Mikel Arteta believes that his previous absence from the touchline could prove beneficial ahead of this weekend’s visit to high-flying Aston Villa.
After picking up a third booking of the season in the aftermath of our dramatic 4-3 win against Luton Town on Tuesday, Mikel will be forced to watch our game at Villa Park from the stands.
It is the second time during his tenure that the boss’ presence will be missing from the dugout after he missed our game against Manchester City on New Year’s Day in 2022 through Covid, the experience of which he hopes will benefit us on the weekend.
When asked if he thought his players would miss him being at close quarters, the boss chuckled “Hopefully they will play better, they will be more positive, and I can influence them with my positive mind! We have very experienced coaches; Albert [Stuivenberg], Carlos [Cuesta] and Nico [Jover] will be there next to them, and we’ve done it in the past from home so let’s do it now.
“At least I have a little experience with that, and now it’s going to be the second time, but I’m going to be much closer which I think is positive.”
Mikel was disappointed that he was penalised for sharing his joy with his coaching staff in the aftermath of Declan Rice’s late winner at Kenilworth Road, and while he admits that technically he did break the rules, he would have preferred the circumstances to be taken into account.
“It was a really emotional moment,” he admitted. “You have everybody bouncing around and you lose sense of where you are, and the space that you have to be in. It was unfortunate because now I cannot be next to my team on the touchline but it is a decision that they have made. If you look strictly at the rules, yes we cannot do that, but the context is different.
“After that, straight away I sat on my seat and I stayed still there for 30 seconds, but that was after the emotion. In the moment, I think it's very difficult to demand that.
“If I was given the opportunity, I would like to be there with my players because we work closely every single day to achieve what we want, which is to win the games in whatever manner. When you get those moments in sport, you should be able to do that, but I understand as well there are certain boundaries.”
Mikel laughed about whether he would be able to celebrate on Saturday: “In the director’s box, I don’t think so! Never say never, because the game can get very emotional, but I will try not to do that.”
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