Peter Schmeichel has angered Arsenal fans following his passionate outburst about Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal came from behind to draw 2-2 with Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz gave the hosts a quick-fire two-goal lead before goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Mikel Merino levelled proceedings.
Despite Arsenal’s comeback, Manchester United legend Schmeichel pulled no punches as he delivered a scathing assessment of Arteta‘s Arsenal spell.
The Gunners have gone another season without a major trophy, with Schmeichel blaming Arteta for their lack of success in recent years.
Speaking on ViaPlay, he exclaimed: “It’s all on Arteta, all. What I’m saying is, he was employed as head coach. He inherited the team and that team is the only team that he has won a trophy with.
“Then it’s his own team and then in the process, he’s now changed the job description so he’s now the manager. Everything is on him. It’s not recruitment, it’s not the board.
“Whenever they [fans] get the opportunity today, watch him in the technical area. Arteta is a control freak, he wants his players to play the ball that he wants. He’s directing everything.”
Mikel Arteta on the touchline during Liverpool vs. Arsenal. Image: Getty
Schmeichel added: “You look across to Arne Slot who’s so calm. He’s instructed his players in training, instructed the players in the team talk. Arteta is still playing the game for the players and that would confuse the hell out of me as a football player that you had a coach that wants to direct me for everything I do. It would confuse me and make me a worse player.”
Needless to say, Schmeichel’s comments about Arteta got Arsenal fans online talking.
Referencing Inter Milan boss Simone Inzaghi, one X user wrote: “This is nonsense, has anyone seen inzaghi on the touch line??”
A second argued: “I understand what he is trying to say. Some fans have complained about the rigidity too.”
A third added: “Weird, Klopp is regarded as one of the best managers in the PL – he also barked order after order on the touch line. So do other managers. The Arteta agenda is mad.”
Schmeichel wasn’t the only pundit to point the finger at Arteta as Jamie Carragher also questioned his position.
“He’s driving high standards but what really stood out in the interview, and in the last couple of weeks in his press conferences, is that he’s getting emotional and at times he’s sounding a little bit like a fan, not the manager,” he said on Sky Sports.
“He was really strong on how many players they’ve had sent off this season. He’s putting his hands up saying six. I think he’s convinced inside that they have been victims in some ways, with the sendings off and injuries they have had.
“I think deep down he thinks they could have won the league without this and that. There’s no doubt they would be a lot closer but the sendings-off are down to you. They weren’t all sendings-off, but that can happen in a season.
“The injuries have hit them this season but they also played for them last season. What they have done in terms of competing Man City in the last two seasons is fantastic but a lot of that was down to having the same eight or nine players week in, week out, and him never rotating.”
Arteta has been at Arsenal since December 2019 and has only won the FA Cup since being appointed.
