As you would expect at his press conference this morning, Arsene Wenger was asked about the penalty decision that went a long way to costing his team two points in the 1-1 draw with West Brom on Sunday evening.
The Arsenal manager once again spoke about the quality of refereeing, and suggested that too many decisions had gone against his team in games this season.
He also accused Mike Dean of manufacturing his justification for the penalty, saying that the referee’s signal that Calum Chambers hands had gone towards the ball were not backed up by what actually took place.
“It was very disappointing, in the way it happened,” he said, before hinting at a wider conspiracy.
“I must say what is more frustrating for me is that it happened many times this season.
“It was at Stoke, at Watford, at Man City, at West Brom, and that is a concerning coincidence for me.
“That’s why I was not happy at all with the movement that the referee made to show why he gave the penalty because that did not correspond at all with what happened.
“On that front it’s a bit worrying.”
Asked if he’d had any explanation from Dean, Wenger continued, “No. He saw what he wanted to see.
“We have to deal with that. We have to put it behind us, not dwell on it, and focus on our next game.
“We have a convincing result at Crystal Palace, we would have won this game as well [West Brom] so let’s focus on how we can play and win the games.”
Saw what he wanted to see…
Pretty damning.
Yet when Ali and Kane try to cripple Man C players the ref sees what he wants to see and not the clear attempt to maim.
Dean could easily have not given the pen but his mind thinks …..mmmm time for a bit of publicity and it is Arsenal so extra headlines.
He comes from near Liverpool so doesn’t referee their matches.
He was 21 in 1989, do you think he is getting his own back for us winning the title then?
We haven’t played too convincingly all season, but it’s hard to disagree with Arsene here. It has happened too often this season for it to be a coincidence. And the worst part is that it always seem to happen when we’re about to gather some momentum. Two wins in a row in this busy period would have been enough confidence boost to try and keep the run going, especially when the legs are tired.
Var,where are u ?
LET’S BE ‘AVIN YOU!!
A more avid proponent of this technology you’ll not find, methinks.
Onward and upward – let’s get bang on it for Chelsea and get 3 points. Come on you Gooners.
Similar to TGSTEL who scores when he wants, Mike Dean gives penalties when he wants.
Mike Dean is making sure we stay behind the mugsmashers obviously
This gremlin piece of shit should be forced to come out and explain himself. In no other field can such incompetence be displayed with no public explanation or obvious sanction. Cunt!
Do I think there is some agenda against Arsenal FC from the media and the FA? No. I don’t. The media always picks on the easiest target, and Arsenal and Liverpool have been that easy target for a while because they’ve been a bit shit in the league. I think there is a case to be made for every team about referee bias. Every team has had monumental decisions go in favour of them or against them. Arsenal too. I remember quite a few instances this season were Arsenal should have easily, EASILY had a penalty awarded against them and… Read more »
But we are football fans, not realists.
But seriously 7amkickoff stats are real and it is difficul not to wonder what the story is when he is when his stats regarding arsenal are so anomalous.
Stats are misleading and while I understand where 7am is coming from, it’s hard to say with a definitive YES that Mike Dean has some sort of agenda against Arsenal. Instead of comparing Arsenal’s stats to the other teams in the top 6, they should be compared to all the teams in the league since the league is not comprised of just 6 teams. Perhaps Mike Dean has a worse record with another team outside of the top 6? Also there is the little fact that football games are different and completely random so to base bias off of stats… Read more »
If Mike Dean really had a bias against us, it would probably show in decisions that are decisive and disputable. If he never gave even the most obvious penalty for us, and completely invented penalties or cards against us, he’d not get to referee anymore. Stealth, you see.
Which isn’t to subtract from the fact we we’ve been shit lately. Us being shit and Dean being an asshole are unrelated but coincidentally unfortunate events.
Ye you’re forgetting he gave a pen against Kompany a couple of yrs back. Add the phantom foul on Alexis at home against Spurs which resulted in the opening goal….
He has made plenty of decisions against us that are ‘decisive and disputable’.
Unfortunately we can’t always get his decisions rescinded like we could with his sending Gabriel off (even though it didn’t change the loss).
He also managed to send off Mr nice guy Cazorla in that game…
I have a feeling that Costa managed to play the whole game in UFC mode and didn’t even get a yellow…
I agree that he’s given more decisions against the Club than for but his ineptitude has helped out and we do seem to forget that. He’s a shit ref but, in my opinion, even worse is the fact that he has to make it about him. There’s a video on yt where ex players go through the refs fitness training and he seems so aloof you would think he was a golden boot winner in his prime. There’s a saying, I probably won’t do it justice but, it goes something like: the best refs are the ones that control the… Read more »
Sorry Moot, I ain’t hearing that. He’s got it in for the Arsenal and that’s that.
As for the stats, if they were even close I’d consider the argument, but they’re not. Add to it he’d not given a Pen in quite a long string of matches, yet he’s all over that one.
I would be sh*t scared and avoid all eye contact with that leery look on dean in the pic.
I would just gouge his eyes ad make him go temporarily blind. Or maybe break his leg so that he can never officiate again. That prick spoiled my New Year’s eve.
The worst thing to do would be to blame MIKE DEAN. This is bigger than Mike Dean and there is something going on with FA, PGMOL, Sky and co. As a fan it is unrealistic to expect convincing football and convincing wins week in week out. We have to admit that plenty of times we would have loved to have those scrappy 1-0 wins. If you look at our 5 losses this season 1. Stoke away – We were robbed 2. Liverpool away- Genuinely lost the game 3. Watford away – Robbed. blatant dive and what not 4. City away… Read more »
What would be even worse is having decisions go in our favour in the upcoming games. I just want decisions to be as fair as possible for every team in the PL. Use whatever technology that is needed and if PGMOL needs to appoint more referees then they should do it. You can’t simply say “Our referees are fatigued from fixture pile up and it is only human to have lapses in concentration” Why can’t you have more number of referees+VAR?
It’s simple. Then, the likes of Mike Dean would not not be able to do shit they usually do.
Good summarisation. In all our losses except 1 we were negatively affected by incorrect decisions by the officials. Whether anyone believed “it will even out…” is not the point. The standard of refereeing is comically bad – the worst I have witnessed in PL history. Say what you want about Wenger, but his comments on the PDMOL are damning. They have allowed cheats and biased refereeing to prosper. They have shown no will to improve the level of officiating and you can’t even ask them for an explanation. They are meant to be a professional organisation yet act with petulance… Read more »
Over 100 years or maybe over only 10 years it MAY even out, but it definately doesn’t even out in one season…
It’s not just the FA. Even UEFA do the same thing with CL. It’s just ridiculous to send a guy off for shooting the ball into the net seconds after the offside whistle. There is a huge elephant in the room and nobody wants to confront it. It is time for fans to unite. The least we deserve is VAR. I just don’t buy this ‘it will slow down the game’ argument. Also, on a side note i know De bruyne injury was bound to happen. Haven’t we seen it before with Eduardo? Luckily for City they spent loads of… Read more »
Doesn’t everyone know that referees are shit?
some are more shit than others…
it’s only a problem because when your team is too…
Two shit teams and a shit referee…
If we played better football we would earn penalties instead if conceding them. Blame Mike Dean for our hopeless football against the likes of West Brom
When a clear penalty incident occurs we still don’t get them called for us… or very rarely. Look back across the last 10+ seasons and we always end the season with less penalties than the teams around us despite us trying to play a quick passing game where we should probably get more than those teams around us.
a troll – how original, your parents must be so proud. What a life commenting on another football clubs blog – is it a rewarding life?
And if Petr Cech had just stood still when the penalty kick was made, Dean would have looked even more of a ridiculous twat than he actually is – and that’s almost unimaginable..Let’s do Chelski good – even with key players out injured.
Don’t see how Cech’s ability to save a penalty has anything to do with Mike Dean’s biased / incorrect officiating. He should be nowhere near an Arsenal or Spu*s game. 2 points robbed. Not the first time this season.
There were two stone wallers towards the end v Man U as well….. waved away
Is Wenger accusing the referees of being corrupt?
Looks like he is. The thing is that he has a point. Numbers don’t lie and it can’t all of it be a coincidence. That’s why we will not see VAR any time soon, imo.
Mike Dean – 18 years as an Premier League referee – he has outlasted every single player in the league (except from Gareth Barry). The PGMOL has not found a better ref in almost 2 decades. despite Dean being demoted several times. the PGMOL is a limited company set up by the Premier League – my guess is to keep liability to a minimum. The FA and PGMOL have refused technology for almost 20 years. The FA and PGMOL is self regulated – name me another billion pound industry that is self regulates and hasn’t been involved in some sort… Read more »
Best comment i have seen on here in a while, completely agree with all of the above. I particularly enjoyed the last question about accountability, raises some interesting points.