Why I got a Mikel Arteta death stare after ‘punch in the mouth’ question as Arsenal boss swaps funboat for steel-eyed intensity ahead of must-win Leeds clash, writes OLIVER HOLT

The funboat that Mikel Arteta promised us must have already departed by the time he arrived at the Arsenal training ground, just inside the crawling loop of the M25, to talk to the media yesterday morning.

There was no funboat at this wharf. Just a skipper who looked taut and steel-eyed and gave the distinct impression he fancied a quarrel with some of the passengers left behind.

Gone was the lyrical, uber-positive messaging of the days that have followed Arsenal’s 3-2 defeat by Manchester United at the Emirates last Sunday, a defeat that left Arteta’s side only four points clear of Manchester City and Aston Villa at the top of the Premier League and led to delighted suggestions from rivals that Arsenal were already losing their nerve.

Gone was Arteta’s dreamy evangelism about how he and his players would approach the final four months of the title race. No more did he talk about Arsenal achieving ‘incredible things…we cannot even imagine’, as if he were leading them to Narnia. That lyricism had sailed away, too.

The prospect of playing an in-form Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon in front of a hostile, baying, mocking crowd, can do that to a title-chasing manager whose team has not won for the last three league matches. Levity does not come easily to Arteta and so he abandoned any pretence of it and reverted to the intensity that has served him so well.

Arteta handled the aftermath of Arsenal’s loss to United well and I asked him whether he and his players were relishing the test that the febrile atmosphere of Elland Road would set them.

I asked if he had adapted his attitude in the technical area during games to better reflect an air of calm responsibility. He seemed to see bad intent in that, too

Arteta has said all the right things since last Sunday but I mentioned Mike Tyson’s line that ‘everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth’ and suggested this was the perfect time for Arsenal to prove they could overcome the adversity they would face in Leeds.

It was intended as another chance for Arteta to talk up his team but he didn’t take it that way. He didn’t like the question. Or perhaps I had just mumbled it. Anyway, the funboat quickly disappeared over the horizon.

‘You said since the Man United game?’ Arteta queried. ‘I want to approach the next four months with an air of optimism and conviction that it is going to go well. We understand how difficult it is.

‘Then we have to do it and I am sure we are going to try our best to do it and to win tomorrow. That’s it. But I don’t understand the thing with the punch in the mouth? It is easy to say? At Elland Road we have to do it. We have to do it again and again until May. We are very conscious of that.’

I gave him another soft serve and asked if he had evolved as a manager, if he had adapted his attitude in the technical area during games to better reflect an air of calm responsibility in front of his players as the title race gathers pace. He seemed to see bad intent in that, too.

‘Absolutely 100 per cent,’ he said. ‘I knew you were going to go that way. I’m too relaxed? Evolution. Always evolution. It is what the players need and what the club needs. At Elland Road, I will do what I think is best for the team.’ 

He ended his answer with a modest death stare in my direction.

Someone else alluded to the fact that the ‘narrative is that you’re having a bit of a wobble now’. Arteta was not in the mood to let that go, either. ‘All the narratives except for yours?’ he shot back.

Arteta spoke glowingly, too, about Declan Rice, who will make his 300th Premier League appearance against Leeds. 

Arteta spoke glowingly about Declan Rice, who will make his 300th Premier League appearance against Leeds

And he is also delighted to have Kai Havertz and available again after the German striker’s struggles with injury 

Asked if it was important Arsenal return to winning ways in Yorkshire and then move on to the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Chelsea on Tuesday with a victory behind them, Arteta nodded. ‘Win tomorrow,’ he said, ‘perform so well and win to finish, and we move on to the semi-final. That’s the best way.’

Arteta was scrupulously polite throughout, of course. There was even something reassuring about the reappearance of the steel in his tone. Arteta is a starched collar not a Hawaiian shirt. He has not built Arsenal into a juggernaut by being a happy-clappy guy. He has done it, like his friend Pep Guardiola, by displaying uncommon intensity. Why change now?

Arteta revealed, in fact, that he and Guardiola still talk regularly, despite the rivalry that exists between them and their teams. He said he thought it would be unusual if they did not talk. They had, after all, worked together for many years at City, Arteta pointed out. They had known each other since Arteta was 15.

‘For me,’ Arteta said, ‘the surprising thing would be if we did not speak. I think it would be a really bad example for sport. I think in sport you have to learn. Probably the biggest lesson that sport has given us is the relationship, for example, that Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer had.

‘I’m not at that level at all. But two of the best sportsmen in history, the relationship they have between them when they have to play a final, one against one, against each other… so how the hell am I not going to have a great relationship with someone that I admire, I work with, and he’s a colleague?’

Arteta spoke glowingly, too, about Declan Rice, who will make his 300th Premier League appearance against Leeds. He hailed the return of Kai Havertz from injury and talked about the positive impact that might have on Viktor Gyokeres.    

He pleaded for an increase in squad sizes to accommodate growing playing staffs needed to cope with growing fixture lists.

Arteta also smiled broadly when he was asked about the news, confirmed on Friday morning, that Max Dowman, Arsenal’s young prodigy, has committed his future to the club 

There is much for Arsenal and their fans to be optimistic about. There is much for them to relish as the title race begins to gather pace 

And he smiled broadly when he was asked about the news, confirmed on Friday morning, that Max Dowman, Arsenal’s young prodigy, has committed his future to the club in the face of fierce interest from other teams.

There is much for Arsenal and their fans to be optimistic about. There is much for them to relish as the title race begins to gather pace. The funboat was a nice idea but it was never going to last. There is too much at stake. 

And anyway, Arsenal still have the best team and the best squad in English football. As they head to Elland Road, the wind is still filling their sails.