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Joe Cole on the Emirates pitch but avoided Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta. (Image: TNT Sports.)
TNT Sports pundit and former Chelsea star Joe Cole jokingly said that he skipped Mikel Arteta’s interview with the broadcaster because he wanted to leave the Emirates early on Tuesday evening. Cole was embarrassed after the Blues suffered a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Arsenal and avoided the Gunners’ boss.
Cole was on punditry duties alongside Rio Ferdinand and Martin Keown for TNT in a group with presenter Lynsey Hipgrave, but curiously was absent at the end of the match when Arteta conducted his interview and left his three co-workers to discuss an emphatic Arsenal victory.
After Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino spoke to the group, Cole was reintroduced and joked that he tried to leave north London in the wake of such a dispirited performance by his former team. “I was trying to jump in the back of a taxi,” Cole said. “I had no interest talking to him (Arteta).”
Keown and Ferdinand then proceeded to rib Cole, with the ex-Arsenal defender holding little back as he replied: “He went missing like Chelsea went missing tonight.” To which Ferdinand added: “Ohhh! Shots fired.”
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta speaking to the TNT Sports team aside from Joe Cole. (Image: TNT Sports.)
Cole then tried to make the home supporters the subject of discussion, questioning their celebrations at the full-time whistle. “I heard fireworks though from the Arsenal fans,” he claimed with a wry smile on his face. “That’s a bit early isn’t it celebrating like that?”
Cole had earlier explained that he was getting plenty of text messages from Chelsea supporters complaining about another lacklustre performance, but without influential duo Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto he admitted that they struggled to compete with Arsenal’s early bombardment.
“Ultimately, it was what we talked about before the game. Dealing with the different spells and different seasons of a game,” Cole explained. “Early on, you are coming away to Arsenal, you have two of your best performers in Gusto and Palmer out the side, you have a young kid (Alfie Gilchrist) coming in at full-back, he needs to be protected.
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"It was a joy to watch them play"
Mikel Arteta reflects on an impressive performance from Arsenal against London rivals Chelsea...
“For the first goal, (Kai) Havertz just wanders into space. That sets the tone. In those crucial moments in the game, they did not show enough maturity, so I think it is frustrating for the manager. Next game against (Aston) Villa is crucial because they have to bounce back, it has to be a better performance.
“My phone has been blowing up with fans messaging me. There is losing the game and there is losing the game to your London rivals in that fashion, and I think that really sticks with the fans.”
Arteta then explained that his staff’s analysis of Chelsea’s set-piece defence led to Ben White’s first goal and sent Arsenal on their way to a comfortable win, though was quizzed by Ferdinand and Keown as Cole was elsewhere at the Emirates.
