Declan Rice of Arsenal celebrates with Mikel Arteta, Head Coach of Arsenal after the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Arsenal FC at Stamford Bridge on October 21, 2023 in London, England. (Photo LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 21: Declan Rice of Arsenal celebrates with Mikel Arteta, Head Coach of Arsenal after the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Arsenal FC at Stamford Bridge on October 21, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) Declan Rice reveals that the Arsenal players “love” Mikel Arteta’s touchline behaviour following the criticism he received for his rant after the defeat to Newcastle. Following Arsenal’s controversial defeat at St. James’ Park Arteta spoke out and lambasted VAR and its use. This brought out contrasting opinions from fans and pundits alike with some criticising his actions and some supporting them. Arteta is also known for his wild celebrations, reactions and behaviour during games. When asked about his opinion on Arteta’s sideline actions, Declan Rice said before the win over Burnley (via 90min): “We love it. I think you see how passionate he is. He sometimes gets criticised for how he is on the sidelines, but he is living the game through us. “He’s so energetic and the way he speaks, he’s like a teacher the way he is in the changing room with us and that really fires us up for the game and I think that’s what he’s really good at.” Since he arrived in 2019, Mikel Arteta has dramatically changed the atmosphere around Arsenal football club and has majorly improved the team. The Spanish manager made it a mission to get Arsenal back to their very best. It was evident that he loved the club and wanted to see them winning and competing at the highest level. His fondness for Arsenal can be majorly credited to Arsene Wenger. Speaking in an interview with the Arsenal official website, Arteta said: “I’m so grateful to have played for Arsène at this club in my career. He chose me to be one of his players and selected me to be the captain of the club and that’s something I will never forget.” Wenger left a huge impact and his legacy will live on for ages to come. Arteta has admitted that he applies Wenger’s qualities and values to his own managerial style. “I learned a lot from him and if I had to choose one of his many great values, it would be how loyal he was and how much he protected the club, its players and football in general,” added Arteta. – His passion for the game is absolutely phenomenal and it showed. He really wanted to respect the game and wanted it to be played a certain way. I also tried to learn from him how he always made the club a personal interest.” “The way he stood up for the club, the way he presented himself, the way he was loyal to his players and staff is something I really took from him. He is a role model for me,” Arteta admitted. As mentioned before, while players and some fans may like it, many strongly oppose his antics. Arteta was recently challenged by Arsenal legend Malcolm Macdonald. Macdonald said: “I couldn’t believe it when the Arsenal hierarchy, instead of trying to calm him down in games, supported him with that claim and supported him on the VAR issue.” “I was surprised because this is not the Arsenal that I and many others have known over the years. At Arsenal, standards have always come first, even if it meant, unfortunately for the club, that they could lose something. You had to maintain standards at all times.” While I do agree that maybe sometimes Arteta goes overboard with his reactions (he’s set to receive a touchline ban for his latest antics), I think his outburst following the Newcastle game was completely justified. The controversial use of VAR in clarifying the goal scored by Anthony Gordon cost Arsenal at least a point. But it’s not only Arsenal who have been subjected to such officiating mistakes. The use of VAR is becoming a major concern. This is not what you would expect from the ‘best’ league in the world. Other than that, Arteta’s reaction is simply a reflection of his passion for the club. Like the players, I also enjoy seeing Arteta reacting similarly to how us fans do. It affirms my faith in the manager and shows that he truly desires to lead the club to glory. However, he must walk the thin line between being professional on the sidelines and being a passionate fan in order to avoid repercussions.
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