Arsenal legend Emmanuel Petit has made the worrying observation that Mikel Arteta looked a little quiet and more subdued than usual in the 2-0 defeat against Bournemouth yesterday.
The Gunners were far from at their best as they picked up their first defeat of the season, with William Saliba’s red card in the first half certainly not helping matters.
It remains to be seen if Arsenal can bounce back from this, as it may just have been a bit of an off-day for everyone involved, but Petit seemed concerned by Arteta’s body language on the touchline.
The Spanish tactician is usually very animated and frequently shouts instructions to his players to keep them focused and motivated, but we saw less of that from him yesterday.
Again, this may just be a bit of a one-off, but it’s a worry for Arsenal fans if Arteta is perhaps starting to show some signs of being a bit jaded after working so hard to get this team competing with Manchester City in the last two years.
Mikel Arteta quieter than usual – Emmanuel Petit
Discussing Arteta and the Bournemouth game, Petit told Premier League Productions: “Even Mikel Arteta looked quiet on the bench today.
“Usually he screams at his players to show energy all the time and tries to impact his players and talk to them every single second. But today he looked very quiet.”
Arsenal have come a long way under Arteta, but they’ll need him to be at his best to keep these players on their toes throughout what will surely be another long and challenging campaign.
It doesn’t help that AFC went into yesterday’s match without Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, who have both been among the team’s most important players for some time now, but it’s a worry for Gunners supporters that the rest of the team and the manager looked so flat.