ANGRY Mikel Arteta was tipped to “rip” his Arsenal players – after he walked off BEFORE the end of Aston Villa’s 1-0 win.
John McGinn’s early hammer strike stopped the Gunners returning top of the Prem as third-placed Villa went five points above Manchester City.
X @SkySportsPLMikel Arteta,departed ahead of the final whistle, with fans predicting a blasting for his Arsenal players[/caption]
PAMikel Arteta looked in despair even before he left early[/caption]
And Arteta’s reaction left Arsenal supporters fearing for their players – although he later revealed it was yet more controversy over refereeing decisions that he had a “big opinion” on.
After the boss disappeared into a backroom in stoppage time, one fan wrote, “He’s fuming” and another added: “Cooking up another fine.”
That follows Arteta being charged over a blast at officials after last month’s 1-0 loss at Newcastle – although the FA verdict is not yet in.
This time, supporters reckon his players will be on the end of a verbal lashing.
One posted: “I feel for Arteta, his team didn’t show the mentality of being champions.”
And others sent the Arsenal players “good wishes”.
But a few observers labelled the Spaniard a “cry baby” for his latest response to a defeat
Arteta himself looked just as grim-faced in his post-match interview.
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He told Sky Sports: “Really good performance I thought we were the better team and didn’t deserve to lose game at all but this is football.”
Asked if he had a response to contentious reffing verdicts – after Kai Havertz had a late equaliser ruled out for handball – Arteta at first declined to comment but then added: “I do, big opinion”.
He didn’t say more – but Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard did.
The midfielder said of Havertz’s disallowed close-range effort: “I thought it was a goal but I haven’t seen it so don’t want to say too much.”
Odegard added: “We had enough chances to win the game. I felt they didn’t create anything apart from the goal. It happens sometimes.
“We have them an easy goal but after that we controlled it and scored have scored. We didn’t deserve to lose but that’s football.”
X @SkySportsPLArsenal chief Arteta wasn’t just going inside early just to get warm[/caption]