Arsene Wenger says that the 2-2 draw with Chelsea at the Emirates tonight was a fantastic game of football, but hit out at Anthony Taylor’s decision to award Chelsea a penalty shortly after Jack Wilshere had put the Gunners ahead.
Hector Bellerin did make contact with Eden Hazard, but his exaggerated reaction led to the referee pointing to the spot, a decision the Arsenal manager called ‘farcical’ after the game.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said, “It was a fantastic football game, and overall I believe that it could have gone both ways.
We were first on the score sheet, and after that we got a farcical decision and then we looked like mentally, we were shot, and then we could have lost the game, but after we had the resources to come back to 2-2 and in the end maybe it’s a fair result.”
Pressed on the penalty, Wenger railed, “You asked me ‘Is it a penalty?’
“I said it is a farcical decision. You could give ten penalties like that per game.
“You will read the foreign newspapers and what they write about that and look after at the English newspapers and you see what they write about, and you’ll see the difference.”
The Frenchman is facing FA charges for comments made to Mike Dean following another contentious penalty award last Sunday, and was asked if he was going to contest them.
“100 per cent,” he said. “You can listen to every interview I said. I stick to everything I said without a problem.”
A little disingenuous, as the charges stem from comments he made to the referee after the game and away from the media, but let’s never forget that Mike Dean is a useless flute.
Arsene may be banned for the rest of the year at the rate he’s going.
No big deal. Its not like he likes issuing instructions from the bench or performing hystrionics ala Klopp or Conte as cheap entertainment.
Or issue instructions from the bench, like Guardiola.
The one sure thing about this is that Dean won’t be seen near an Arsenal game for a long time. And as he shouldn’t ref Liverpool and Everton it limits his games.
So sorry for the other teams in the EPL
We’ve said that before after Deans disastrous reffing against Chavski where he sent Gabriel and Cazorla off and didn’t even give Costa a card. There was even a petition signed by most sane people everywhere, but we got him back the very next season…
The PGMO and FA have no shame.
Silly from Bellerin, but it was soft. Just because there is contact it wasn’t enough for him to go down.
It was a legit 50-50 challenge.
Hazard was not in a position that was a direct threat to goal.
Yes it happened in the box but it was not impeding any goal scoring opportunity.
The way these rules are enforced, may as well not defend when in the box, just simply stand there with arms behind ones back with your best impression of bowling pins.
Its ridiculous….granted our defense was poor but the decision was farcical.
Yeah, if only Bellerin was savy enough to jump on the ground like he’d been shot at the same time Hazard did, who knows what the muppet Taylor would have called.
C’mon, Taylor was brilliant in the FA Cup win last season. Allowed Alexis’s debatable-looking first goal, sent off Moses, did not award pen. Conned well today by the Belgian biscuit. Wenger had earlier called young Anthony a ”traitor to his federation” and pushed him in the tunnel for four?-match ban. I think we won every game while he wasn’t on the bench? Taylor, Mickey Oliver and perhaps Marty Atkinson and Ancient Marriner (both too old just) should have gone to world cup this year … but no English refs. Except Clattenberg (Saudi Arabia). Anyway, let’s play strong team in FA… Read more »
He wasn’t ‘conned well’. It never even remotely looked like a foul and 99.9% of refs wouldn’t have given it, but one weak minded ref fell for a poor con.
So one mistake over a 50-50 penalty call makes him Mike Dean. My point being that Taylor and others are generally honest and almost good referees … like the rest of them he needs video help occasionally. Wenger would have snapped that pen up yesterday and said “justice” if Conte had gone apeshit..
He decided the minor probably unintentional contact that downed AMN in the box while facing goal wasn’t worthy of a penalty, But then decided the minor unintentional contact that downed Hazard in the box while facing away from goal was worthy.
He’d set a precedent.
The inconsistency of the refs is the real issue.
Dean had a good game (for a change) until he awarded a penalty for something very few other refs would have given, especially after the refs have told players that incidents like that would not result in penalties.
It’s a contact sport. Contact does not equal foul. It shouldn’t have been a penalty as the contact here was not forceful enough to deem it a foul. “Soft” doesn’t begin to describe the penalty decision. Bellerin kicked out at the ball and touched instead the bottom of Hazzard’s shoe, the most reinforced part. It was ridiculous that the Chelsea player threw himself to the ground, more ridiculous that referee Taylor called that a foul, and the most ridiculous hearing Lee Dixon, having seen replays, say it was a penalty. Just infuriating.
Henry also says it was a penalty.
Because it was.
If we are objective about it (I would like to think as fans we can be, no?) on another day Wilshere might have received a red
And Gary Neville said it wasn’t.
I’m with the rat on this one.
I’ve just seen another replay. Bellerin makes meaningful contact with Hazard’s boot well away from the ball, prior to it falling back to the ground in a position where Hazard could have regathered it and have attacked the goal. 100% penalty. Some of you guys need to go back to the rule book and read it
Stop being victims.
It’s just masking the real problems we have
I agree. Complaining about every decision that goes against us detracts from your argument when a terrible decision does go against us, like the penalty given on Sunday.
Was it soft? Yes. Not enough contact to make someone fall over? Yes. Enough to affect someone’s momentum though? Quite possibly.
Really, our defenders (I’m not going to single out anyone here) should know when and how to challenge opponents, in the same way they should know what position their body should be in and to make sure they’re aware of what’s going on around them.
I’d have taken the penalty if it was awarded to us. Its that sort of decision that divides opinion. Did hazard make the most of it? Yes. Was there contact? Yes. Are Arsenal prone to shitty decisions? Yes. I’m almost immune to it now.
My worry has been the very shaky defensive setup this season. Every time the ball is anywhere near our back 3/2/5, it gives me the scares. Shouldn’t be the case. We’ve got to do better. Fluid attacking has to be complemented by Stonewall defending!!
We’d all have taken it knowing we got one we didn’t earn for a change.
It would have been a mosquito sized payback for all the shitty game-changing decisions that go against us.
Yeah the dive was exaggerated but the fact is Bellerin carelessly kicked Hazard in the boot well away from the ball.
Definitely a penalty in my opinion.
I like it when Wenger shows a little bit of steel.
Mike Dean should never referee an Arsenal game ever again.
If you watch the interview with the press it really shows how he feels. It was a harsh decision and the theatrics sold it. The point about the U.K. Press not writing about referees is spot on.
Wenger will be happy with any ban if that means Mike Dean won’t ever referee another Arsenal game.
The ban will happen, but we’ll definately see Dean again.
Farcical. Yes it happened in the box but it was not a deliberate foul rather a 50-50 challenge and the ball was going away from goal. Taylor lacks common sense to ref at this level. He was happy awarding phantom fouls against the likes of Fabregas no less. I thought the sliding challenge (one footed) was well executed as Fab got the ball but Taylor decides to award him a yellow instead. The refereeing considering the amount of money spent in the league is simply shocking. Mike Dean should have been released a long time ago. Not that he is… Read more »
A foul does not have to be deliberate.
Man, you’re a pain.
The ankle tap on AMN probably wasn’t deliberate either, but the ref needs to be consistent and he’d set the precedent by dismissing that as a penalty.
That fabregas foul was studs up and partly in the air though. Sure, he got the ball, but it was a dangerous challenge still.
Disagree with you and agree with santori. I thought it was a perfectly good tackle.
I don’t get why Lee Dixon and Arlo White were suggesting Wilshere could’ve been booked for diving, though. There was clear contact, even if it was bought. I agree with the ref: no foul, no yellow.
Some of the decisions given this season have been real shockers. We all know how piss poor we have been this season. Two consecutive wins in this festive season would have given us the right amount of momentum to somehow turn things around. That is what is more annoying. Fuck the refs for that.
Wenger is stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Contest, and you know the FA will ban him, and extend the ban because he contested.
Accept it, and know that nothing will change.
Wenger chose the ‘hard place’.
And he deserves support for doing so.
jw1
I don’t recall hearing Wenger shouting from the rooftops daily when a ridiculous penalty decision has gone in our favour over the years. All of a sudden he’s on a quest to improve penalty decision making?
If we were in Manchester city’s position, he wouldn’t be bothering…It all smells like a side show to distract and the longer he prolongs it, the better for him…get banned for loads of matches so he has someone to blame as we slowly slide down the table.
West Brom at home spring to mind
It’s just deflection. Means he doesn’t answer for our wank defence
Exactly. If Wenger would have been asked about Jack Wheelchairs dive he would have smirked and said “I did not see it.”
Jack copied it off Jamie Vardy who won Leicester the PL with a few of them.
I seem to remember the English Media hero ‘Window Licker’ Kane winning a penalty against us last April by doing something similar.
Please show me the manager who says a wrong decision in their favour was made. You can’t. None do it. That is the not the same as saying wrong decisions are wrong decisions. You appear to be being led by the nose by disingenuous media types like Henry who do Sky’s bidding.
I am led by no one. I don’t listen to any media, I rarely watch matches these days, I no longer spend thousands a year following Arsenal. I no longer fall for their corporate bullshit. I read 2 Arsenal websites. I am sane, happy, donating more money towards my children instead of selfishly taking it away from my family to follow a manager and a team that are going nowhere and will not improve. I made this decision 5-6 years ago that the manager had lost the plot. I will not go back to financially support the club I love… Read more »
A few managers will say that decisions in their favour were ‘soft’ like Pardew did over the penalty at West Dean Albion.
I’ve certainly heard AW say the same.
The penalty was indeed a farcical decision and Wilshere should have been sent off with a second yellow for the dive. Poor poor refereeing.
He did not see it, ref made the right call.
Strangely there are no media calls for reviews on players like Rooney and Vardy who have made a career out of throwing their legs out into the opponent.
Oh poor Wenger. There are two ways to look at the world when things don’t go your way. You can look without, at other people or circumstances and embrace victim status, insinuate that outside forces are more in control of your destiny than you and your actions are, or you can look within, at what you did wrong, embrace some humility and learn from your mistakes and go into the future better prepared and optimistic. I think we know which one of these philosophies Wenger embraces. In my opinion the cult of victimhood has no place in sports of any… Read more »
Did not realize an order of David Carradine disciples even existed.
jw1
Perhaps you should explain your philosophy to oh, say, Every manager since ever.
He’s toeing the line for his club. I respect that.
Blogs you may want to turn off auto correct it’s put Mike Dean is a ‘usless flute’ instead of a ‘useless cunt’
It was a pen on Hazard (that was given) but it was also a fucking pen on Maitland Niles (that wasn’t given) – that’s what i’m more annoyed about tbh.
Why the **** do some people even follow Arsenal…Arsene is still manager and is 100% spot on with this….support him or hold your piece…surely you have enough other sticks to beat him with
It’s “peace,” actually, and I completely agree with you.
Lol…thank you for the correction
Yep. He’s right. And it was a good game. Usually a critic but games like this are what its all about for me. Strange decision. I’m one of the tin-foiled hat wearing ‘conspiracy theorists’ inasmuch as I think money calls the shots in most of the world and its right to remain critical and skeptical about more of the assumptions we make. Seems to me that that is a really soft decision at a crucial part of the game. I don’t think that these referees all meet round a table in storm ridden cliff-top castle and scheme. But there are… Read more »
Lets take FA to the court. Voicing out agaisnt harassment is everyones right.
I for one am sick of Wenger’s whingeing. I think there was quite a strong case for the penalty to be awarded, Bellerin effectively carelessly kicks Hazard in the boot.
Decisions are also going in our favour from time to time.
Some contact was made with the sole of Hazards boot. Oh my gawd, call the cops!
It was pretty meaningful contact. Anyway who has played plenty of football knows that that sort of contact can be meaningful.
apparently minor contacts can be impactful.
You all need to take your blinkers off, it’s fucken pathetic
I think you should engage in more meaningful contact with your wife. If you have one.
you sound like a real dimwit
It was no more ‘meaningful’ than the ankle tap on AMN earlier in the game. The difference was that AMN was facing goal whereas Hazard wasn’t.
I am a kiwi and an All Blacks fan. A few world cups back an awful referee’s call effectively saw us knocked out of the competition. I know a lot of us kiwis whinged and whinged about that. But you know what? The All Blacks learnt from that rather than whingeing and whingeing about it and using it as an excuse. So they looked at game management strategy that would reduce the potential excessive influence of poor calls. And they also became an awesome team that would consistently win by such margins that the odd bad call would be less… Read more »
Mike Dean is a cunt!
Bellerina should have gone down like a dying swan too and then the ref probably would have ignored it. Shame the game came to this kind of play acting.
Also, would someone tell Cech to stop jumping wild out of the way during penalty kicks! Just stand still to collect about 20% of shots.
I don’t understand these soft penalties lately