Why Arne Slot finally realised Arsenal are a JOKE

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot claimed he had no concerns about Arsenal’s use of the so-called ‘dark arts’ in the buildup to the weekend’s Premier League clash at the Emirates.

Mikel Arteta’s Gunners are indeed developing a reputation as a ‘streetwise’ team, taking any opportunity they can to take advantage and slow the game down.

Read more: Mo Salah extends INSANE record against Arsenal

Reds legend Jamie Carragher meanwhile claims Arteta is morphing into Jose Mourinho before our eyes although the Portuguese has won far more in his managerial career than Arteta has.

It’s been very pronounced in games where they have gone down to 10 men - such as against Manchester City - but was also in evidence on Sunday.

Arne Slot on 'streetwise' Arsenal

“If I look at Arsenal and City it doesn’t even come to my mind about tactical fouls or dark arts, it only comes to my mind how well they play,” Slot said in the pre-match press conference.

“It’s your words that they are implementing those tactics, the only thing I know is that my players are experienced and they know how to handle certain situations.

“I am not using the word streetwise, I am using the word experienced and you have to cope with if the other team is better than you and how you react in those moments.”

That was before his side had to endure the worst Arsenal had to offer at the weekend. While Slot might have been complimentary towards Arsenal before the game, which ended in a frustrating 2-2 draw, he was far less impressed with the team’s behaviour in the aftermath.

Slot’s frustrations boiled over, leading him to be hit with a second yellow card of the season. A miscommunication with the fourth official moves Slot to within one booking of a touchline ban.

Arne Slot changes his tune

While Sam Barrott might have claimed Slot’s unsavoury words were about the performance of the matchday officials, Slot revealed his points of contention concerned the behaviour of Arsenal’s players and not the referee.

“There were so many times that they were on the floor, which can happen so many times in football,” Slot told his post-game press conference.

“I don’t blame them for that but it always happened after they had ball possession. That took the energy out of the game in my opinion.

“So I said to Ibou: ‘This is a fucking joke,’ and the fourth official thought I said to him: ‘You are a fucking joke.’ But that’s definitely not what I said. But I got a yellow for that and now I’m on two and I have to be careful.”

And Slot had a point. Whether it was Gabriel buying free kick after free kick, or Leandro Trossard claiming he’d been kicked in the face, Arteta’s Arsenal sought to frustrate and to annoy.

Arteta pointed out after that he was content to get out of the game with a draw, given the club’s so-called injury crisis. However, that would ignore the fact that Liverpool had a similar infirm list on Sunday.

And yet the Reds never resorted to such tactics, fighting back to claim a draw from 2-1 with as many as five players on the injury list.

And so while Slot might have accepted Arsenal’s streetwise nature before the game, the first-hand reality was much tougher to endure.