Mikel Arteta’s ‘anger and shame’ as body language expert gives verdict on awkward interview

Mikel Arteta was unhappy following Arsenal’s draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday and even rushed out of an interview with Sky Sports following the game

A body language expert believes Mikel Arteta was feeling ‘anger and shame’ when he stormed out of an interview following Arsenal’s draw with Manchester United.

The Gunners boss cut a frustrated figure after his side lost further ground on league-leaders Liverpool. The Spaniard offered curt responses before attempting to leave the interview pre-emptively.

Sky Sports reporter Patrick Davison had asked about Arsenal not signing a forward in January and if Arteta had any regrets. The former midfielder offered a short response, before looking to make his exit.

Arteta said: “No, no. It’s not about that.” Davison attempted to stop Arteta from storming off and asked: “Mikel – one more? I have to ask you about the title race because it’s 15 points now. Is that too much?”

Arteta paused but did not appear to answer as he instead brushed past the reporter to end the interview abruptly. And according to expert Darren Stanton, while Arteta’s overriding emotion was anger, there were signs the coach was feeling some shame too.

“This is a man who is not in the mood for talking. He has gone from zero to 60 and there is a lot of anger,” Stanton told Spin Genie.

“You can see Arteta purse his lips, like when you’re humming a song, and that is a gesture as if to say ‘I am not talking to you’. It is almost like he wants to say what he really thinks but is holding himself back from doing so, preventing himself from speaking.

“His reaction was so fast and he then very quickly dips his head to the right and down, and that’s usually associated with a sense of shame.

“He is not interested in talking to any press at this moment and it’s more anger that is the prevailing emotion — disbelief, anger and shame.”

Stanton believes the moment was particularly significant and revealing of how overwhelmed by emotion Arteta was in that moment. “If you look back at what we’ve seen from Arteta, he doesn’t make these sorts of gestures very often, so I think this is quite a significant moment in his career,” he added.

“This looks to be one of the most emotional times that he’s been through. That sort of humming gesture and the shame, he’s thinking about how this impacts on him, his persona, his reputation and whatever values and beliefs he holds. I think what’s happened is now going against all that.

“We’re looking at shame and anger that results like this one are making him look bad, not in a selfish way necessarily but because the buck stops with him. When you want the ground to open up and swallow you, that’s the impression Arteta was giving off in that moment.

“And it is significant because I don’t think he has experienced too many moments like this in his management career, and that’s why we look at baseline behaviours and any deviations from them, because he hasn’t made too many of these gestures in the past.”

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