ESPN presenter makes statement after claim he wanted to ‘punch Mikel Arteta in the face’ | Football

ESPN FC presenter Dan Thomas has issued a groveling apology after claiming Mikel Arteta’s touchline antics had him wanting to punch the Arsenal manager in the face.

The Gunners booked their place in the Champions League final later this month after a narrow win against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night thanks to Bukayo Saka’s goal on the stroke of half-time.

Rather than celebrate a fine and historic achievement, Thomas opted instead to aim his ire at Arteta who was an animated figure throughout andconstantly left his technical area to bark instructions at his players.

‘At what stage, as the opposition coach, do you want to punch Arteta in the face? How much does that annoy you?’ Thomas said.

Former Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley looked slight taken aback by the comments made by the show’s host and replied: Hold on, the two of them are as bad as each other.” But Thomas replied: ‘I thought, today, Arteta out-Simeoned, Simeone.

‘The way he was running around at the end. It’s got to be frustrating, hasn’t it, as an opposition coach?’

Fellow panelist Stewart Robson, who made 150 top flight appearances for Arsenal but is a notorious critic of his former club, appeared to agree with Thomas’ sentiments.

He said: ‘What is a coach on the side of the pitch supposed to do? He’s meant to coach the game, he’s meant to give instructions,” he said.

‘All Arteta does, I think he’s doing it for himself: ‘Look at me, I’m great, I run this club, I do this, I do that… It’s just absolutely pathetic.’

Robson then claimed that he would have deliberately gone after Arteta if he was on the pitch, adding: ‘If I was running down the side, I’d make sure I actually topped him. I’d tackle the ball and tackle him at the same time.’

Thomas subsequently faced a huge online backlash from Arsenal fans which forced him into making an apology on last night’s show which followed PSG’s win over Bayern Munich.

He said: ‘I just want to make reference to something I said yesterday, an off-hand comment that landed literally.

‘Obviously, it was not intended to land that way. I’ve thought about it today and I could have phrased it in such a better way.

‘So, going forward I will definitely try not to say anything silly.’