I laughed at Arsenal's double standards after Martin Keown took aim at Newcastle United


Dark arts. Game management. Time-wasting. Whatever the term, last weekend proved everyone does it. Even the mighty Arsenal.

To think Mikel Arteta and Arsenal fans wailed as Newcastle United ran down the clock and frustrated the Gunners in a goalless draw in 2023. "I don't think that Newcastle wanted to set up like this," Arteta moaned. "This is not the way they play. They haven't played against any team like this."

It felt like a message had been sent by Newcastle on a night Eddie Howe even squared up to Arteta on the touchline. This was a side who were not going to be bullied by the Premier League's established order and roll over like they once did in a previous era.

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Such was Arteta's respect for Newcastle, when the reverse fixture rolled around at St James' Park, Arsenal followed suit, whether it was Aaron Ramsdale taking his time with goal kicks; Granit Xhaka repeatedly going down for treatment; Martin Odegaard holding on to the ball when Newcastle were awarded a free-kick; or Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka taking their time coming off after being substituted. No wonder a combined 11 minutes of stoppage time were added on.

Arteta was the first to admit that side of the game was not in his team's DNA, but the Spaniard hammered it into his players as he implored them to learn from the 'masters'. "We are so used to things that we do as well," he said. "Every team tries to use tactics to manage the game in the right way."

The numbers don't lie. Interestingly, when it comes to the average restart time of Premier League goal kicks, according to Opta, Arsenal come out on top (40 seconds) while no side have spent longer (33.5 seconds) resuming play this season in the top-flight. That was evident at the Etihad on Sunday, particularly after Leandro Trossard was sent off.

David Raya took his time with his goal kicks and was one of a number of Arsenal players who required treatment, even going down at one point midway through the second half, which allowed the Gunners to have a drinks break and a team talk. Sound familiar? Substitute Myles Lewis-Skelly, meanwhile, got booked for unsporting behaviour despite not even being on the pitch at the time. Ring any bells?

John Stones, who rescued a point for Manchester City at the death, suggested 'you can call it clever or dirty'. Team-mate Bernardo Silva went further. "There's only one team that came to play football," he scoffed.

However, Martin Keown, unsurprisingly, stood up for his former side and praised Arsenal's 'game management' after revealing he 'cannot stand the term dark arts'. Keown even claimed Arsenal should be 'celebrated for how cleverly they contained' Manchester City in the 2-2 draw.

Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles takes a booking against Arsenal
Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles takes a booking against Arsenal

This was the same Keown who once hissed Newcastle's game was 'hinged' on game management. Keown, highlighting Jamaal Lascelles' bookings as an unused substitute, even claimed the Magpies were 'looking at every single element and the authorities won't allow that to happen'.

Those comments completely overlooked the fact Newcastle have recorded memorable wins against PSG, Arsenal, Manchester United, Spurs, Chelsea et al by blowing these sides off the park - not by wasting time. However, that being said, at their very best, Newcastle can also ruffle one or two feathers and, in the words of Howe, do 'anything to win within the rules'.

"It's the side we maybe lacked at times last year," Howe admitted last month. "The devilment in our game. The ability to be resolute in tough situations.

"We need that back in our game. We certainly had it the season before when we were regularly criticised by our opponents, but that's because you're doing something right. That's because you're finding a way to get under their skin."

Newcastle have been resilient at times this season - the Magpies picked up a number of results without being anywhere near their best before crashing back down to earth at Fulham at the weekend - but that nasty streak has been missing. Although Newcastle had slightly more possession, it was still striking how Wolves made nearly three times as many fouls when Gary O'Neil's side faced the visitors earlier this month; Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest made more than double.

Newcastle did not pick up a single booking in a 3-1 defeat at Craven Cottage last week and Fulham repeatedly played through the black-and-whites far too easily - and that is without mentioning how Bruno Guimaraes gift-wrapped the hosts' third goal. In the build-up to Fulham's early opener, for instance, Joachim Andersen was able to pump the ball forward after Alexander Isak did not get tight enough and Emile Smith Rowe won the knock-down before Raul Jimenez fed Adama Traore out on the right. Traore had three Newcastle players around him yet was still able to swing a cross into the box and Jimenez had the space he needed to chest the ball down and turn on the volley to open the scoring.

Similarly, for Fulham's second goal, the hosts were able to score from a throw-in from deep inside their own half after Andreas Pereira wriggled away from Joe Willock and played the ball to Alex Iwobi. Iwobi was able to gallop into space to pick out Emile Smith-Rowe, who played a one-two with his team-mate, before the Londoner's effort was helped over the line by Nick Pope. On both occasions, Newcastle had opportunities to make a cynical foul to halt Fulham's momentum, but the visitors failed to do so.

If ever there was a time for Newcastle to rediscover their 'devilment', and more besides, it's when champions Manchester City rock up at St James' on Saturday.