At a Glance:
- Arsenal lost at home to Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon.
- The Gunners now only have a slender lead over Manchester City in the Premier League.
- Gary Lineker has highlighted where he thinks Mikel Arteta is going wrong.
Arsenal were dealt a huge blow in their pursuit of the Premier League title on Saturday afternoon when they were beaten by Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium, and Gary Lineker has subsequently highlighted a key area where he feels Mikel Arteta is making a mistake.
The Gunners were abject throughout the 90 minutes in their 2-1 loss to the Cherries, struggling to create open-play chances whilst looking defensively vulnerable. Junior Kroupi’s tap-in and Alex Scott’s neat goal cancelled out Viktor Gyokeres’ penalty, condemning the North Londoners to a third defeat in their last four games across all competitions.
Gary Neville sent Arsenal a warning after Manchester City capitalised by beating Chelsea on Sunday at Stamford Bridge, and he’s not the only pundit to have expressed concerns over the Gunners’ credentials moving forward.
Gary Lineker highlights Mikel Arteta mistake
Arsenal played like a team under immense pressure, struggling to deal with the tension of the moment when they hosted Bournemouth on Saturday. They wilted under this pressure, and now need to find a way to turn things around.
Reports emerged last week detailing an innovative new training method Arteta has introduced in recent weeks at London Colney. The Spaniard has wheeled out an enormous screen, to show players clips of their mistakes during matches, as well as TikTok edits of themselves.
Speaking on the Rest is Football podcast, Lineker revealed his belief that he doesn’t think that these unusual training methods are helping Arsenal’s cause.
“Arsenal are fighting themselves,” he said.
“I mean, I’m slightly loathed to be too critical of the methods, but Arteta’s slight verge towards cringe-worthy, dare I say, things in, trying things, what they say.
“When they’re all carrying the biros around. And then they’re playing TikTok films on big screens at training. And I’m just thinking, you’re doing things differently. Don’t do things differently.
“Players just, you don’t change things when it’s, if you’re in contention, you’ve just got to be calm, calm. This is what we always do. The training’s a normal thing.
“This is what we do. And then all of a sudden, you’re doing things a little bit differently. You are drawing attention to yourselves, and everyone’s going, well, surely they don’t do that normally.
“So you are showing the world that the pressure is getting to you because you’re looking to do something. If you do do something differently, do it in-house. Keep it quiet.”
Is Gary Lineker right about Mikel Arteta’s methods?
Arteta has taken Arsenal from mid-table mediocrity to being perennial title challengers. His acumen as a manager cannot be questioned, although his ability to get over the line and win major honours is still a wart on his CV.
The Gunners have a dire record in April under the divisive tactician, and this is now no longer just an outlier, but a recurring theme. Thus, it is very reasonable to question why his teams routinely struggle in the penultimate month of the season.
🚨🔴 EXCLUSIVE
— Arsenal News (@ArsenalNews_Hub) April 10, 2026
Yesterday, Mikel Arteta surprised Arsenal F.C. players with a new coaching method at Sobha Training Centre 👀
📺 A large cinematic screen was installed for a tactical session
🎥 Arteta presented 100 video clips of mistakes from this season — including moments… pic.twitter.com/ApiJOQXmQA
Lineker could be on to something. Arteta is an outstanding orator and is generally revered by his players. However, he is still learning in his managerial career, and it’s possible that some of his unconventional methods behind the scenes actually have a negative impact on the psyche of his players.
It remains to be seen whether his team can get over the line this term, but if they don’t, then perhaps he’ll re-evaluate some of his intense man-management ploys.
