Arteta: Arsenal learned from Lewis-Skelly’s celebration
Mikel Arteta, Arsenal’s coach, has stated that his players have learned from Myles Lewis-Skelly’s celebration, who imitated Erling Haaland. This happened before the crucial Premier League match against Manchester City.
The match between Arsenal and City at the Emirates Stadium has gained intensity in recent seasons, becoming a highly anticipated encounter.
Haaland urged Arteta to “stay humble” after the 2-2 draw at the Etihad a year ago, before Lewis-Skelly imitated the striker’s celebration after scoring in Arsenal’s 5-1 victory over Guardiola’s team at the Emirates in February.
Alofoke Deportes
The young Lewis-Skelly, who has not yet started this season with Arsenal, generated criticism for his celebration.
When Arteta was asked if he had spoken to his players about goal celebrations before Sunday’s match, he replied: “Well, that’s already happened, and it’s part of it.”
“There have been many celebrations or non-celebrations in the past for many teams. Experience is also about learning and growing, and we certainly learned from that.”Myles Lewis-Skelly imitated Erling Haaland by copying his celebration after scoring against Manchester City last season.Arsenal did not have Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, and Ben White for the midweek Champions League victory against Athletic Bilbao in Spain.
Arteta hinted that he could face Guardiola’s team without the trio, as they haven’t trained this week yet.
“If there’s any possibility [of them playing], it will be after tomorrow’s session because they haven’t done anything yet. We’ll have more information tomorrow.”
“Everything has been modified so far for them. There are still some things to clarify and we will have more information about whether they are part of the team [for City] or if they have the opportunity to be part of the team.”
Viktor Gyökeres received stitches for a head injury suffered after a collision with teammate Gabriel, but will be available.
Meanwhile, Arteta played down the sudden departure of one of his main allies following a major restructuring of the club’s board.
Arsenal announced on Friday that Tim Lewis, who has advised Arsenal’s owners, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE), since 2007 and was vice-chairman for the last two and a half years, has stepped down.
Lewis, 62, who joined the board in 2020, played a key role alongside coach Arteta and the £250 million ($337.23 million) investment of sporting director Andrea Berta during the summer, and was considered an important figure within the north London club. Co-chairman Josh Kroenke is now ready to tighten his grip on the club’s affairs.
But Arteta insisted: “I feel incredible gratitude towards Tim and for what he has done for the football club, for what he has done for the team and for me personally. Everyone is at different stages of their lives, they require different things, and that’s it, we move on.”
“The club has a wonderful future. I am very positive about it and every time I speak with [co-chairman] Stan [Kroenke] and Josh and how willing they are, the projection they have, the vision they have for the football club, the people we have around them, there is no doubt that there are great things ahead.”
