Pundit and former PSG star Jérôme Rothen has strongly criticized Mikel Arteta following accusations that the Arsenal manager insulted the family of FC Porto’s coach.
After Arsenal’s victory over FC Porto in the Champions League round of 16, Sergio Conceicao, the Porto coach, expressed bitterness and claimed that Arteta had insulted his family.
Although Arsenal sources have denied these allegations, Arteta’s behaviour on the touchline has drawn criticism from Rothen.
During the tense fixture, Arteta displayed intense passion and was even booked by the referee. Both Arteta and his Porto counterpart were heavily involved in the action within their technical areas, leading to a confrontation between the pair.
It remains unclear what Arteta said, but Rothen commented to RMC Sport:
“As a manager, you have to set an example. You can be arrogant and annoyed, but then you end up insulting your opponent… Stop! That’s not possible! One day, he’ll be caught out and he won’t like it… It almost happened yesterday. Conceicao, who’s a fiery person, reacted very well, whereas Arteta was out of line. I don’t understand why he didn’t apologise. He’s going to say again that he didn’t say anything.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
That game is behind us now as we look forward to winning other difficult matches and we need to stop giving attention to what pundits have to say.
Porto are clearly not happy losers and they do not want us to enjoy our impressive win.
Life is good for us Arsenal fans right now
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