What are the "Dark Arts" of Mikel Arteta's Arsenal?

The Gunners have often been criticised for employing dark arts in the game.

During Arsenal’s most recent Premier League match, a 2-2 draw against Manchester City many bizarre incidents occurred as players from both teams got into confrontations.

The Gunners, who were leading in the game, were on the verge of securing a win against their counterparts City before substitute John Stones levelled the scoring in the dying minutes of the match. 

However, after the game, the north Londoners were criticized for using dark arts in the match by City players. Many Arsenal players went to the ground and called for treatment in the second half to sustain their lead after Trossard was sent off in the first half. 

But City managed to find a way through and secured a draw at Etihad. City remain top of the table, while the Mikel Arteta side are fourth in the standings.

The Dark Arts of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal

When a team uses dark arts in the game, they are trying to break the opposition team’s momentum during the match. They will try to delay the game with their antics, fall on the ground and call for medical treatment to waste time.

When it comes to these antics, Arsenal are always on top. Their average time delay in the league is 33.5 seconds for every antic, including play-resuming actions like throws. This is similar to Aston Villa. However, the Gunners come under the spotlight in these circumstances often.

After the game, City’s defender John Stones revealed that Arsenal were using custodian David Raya to allow Arteta to communicate his tactical instructions during such breaks.

He said, “They get the keeper on the floor so they can get some information on the pitch.”

During the second half in a pulsating draw, Arsenal’s defenders Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber went down with cramps and tried to slow down City and break their rhythm in the game. In the 86th minute, Gabriel Martinelli also tried to halt the game by holding his leg up, but referee Michael Oliver continued the game and ignored his complaints.

“The reason you can hear a lot of boos is because Michael Oliver is dismissing cramp as an idea for the Arsenal players,” Gary Neville said on Sky Sports.

“Martinelli has gone down on the floor again and he’s told him to ‘get up’. He’s just not having it the referee, he’s not buying it.”

Another similar thing that occurred during the encounter was when substitute Myles Lewis-Skelly went behind Arsenal’s goal to speak to goalkeeper Raya after the game was stopped for ‘unsporting behaviour.’ Following that the Spanish goalkeeper went down for medical attention due cramp that allowed Arteta to speak to his players on the touchline.

Declan Rice was their first player to get sent off after he received a second yellow for kicking the ball away in the game against Brighton and in their last outing, Trossard did something similar and the Gunners were reduced to 10-men. Arsenal players do seem keen to slow things down and break the opposition’s momentum at every possible opportunity. While it works in their favour on most days, it surely didn’t go according to plan against City.

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