Mikel Arteta says he will continue to show passion on the touchline despite landing himself with a ban for Arsenal’s trip to Aston Villa on Saturday.
The Spaniard will not be in the dugout at Villa Park as Arsenal aim to strengthen their grip at the top of the Premier League after he received a third yellow card of the season in Tuesday’s last-gasp victory at Luton.
The Gunners came from behind to win 4-3 as Declan Rice headed in the decider deep into stoppage time, with Arteta cautioned by referee Samuel Barrott, who deemed he had celebrated the goal excessively.
However, Arteta, who could face a further touchline ban following a Football Association charge for his post-match comments after Arsenal’s defeat at Newcastle last month, does not know how to modify his behaviour.
“I don’t know how to stop it,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Friday. “It was a really emotional moment with everybody bouncing around and you lose sense of where you are and the space you have to be in.
“It was unfortunate as now I cannot be next to my team on the touchline but it is a decision that they make looking strictly at the rules.
“After that I straight away sat on my seat and stayed there for 30 seconds but that was after the emotion. In the moment I think it is very difficult to demand that.”
The Spaniard, 41, said he did not want to stop showing emotion.
“I would like to be with my players because we work closely every single day to achieve what we want, which is to win the games and when you get those moments in sport you should be able to do that,” he said.
“I understand as well that there are certain boundaries and you have to respect that you are at an away ground but if I was given the chance I would be there jumping.”
Arsenal are aiming to become the first team to win at Villa since they themselves scored twice in stoppage time to seal a 4-2 victory in February.
Since then Unai Emery, Arteta’s predecessor at the Emirates, has overseen 14 successive home Premier League wins, with Villa sitting third in the table.
