Newcastle vs Arsenal: 4 pre-match discussions

3. Will Arteta’s Siege Mentality Work?

Immediately after the full-time whistle blew and Arteta had to do all of his post-match media work, he made it abundantly clear that this defeat had nothing to do with his team, and instead rested on the referee.

"“I cannot do it. I just want to say that I am really proud of my players but obviously we didn’t get the result that we wanted. I can’t wait to play on Monday,” the boss said after Spurs. “I want to be on the touchline on Monday night. No [I can’t talk] because I will be suspended. You can ask the referee if he wants to come and give an assessment of the match. I can do it but I have two options, I can lie to you, which I don’t do, or if not I will be suspended and I really want to be on the touchline against Newcastle.”"

Strong words, the like of which he probably doesn’t believe.

But it is clear what he was trying to do. Building an us-against-them mentality, one that protects the players from blame and directs scorn elsewhere, is the wisest way to avoid spirits from breaking too deeply. He has to keep galvanising his team and entering into a string of media work by blaming Holding and Cedric for their actions would do nobody any good.

Straight away it was about focussing on Monday and praising the group. He’s a smart man, he knows what he’s doing.

The question is, will it work?

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