“Football Is For Clever People” – Arteta Bemoans Bruno Fernandes’ Free-Kick

By The Editor
on 10th March 2025

Mikel Arteta feels Bruno Fernandes took advantage of Arsenal’s naivety…

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta lambasted his players’ naivety after Bruno Fernandes was able to take a free-kick with a wall almost 12 yards away – leading to Manchester United’s opener.

After Leandro Trossard was robbed of possession by Alejandro Garnacho, the 30-year-old chased the winger and brought him down in a dangerous position.

That was the first step of our naivety seeping through our game and when Anthony Taylor decided to mark out the steps for the wall, not one player realised that they were way too far out.

The discussion about the wall has somehow also shifted blame from David Raya who was bizarrely stuck to the far post, giving the Portuguese star a huge section of the goal to aim at.

“They just mentioned that,” Arteta said when asked about his wall at Ferndandes’ free-kick (via Arsenal.com).

“If Bruno has done that, football is for streetsmart players and he’s done that and capitalised on it, he’s more clever than us and the referee.

“I don’t know but he’s done it, it was a goal, so they took advantage of that. Football is for clever people.”

Nothing triggers Arteta more than feeling like his team has been outsmarted and taken advantage of – mainly because it reminds him of his playing days at the club.

While Arsenal are no longer deemed ‘weak’, the fact that no player spoke up about the distance of the wall or attempted to encroach is alarming.

The best teams are the best at gamesmanship and despite being named as a team full of ‘dark arts’, we’ve clearly not mastered that at the highest level.