Mikel Arteta opens up on efforts to keep a lid on emotions ahead of Newcastle return | Arsenal

Mikel Arteta believes he has learned from Arsenal’s controversial defeat at Newcastle last season and is trying to keep his emotions under wraps as he does not want to be banned from the dugout.

Arteta was cleared of making abusive comments about match officials following Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat at St James’ Park last year after VAR did not recommend disallowing Anthony Gordon’s winning goal. The Spaniard is one of five managers in the Premier League not to have received a yellow card this season as his side prepare to play Newcastle in Saturday’s early kick-off.

Arteta, who hopes Gabriel Magalhães could be fit but is a doubt over Ben White with a joint problem, said he had made a conscious effort not to cross the line.

“I won’t miss any games, that’s for sure,” he said. “I can’t promise you that if we score a goal I’m not going to be jumping up and down the touchline. I can’t guarantee that. Hopefully they (the match referees) have also adapted and they’ve understood that emotion is a big part of it. I can’t control myself at the finish line, and so far it’s worked.”

Asked if he had been meditating to help deal with less favorable decisions, Arteta said: “On the sidelines, I haven’t reached the point where I’m in meditation mode yet, but maybe that’s something that’s going to happen! I just want to best for the team and I want to give the team the best chance to be as competitive as possible, to win the majority of football games. When they changed the rules and certain behaviors towards the touchline, we have to adapt to it and develop us. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

New Zealand’s rugby union team were at Arsenal’s training ground on Wednesday to prepare for their meeting with England on Saturday, although Arteta was unable to spend any time with their head coach, Scott Robertson, who he described as “an inspiration”, on due to their trip to Preston in the Carabao Cup. Arteta recommended reading the book Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach Us about the Business of Life, which has informed his approach as a manager.

Asked what particular ideas he had taken on board, Arteta said: “A few. It’s mainly about the culture and the importance of clarity, or what it means when you put on a shirt. The feeling of belonging . When someone plays with that feeling, I think it raises his level of commitment, it raises his ability to perform and impact the organization in a different way.”