Mikel Arteta probed about inflammatory Ivan Toney tweet ahead of Brentford clash

Mikel Arteta says he makes sure his players “act in a certain way” after the Amazon Prime documentary revealed a quote from Ivan Toney which the Arsenal boss highlighted in his team talk.

The Gunners were humbled by Toney’s Brentford on the opening day of last season. That led the striker, who has been called into the England squad, to take to Twitter.

Toney tweeted: “Nice kick about with the boys.”

It was a tweet which angered Arsenal fans and wound up Arteta, so much so that he used it in his pre-match team talk at The Emirates for the return match.

Arsenal did get revenge with a 2-1 win in February, but they face the Bees again on Sunday afternoon. And Arteta’s men will have to keep Toney quiet after his promotion into Gareth Southgate’s squad.

Asked about the rise of Toney, who was playing in the fourth tier with Northampton in 2015, Arteta said: “I think it’s a great story. This country has had a few stories like this in the past few seasons.

No script yet 

“It was the same with Jamie Vardy and how that happened I think it’s extraordinary. And it means the opportunities are there again for everybody and that it’s just about showing quality, consistency and belief. It can happen at any age and I think it’s a great thing.

Asked if it could happen in Spain, Arteta said: “I don’t know. I can’t think of stories like this that have been so successful after that. Maybe it’s something to think about.”

The Spanish boss was then asked about the Amazon documentary in which Arteta used Toney’s tweet in his pre-match chat.

“I haven’t written the script for this one yet. I’m sorry. If you have any ideas just give them to me. I’m running out of ideas,” said Toney.

Arteta: Frank done an ‘excellent job’

“Anyone can write whatever they want. I can use it in any way I find useful.

“I try to get my players to act in a certain way and I like the way they act.”

Arteta was also very complimentary about Bees boss Thomas Frank, who is trying to establish the London club in the Premier League.

“I think he’s done an excellent job. The clarity of vision that they’ve had and how they’re constantly evolving it, I think they deserve great credit for what they do,” sasd Arteta, who was also relieved his side got the green light to play.

“We needed to play. We want to play games. When you look at the schedule, especially after the World Cup or what we have to go through after the World Cup or next month we needed to play games.”

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