Martin Keown went rogue on Match of the Day following the Newcastle win and admitted that he would have kicked Moussa Sissoko for his initial foul on Nacho Monreal.

The former Gunner appeared on Match of the Day on Saturday following our 1-0 win against Newcastle and spoke about the challenges the Magpies were putting in, specifically the first yellow card of the match where Sissoko stamped on Monreal.

The ex-defender actually believes we were too soft on the aggressive team and we should have fought back.

“I think they’re a little bit nice,” Keown said. “(Former Arsenal manager) George Graham said to us ‘you’re too nice’. You need to get round the referee, get round the players, protect your mates, and I can’t understand here why Arsenal players just do not react.”

The pundit continued, Now, “Arsene Wenger might call me a little bit crazy here, but I feel that, if you’re gonna kick me, then I’m gonna kick you and I’m gonna go and protect my team-mate. I see no Arsenal player reacting here (when Moussa Sissoko fouled Nacho Monreal), no-one’s going near it.

“It was only this one here suddenly (when Francis Coquelin was fouled by Florian Thauvin), the players were getting fed up, Coquelin, and (Alexis) Sanchez now reacts in the way that I would expect.

“Get round the referee and complain and be together as a group.”

I agree with most of what Keown says usually. However, on this occasion, his comments seem a little rash. When he was on the pitch, football was different, and if we went round now getting into fights with every man who put in an unfair tackle on one of us, we’d end up getting most of our players carded too.

By all means, sticking up for each other on the pitch is excellent, but playing the opposition at their own game might end up biting us on the backside.