It was obvious that Mikel Arteta was not looking very happy on the sidelines at Tottenham after seeing Kane and Son team up to score an incredible goal from outside the area, but he was even unhappier when Thomas Partey tried to walk off the pitch just before half-time, which allowed the two Tottenham strikers to team up again for the second goal, which just about killed off Arsenal hopes of a magical comeback.
Arteta was obviously watching down the game unfold at the other end trying to get the equaliser when Tottenham broke yet again, and suddenly he sees Arsenal’s flank exposed and Partey is strolling towards the touchline instead of trying to stop the attack.
It is obvious Arteta was angry when you listen to what he told NBCSports (Sky’s partner in the US). They quoted our boss as saying: “Thomas is out, he’s limping, he’s in pain, he has to come off and we lost a man in that crucial transition moment. He has to fall on the floor,”
“I wanted him on the pitch, doing whatever he could for the team in that situation. No one expected him not to be in that position.”
You can understand Arteta’s anger, as we were not only down to ten men, but he should have been in that position to stop the breakaway. If he is in too much pain, he should have lied on the pitch and called for the trainer. Anything other than leaving the team ten-against-11.
Arteta continued: “I was trying to push him back on the pitch, I don’t think he realized the gravity of the situation when he left his position. That was probably because he was in a lot of pain. There is nothing we can do at the moment to resolve that.”
“It was too quick, we were through, I think it was a four-against-three situation for us to play the final ball and we were through. Suddenly they were coming to us and Thomas is walking to me and I am trying to push him. I haven’t spoken to him. I don’t know exactly how it happened and if he felt something really serious. I will look at it and we will talk about it.”
So it looks like there will be serious words from our manager, and not only that he has lost Partey again through injury for probably at least another month….