Mikel Arteta Hopes Touchlines Rules Are Applied To Other Managers

By The Editor
on 8th December 2023

Mikel Arteta hints at unfair treatment…

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has addressed the yellow card he received for ‘excessive celebrating’ following Declan Rice’s winner at Luton, with the Spaniard hoping those rules are applied across the board.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of our trip to Aston Villa, that third yellow card of the season will see the 41-year-old banned from the touchline.

While he can speak to the team before the game, at half-time and after the match, the boss will be resigned to watching the game in the director’s box at Villa Park.

Receiving a yellow for celebrating is yet another ‘rule’ we’ve only seen officials implement against our players and staff, something even Arteta is starting to notice.

Arteta barely left his technical area following Rice’s 97th-minute winner, a far cry from the likes of Roberto De Zerbi who sprinted on the pitch or others who have run down the touchline.

“We are but I think we have a boundary that maybe we have to extend or we just need a very strong rope with the bench so maybe we don’t move,” the former Arsenal skipper said when asked if he’s allowed to celebrate.

“That means we don’t move, all of us, we don’t move.”

When pushed on whether these rules have been unfairly applied to him, Arteta said: “If you look strictly at the rules, yes we cannot do that.

“But the context is different and then the “we” I think is very important within the context.”

Just like Gabriel Martinelli’s sending off against Wolves, or Granit Xhaka receiving a yellow card for a first foul at Villa Park in 2022 – yet the referee indicated he was being punished for persistent fouling – we’ll never see a manager punished for celebrating again.