” to plead his case, he will still be forced to watch from the stands.
Arteta Lashes Out at Arsenal’s ‘Terrible’ Schedule
Arteta had more to complain about in his postgame press conference despite Arsenal’s gritty win over Everton. The 44-year-old hardly celebrated the victory that put his side back level with Manchester City atop the table before going in on the club’s schedule.
“We’re very happy with the victory, the performance and the week, because we were given a terrible schedule,” Arteta said. “Playing Sunday afternoon, then Wednesday night in Munich, coming here really late on Thursday and then having to play again in the Premier League against a really tough opponent on Saturday at 3 p.m.
“We have overcome some injuries, and I’m really proud of the mentality of the team in the conditions today.”
The defending Premier League champions went unbeaten during the run in question, defeating Nottingham Forest last weekend before managing a 2–2 draw with Bayern Munich midweek and then getting past Everton on Saturday.
There is hardly much time to recover, though, because Arsenal have a Carabao Cup clash with Fleetwood Town on Tuesday, Oct. 27. The good news is Arteta can rest many of his typical starters against the League Two side, leaving his biggest stars fresh for a date with Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, Nov. 1.
