Declan Rice has insisted that Arsenal's players 'love' Mikel Arteta's touchline behaviour, despite widespread criticism of the Spaniard's antics this season. The midfielder, who joined from West Ham in the summer, said Arteta's energy and passion fire up the squad.
Speaking to 90min, Rice stated: 'We love it. I think you see how passionate he is. He sometimes gets criticised for how he is on the sidelines, but he is living the game through us. He's so energetic and the way he speaks, he's like a teacher the way he is in the changing room with us and that really fires us up for the game.'
However, Arteta's conduct has drawn sharp rebukes from pundits. Arsenal legend Malcolm Macdonald accused him of 're-writing the Arsenal handbook of standards' following his outburst about VAR. Macdonald said: 'I couldn't believe it when instead of trying to calm him down at games the Arsenal hierarchy actually backed him with that statement… Standards always came first before anything else at Arsenal.'
Macdonald warned that authorities may take action against Arteta, adding: 'Sooner or later the authorities will take action over Arteta, I am sure of that. They can't allow officials to be bullied by a particular manager or by a particular club.'
