Mikel Arteta refused to retire in a dispute with officials
Mikel Arteta refused to step down in a row with officials
You may not like Mikel Arteta, but I’m not sure he cares. George Graham may be the manager who left Millwall to lead Arsenal to great success in the 1980s and 1990s, but the current Gunners boss has truly taken The Den’s famous mantra to heart.
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With his blunt, sometimes uncomfortably blunt comments about the level of Arsenal’s performance following the Newcastle defeat, the Spaniard doubled down on the “against our world” attitude that has served him so well since his move to the Emirates. Arsenal have shown they are all for Arteta, regardless of the consequences, with the unequivocal backing of their manager.
But does Arteta really think the problems with referees and the use of VAR in the Premier League are worse than in his native Spain, where Rafa Benitez (pictured) threatened a decent consequence for his infamous fact when his Celta Vigo team were involved . rough end to last weekend?
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When Celta were awarded a last-gasp penalty – only for VAR to take it away – Benitez used Newton’s laws of motion to ask how much force it takes to bring down a player and suggested (seriously, we think) that NASA get a physicist. . to sit in the VAR room to advise on future cases.
Celtic captain Iago Aspas made a more primitive gesture, angrily throwing the VAR monitor on the floor of the pitch, which must have required a few Newtons. I hope Arteta didn’t get any ideas. Even if the Arsenal manager believes his own hyperbolic claims about the standards of refereeing in England, he clearly thinks the best way to defend his club’s position (and perhaps put them on the right side of any future doubt) is to fight .
Calling the matchday officials disgraceful and shameful seems a bold move when the same group of men are watching Arsenal’s title race – starting with the visit of Burnley tomorrow – but it just might work.
Ange Postecoglou takes a different approach to public relations
Ange Postecoglou takes a different approach to public relations
It’s a harsh approach, a harsh but not unwarranted contrast to next-door neighbor Ange Postecoglou, who, seeing the reaction to two Tottenham men sent off and awarded a penalty in Chelsea’s loss, simply decided to complain that VAR checks had led. “too much standing”.
Spurs fans may use this to draw a line (red or green, we can’t tell) between Postecoglou and Arteta, but the Australian has probably just found himself going from a virtual unknown to the manager you’d like best. to bring home to meet his mother” after three months and sees this happy place as the best opportunity to promote the success of his club. Arteta, never interested in a neutral vote, has no more friends to lose. But either approach can be corrosive, as Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino, who has more London derby experience than most managers, seemed to suggest after Monday’s chaotic game.
Excitedly attack every micro or macro decision, from throw-ins to systematic VAR errors, and you get endless delays. Postecoglou and every armchair viewer with a bed complained on Monday night.
Put laconic pressure on the officials to step things up and you end up with the confused, rushed and confused mess that led to Liverpool wrongly disallowing a goal at Spurs in September.
Complaints about the quality of refereeing – such as Arsenal’s goal and the handling of Cristian Romero – are nothing new, but elevating it to the level of a national injustice does no one any good. It’s time to lower the temperature before you damage your TV screens.