Arteta claims he is 'clipping up' rival managers leaving technical area
Mikel Arteta has revealed he is building a personal archive of Premier League rivals breaching technical area rules, after picking up his second yellow card of the season during Arsenal's 2-0 win over Everton at the Emirates Stadium.
The Arsenal boss was booked by referee Tony Harrington in the second half for stepping out of his technical area, leaving him one yellow card away from a one match touchline ban. Rather than accept the punishment quietly, Arteta used his post match press conference to suggest other managers are getting away with the same offence far more often.
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"I do have to be careful, yeah," Arteta said. "I'm going to put sensors there! There are other managers (doing it), there are managers that have the record in the league: 36 times in 10 minutes they leave the touchline, no yellows. So I am clipping all of that so I have a massive storage of images, so if somebody comes to me (I can say) I'm not in the record yet, somebody else has the record."
Konsa and Gabriel score as Arsenal match City
The win moved Arsenal level on points with Premier League leaders Manchester City, with both goals arriving from unlikely sources. Ezri Konsa opened the scoring in the seventh minute, converting from close range after a Martin Odegaard corner for his first goal for the club, with Arsenal scoring from a set piece for the first time this season.
Gabriel sealed the points with a header in the 68th minute, scoring shortly after recovering from an injury scare that had left him requiring treatment on the pitch. Arteta pointed to the Brazilian's response as a defining moment for his squad.
"The mentality of the team is the mentality of the individuals in the team," Arteta said. "Gabi's a great example of that, because we were all scared, not because of the way he went down, but the reaction of the players that were next to him. Immediately he says he wants to continue and then he scores a goal to help us win the game. That's what we need from our players."
Calafiori issue and praise for Konsa
Arteta also confirmed that substitute Riccardo Calafiori picked up a "slight" issue during the match, though he offered no further detail on the severity or whether it would affect his availability for Arsenal's next fixture.
The Arsenal manager singled out Konsa for praise, having arrived from Aston Villa in the summer without a pre season alongside the club's senior defenders.
"He's come to a huge club like Arsenal with no pre-season when Saliba is here, with other players that are already here," Arteta said. "And to position yourself in that manner, with that naturality and performing at the level that he's doing and building already a chemistry and a balance with Gabi that seems so solid, it's very, very difficult to do and we are really lucky to have him."
Everton manager David Moyes, whose side suffered a second successive defeat following last weekend's loss to Chelsea, said: "I just felt we didn't really get to a level which I think would have been good enough to win on the day. We gave away a goal very early which meant we were chasing the game."
Arsenal will look to carry the momentum from Saturday's win into their next assignment as they continue to track Manchester City at the top of the table.
