Mikel Arteta: Martin Keown calls out Richard Keys over criticism of Arsenal boss | OneFootball

In case you weren’t aware, Richard Keys is not the biggest fan of Mikel Arteta.

The former Sky Sports presenter – who now works for beIN Sports out in Qatar – has regularly called out the Arsenal boss for his touchline antics.

So when Arteta lost his head a tad during the Gunners’ 0-0 draw with Newcastle United on Tuesday evening, you just knew there was a tweet incoming from Keys.

And he certainly didn’t disappoint.

Pretty much bang on full-time, Keys wrote on Twitter: “Seriously – when is someone going to get control of Mikel Arteta? He’s an embarrassment. Totally out of control during games.”

Needless to say, the often-controversial presenter received some backlash, backlash which is showing no signs of stopping.

On Friday, Arsenal legend Martin Keown tore into Keys over his criticism of Arteta, saying that “no one is really listening” to him.

Video: Keown’s rips into Keys over Arteta criticism

Yeah, Keown didn’t hold back one bit during the talkSPORT segment – which went down rather well with Arsenal fans.

But Keys was always going to see the footage and shortly after it went live, he decided to respond to Keown’s scathing criticism.

He wrote in a strongly-worded tweet: “Oh Martin. Still working? Yep. Still working – for the biggest sports broadcaster in the world.

“No-one listening? What are you all talking about then? Arteta is an embarrassment to a classy football club – as you often were.”

Keys’ tweet after Keown criticism

The war of words is on! And no prizes for guessing which side Arsenal fans will be on…

Keys’ vendetta against the north London club has been clear for quite some time.

At the start of the 2022/23 season, he called the Gunners out for ‘over-celebrating’ a 2-1 comeback victory over Fulham at the Emirates.

“I understand Arsenal’s fans celebrating in the manner that they did,” Keys said on beIN Sports. “I felt that the coach and his players over-celebrated a 2-1 win against Fulham.

“I think this sort of reaction to what happened yesterday from Arteta and co tells me how far they’ve fallen.

“Arsene Wenger would have been howled out of the arena if his team had scraped a 2-1 win with in effect an own goal that was well off-target until it took a deflection, and a present from Bernd Leno.”

Don’t expect a warm reception if you visit the Emirates in the future, Richard…