One brief look at the facial expressions of Antonio Conte and Mikel Arteta following Thursday night’s north London derby told you everything about how things went for Tottenham and Arsenal respectively.
The two managers did well to keep their emotions in check, at least superficially.
Arteta’s various post-match duties were not quite delivered with Sir Alex Ferguson’s standards of barely-contained rage. Conte wasn’t exactly Jurgen Klopp after a big win, wide-eyed and smiling with every one of his veneers.
But you don’t need a Master’s in psychology to decipher their body language.
Indeed, Arteta – in classic Jose Mourinho, ‘If I speak’ fashion – would not allow himself to let loose and say what he evidently thought of various officiating decisions in Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
Spurs’ opener came courtesy of a penalty and a short while later Rob Holding received a second yellow for a fourth foul on Son Heung-min. There was little doubt how things would go from there and sure enough, the hosts duly cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory.
“If I say what I think I’m suspended for six months. I’m allowed to give my interpretation on the game but I don’t like to lie so I’d prefer not to say,” Arteta told reporters.
“With my players, I’m so proud of my players. You can ask the referee to come in front of the camera and explain his decisions. I make mine. That’s his decision. A beautiful game was destroyed today.”
🗣 “If I say what I think I’ll be suspended six months.” 😡
Mikel Arteta refuses to give his opinion on the game after Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat and asks the referee to speak to the cameras pic.twitter.com/5dlJm5XTiC
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) May 12, 2022
Conte, for altogether different reasons, was also not interested in discussing the minutiae of Paul Tierney’s decision-making. Unsurprisingly, he felt his players were responsible for the result, not the match…
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