Arsenal have a serious attitude problem: Gunners' pathetic behaviour has put a target on their back - and it's costing them dearly as they live up to 'bottlers' tag yet again

Erling Haaland stands accused of starting all this, of course.

The Norwegian completely lost his cool during Manchester City's 2-2 draw with a 10-man Arsenal at the Etihad back in September, bouncing the ball off Gabriel Magalhaes' head after John Stones' late leveller before then clashing with Arteta, Gabriel Jesus and Myles Lewis-Skelly in the centre circle after the full-time whistle had blown.

It was a pathetic petulance from Haaland and Arsenal should never have responded to it - even belatedly.

They should have been pleased with the precious point they'd picked up but Haaland's pathetic display clearly bothered them, so they bided their time and decided to respond in kind at the Emirates on Sunday.

First, Gabriel needlessly roared in Haaland's face after Arsenal's opening goal. Later, Lewis-Skelly trolled the Norwegian by imitating his 'Zen' celebration after putting his team 3-1 ahead.

It evoked memories of a group of Paris Saint-Germain players also renowned for bottling big games by mocking Haaland in precisely the same manner after a win over Borussia Dortmund in 2020 - and there was simply no need for it, especially not on a day that the Gunners sent a clear message to Liverpool that they won't be giving up this season's Premier League title without a fight.

Obviously, nobody wants to take the needle or fun out of football and it's absolutely ludicrous the Football Association (FA) are genuinely considering sanctioning celebrations that they feel cross a line "over into mockery or criticism".

It shouldn't even be a debate right now. But Arsenal have made it one - and that's the point there.

There's too much noise around Arsenal right now, so the last thing they should be doing is contributing to it by taking wholly unnecessary shots at opponents - particularly when there's a widespread perception that their players are in absolutely no position to do so.

The Gunners are becoming renowned - and ridiculed - for a lot big talk but an embarrassing lack of major titles.

So, while people can disagree over whether Arsenal's conduct on Sunday was undignified, it was unquestionably unnecessary - and also utterly unhelpful.

Arsenal are under enough pressure as it is to finally deliver the title they've been threatening for two years.

The presumption was that when time finally caught up with Pep Guardiola's ageing Manchester City squad, up-and-coming Arsenal would be the team to take over. Instead, it's Liverpool who are leading the way this season.

Consequently, we're now in this rather remarkable position where it's the side in second place that's under more media scrutiny than the table-toppers who suffered a spectacular collapse less than a year ago.

Arteta, then, really could have done without his own players producing yet another rod with which to beat Arsenal, and it's significant that he didn't even want to be drawn on Lewis-Skelly's celebration in his post-match press conference.

"I haven't seen it and there’s nothing that I want to discuss about it," the Spaniard told reporters. "[It's] down to the players. But they know my view on it and we have to focus on us.

"We have to leave anything that happens on the pitch. It’s part of the game and whatever happens on the pitch, I think we’ve been in football a long time, just leave it."

One hopes that Arteta's players will belatedly heed his advice but, as we saw at St. James' Park, there'll be no killing the 'Stay humble' narrative now. The die has already been cast in that regard, as this isn't even the first time Arsenal have been accused of letting a win over a title rival go to their heads.

As a result, 'Stay humble' is set to become as synonymous with his side as time-wasting, set-pieces and a relative lack of success. The only way to change the perception is through trophies but Arsenal have only made life more difficult for themselves.

At a time when they should have been keeping their heads down while attempting to hunt down Liverpool, they instead made themselves a target. And an equally aggressive Newcastle were more than happy to take aim on the allegedly arrogant Gunners on Wednesday night.

The Magpies essentially provided other opponents with the perfect template for upsetting Arsenal.

Much of the media attention understandably centred on Newcastle's electrifying No.9 Alexander Isak, who gave Gabriel and William Saliba their most uncomfortable evening of the season so far, but Kieran Trippier also appeared to be on a one-man mission to wind Arsenal's players up, while Fabian Schar's man-marking job on Declan Rice directly led to Newcastle's killer second goal.

By the end of the game, a visibly irritated Rice looked like a red card waiting to happen, shouldering Sandro Tonali off the ball one minute, going through Bruno Guimaraes the next. The latter couldn't have been happier about being chopped down, with Bruno jumping straight back to his feet to fire up the crowd. The Newcastle captain knew the gameplan had worked perfectly - every aspect of it.

Eddie Howe's bold decision to switch to a back five proved a masterstroke, as it exposed Arsenal's struggles to break down deep-lying defences without Bukayo Saka and an orthodox No.9, but the Toon boss also effectively admitted afterwards that antagonising the Gunners had also been a fundamental part of their approach.

It only strengthened the suspicion that there is still a significant chink in Arsenal's armour, that they remain mentally weak and lacking in maturity, meaning that while they're highly adept at dishing it out, they can't take it at all.

Indeed, there is a nagging feeling that for all Arsenal's attributes, they've got an attitude problem. On the evidence of the past week, they arguably don't just need to stay humble; they need to grow up too.