Arsenal beat Atletico Madrid on Tuesday to reach the Champions League final, but Mikel Arteta was heavily criticized for his antics on the touchline.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been criticized for his behavior during the win against Atletico Madrid (Image: 2026 Visionhaus)
ESPN host Dan Thomas was forced to issue a rambling apology after suggesting live on air that he couldn’t believe Mikel Arteta’s antics against Atletico Madrid deserved a punch.
The 45-year-old took part in the American broadcaster’s coverage of the Champions League semi-final second leg as Arsenal won 2-1 on aggregate at the Emirates thanks to Bukayo Saka’s only goal of Tuesday’s game.
However, despite the Gunners being the better team and progressing to the final to face PSG, Thomas felt Arteta’s actions on the touchline deserved a “punch”, with fans hitting back at the presenter on social media.
The ESPN host was eventually forced to apologize. He said, “I want to address something I said yesterday, this is a comment that literally came to me out of the blue.
“Obviously it wasn’t meant to land that way. Thinking about it today, I could have phrased it better.
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So from now on, I will definitely refrain from saying anything strange.
The Arsenal manager was in his usual cheerful self on the touchline, chasing down a loose ball, darting out of the technical area and even standing in front of an Atletico player attempting a throw-in.
During the show, Thomas asked an ESPN FC panel: “At what point would you as an opposing manager want to punch Arteta in the face? How annoying would that be?”
ESPN anchor Dan Thomas forced to apologize for comments about Mikel Arteta (Image: ESPN FC)
Former Chelsea and Derby midfielder Craig Burley was part of the panel and defended the Arsenal manager, pointing out Diego Simeone’s actions.
He said, “Wait a minute, they’re both just as bad.” But Thomas disagreed, saying: “I thought Arteta beat Simeone today. He was running around at the end. As an opposition manager, that’s got to be frustrating, right?”
Former Arsenal player Stewart Robson supported the ESPN anchor at the time, saying: “What’s a pitch-side coach supposed to do? He’s supposed to coach the game, he’s supposed to give instructions.”
“I think everything Arteta does is for himself: ‘Look, I’m great, I’m running this club, I’m doing this, I’m doing that… It’s completely pathetic.
“If I was running down the flank, I would make sure I actually got ahead of him. I would tackle the ball and tackle him at the same time.”
“It got to the point where I had to look away every time the camera was on him during a game.”
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