Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta came under fires for his touchline antics during the Gunners’ win over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League
ESPN presenter Dan Thomas has been forced to apologise after astonishingly suggesting on live television that Mikel Arteta’s antics against Atletico Madrid deserved a punch.
The 45-year-old was among the American broadcaster’s panel covering the Champions League semi-final second leg, which witnessed Arsenal emerge as 2-1 aggregate victors, with Bukayo Saka netting the only goal of Tuesday’s match at the Emirates.
Nevertheless, despite the Gunners proving the superior side and progressing to the final where they will meet PSG, Thomas believed Arteta’s touchline conduct merited a ‘punch’, with supporters condemning the presenter across social media.
The ESPN presenter was subsequently compelled to apologise. He said: “I just want to make reference to something I said yesterday, an off-hand comment that landed literally.
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“Obviously, it was not intended to land that way. I’ve thought about it today and I could have phrased it in such a better way.
“So, going forward I will definitely try not to say anything silly.”
The Arsenal manager displayed his usual animated nature on the touchline, pursuing loose balls, straying beyond his technical area and he was also seen positioning himself in front of an Atletico player attempting to take a throw-in.
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During the programme, Thomas posed the question to the ESPN FC panel: “At what stage, as the opposition coach, do you want to punch Arteta in the face? How much does that annoy you?”
Former Chelsea and Derby midfielder Craig Burley featured on the panel and came to the Arsenal manager’s defence, drawing comparisons with Diego Simeone’s touchline conduct.
He said “Hold on, the two of them are as bad as each other.” Yet Thomas remained unconvinced, arguing: “I thought, today, Arteta out-Simeone’d Simeone. The way he was running around at the end. It’s got to be frustrating, hasn’t it, as an opposition coach?”
At the time, former Arsenal man Stewart Robson sided with his ESPN colleague and said: “What is a coach on the side of the pitch supposed to do? He’s meant to coach the game, he’s meant to give instructions.
“All Arteta does, I think he’s doing it for himself: ‘Look at me, I’m great, I run this club, I do this, I do that… It’s just absolutely pathetic.
“If I was running down the side, I’d make sure I actually topped him. I’d tackle the ball and tackle him at the same time.
“It got to a stage in the game where every time the camera went to him, I had to turn away.”
