November 3rd 2024.
Eddie Howe didn't seem too bothered by Mikel Arteta's comments following Newcastle United's impressive 1-0 victory over Arsenal on Saturday. The only goal of the match was scored by Alexander Isak at St James' Park, leaving the Gunners without a win in their last three Premier League games.
After the loss to Howe's team, Arteta delivered a bit of a backhanded compliment, stating that Newcastle "are really good at what they want to do." In fact, according to The Athletic, he made the comment three times, with the tone being described as "a half-compliment delivered like an insult or perhaps the other way round."
When asked about Arteta's remarks, Howe shrugged them off, saying, "It's irrelevant to me what anyone says, really, apart from my team. And that's how we've always looked at it because there's always outside noise wherever that comes from. We just try to do what we do to try to win games on a consistent basis. Generally, in the last few games, our performance level has definitely increased and we've been consistent with it."
It's clear that Arteta was not a fan of the way Newcastle played, as he mentioned their physicality in his post-match comments. This is not the first time he has brought it up, as last year's 1-0 defeat to Newcastle saw him go on a rant about the standard of refereeing in English football. In that match, Anthony Gordon scored the only goal, which was allowed to stand after a VAR check for three potential infringements in the build-up.
This time, there was no controversial goal for Arteta to blame, but he still couldn't resist mentioning Newcastle's physicality. "They are really good at what they do," he said. "They drag you into the sort of game they want. They are all big and very physical, Joelinton especially."
Despite the loss, Arsenal will have a chance to bounce back on Wednesday when they face Inter Milan in a crucial Champions League match. Hopefully, they can return to their winning ways and silence any outside noise. It's clear that Howe and his team are not paying attention to the critics and are solely focused on their own performance. As Howe said, "We just try to do what we do to try to win games on a consistent basis."
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