After being sent off in the 3-1 defeat to Rennes last night, Sokratis says that he doesn’t blame the referee before blaming the referee for issuing what he believed were ‘easy’ yellow cards.
The Greek defender suggested that VAR would have prevented him from being red-carded, and admitted that his departure changed the game.
Speaking to the Evening Standard, he said, “I don’t criticise the referee but maybe if the VAR is coming, it can help. He can make mistakes, like we can.
“I think the referee give me two easy yellow cards. Both were too easy. The first, I didn’t touch him and the second is too easy, you know?
“It is better if they put in VAR and this helps the referee a little bit more. The decision was very bad.”
Like Petr Cech though, he’s sure that the Gunners can turn it around in the second leg, where just a 2-0 win would see us through.
“With BATE we had to score two goals and now if we score two goals, we are there and I think that we have the team and the power in our home to do it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Unai Emery refused to be critical of the former Borussia Dortmund man’s sending off, saying, “Sokratis has very good commitment, he has very good behaviour and he received two yellow cards in two actions of playing.”
Papa is going to see his ban increased after speaking honestly about uefa. They really hate criticism.
You know, I’ve been against the away goals rule for so long because I think it’s just a ridiculous way of deciding these huge matches… But it’s almost justifying itself in situations like this where it seems the ref is happy to bend to the will of the home fans.
Only Man U fan love away goal rule especially in the PSG game.
I agree with Papa, it was a harsh red overall. But, it’s also true he might have been a tad more circumspect after the
first yellow.
One of those things for a combative CB,
and we should have managed it better after he went off.
I read that VAR was to be used in all CL & EL knock outs games this season, is this not the case?
Yes it’s a harsh second yellow, but he can’t put himself in that kind of position to allow the referee to make a call like that.
It’s easy to be critical retrospectively when a card is given. I’d argue that Koscielny’s 50/50 jostling for the ball in the box later in the game was as reckless but nothing will be said… because he wasn’t carded.
The ref was conned and Papa was actually knocked off balance. It was never a second yellow.
Yes, the ref was a bit whistle happy in my opinion.
Thought it was pretty obvious that the most minor of infringements was going to get called up…
I love Papa but he should have gotten a yellow when he kneed their player in the tailbone.
Good way to deflect the blame. You let down your team by being reckless.
The standard of what is acceptable in this club should be higher.
Don’t understand why he’s getting downvotes. We fans are so hot and cold, if this was Mustafi getting a red everyone would curse and belittle him till they would be able to breathe.
Sokratis may feel aggrieved at being sent off but he must apologize to his team and fans because it was a situation we could have avoided and he was rash
Stop attacking your own. It’s not about who did it.
If Mustafi had gotten that soft of a second yellow I’d be cursing the ref for that just as much with this one. Sarr ran into his back and picked his feet up. Sokratis didn’t even have a chance to get his arm in front of him. It was such a poor call.
It has to do with a pattern of behaviour. Sokratis has been immense this season and is clearly our leader at the back. He’s been mostly solid, whereas Mustafi has been a liability now for 18 months. That’s why you’re getting down voted.
U need to buy a VAR at your home..so that u can watch it over and over again..
Loooool
The guy who fell, knew Sokratis was already on a yellow, and decided to fall after taking a heavy touch. The yellow was without a doubt, a poor decision from the referee. Making a point against the club you supposedly support (im guessing thats why youre on this forum), doesnt make you come across as more objective.
So true. I think people are too critical about yesterday. Auba was not offside, the sending off was a joke. It should habe been 2:0. Yes, we should have played better with 10 men. But it’s not that easy 10 against 12.
Dude you are all fools downvoting me. If Sokratis made the challenge knowing the other guy was gonna flop then he’s a bigger fool than I previously gave him credit for. What sane person goes and puts their head purposely under the executioners blade? Sokratis made a rash decision and he comes forth with stupid excuses. The opposition player was cunning to play him okay, then where is your experience to read that and avoid getting sent off for the team? Braindead idiot Sokratis. Can’t wait to get rid of the lot of these players so we can build a… Read more »
But seriously, as Emery had left him on the pitch after he was carded the first time then he was pretty much forced to actually, you know, play as a defender. Would not defending at that point have been seen as good play because he was on a yellow? Not if Rennes had scored because Sokratis backed off..
Wish he’d keep his mouth shut, we don’t want his ban extended.
He made 2/3 yellow card worthy fouls in a short space of time- he has to accept and learn from it
Well said.
No he didn’t.
To me it seemed to be a strategy by them to fall over for everything. The Premier League refs would have taken a different view (like the inconsistent one we had on Sat) from the European ref. Hopefully VAR will improve on the situation, not expecting to resolve fully. I like VAR, despite the amount of time it takes sometimes to get to a decision. There is too much riding on the results these days, that it matters. The value of the 2 points the ref costs us on Sat we’ll know at the end of the season. All during… Read more »
I hope they never review things like that. It will turn into the NFL. I thought both Champion’s League uses of VAR (that I saw–I guess there was another in Porto’s match) were awful. A long delay to decide whether a ball went out for a throw in the buildup to a goal–impossible to tell, which should have ended the review immediately. And a long delay to decide a game-deciding handball–again, the review did not settle the argument, could not settle the argument, so it should have ended immediately. Neither of these decisions involved a “clear” mistake where VAR settles… Read more »
It reminded me of the Man Utd team during the Beckham years. They’d get 25 yards out and then drop like a stone. Up stepped Beckham to score the free kicks.
I said after 10 minutes that they were playing for the free kicks and they got a bonus when the weak ref sent off Socrates.
CL knock outs but only the EL final.
VAR that is, in reply to Mesut Oneill.
VAR can’t be used for yellow cards so it would not have made any difference to the decision on Sokratis as he got two yellows.
VAR is used to check an incident affecting the play that the ref isn’t sure about, not to decide if the right card was given.
You’re wrong:
What incidents can a VAR intervene for?
Only four – goals, red cards, penalties and mistaken identity.
3 red cards in 3 games. Who says we arent consistent?
Jon Moss is the ref on Sunday… doesn’t he like to send Xhaka off? Be amazed if there isn’t another in that game!!
*3 in 4. There was the home game against BATE.
They’ll struggle at The Emirates because play will be carrying on while half of them are sat on the turf. The ref last night was just a gullible fool. Second half he was better but damage had been done. First half he gave free kicks every time a Rennes player dived or feigned injury.
Crowd pleaser he wanted to be.
A crafty manager would set the tone by mentioning such a practice of diving and attempting to con the ref.
What about the objects being thrown at Xhaka when he was about to take a corner, are UEFA going to do anything about that?
They really should, shouldn’t they? They were doing it all over the place. Saw flares too.
Xhaka should have taken 30 seconds to pick each piece up and put it to the side.
That red was as weak as I’ve seen. Every time the crowd would howl, he would buckle under the pressure. And the amount of times he broke when the whole fucking Rennes team surrounded him! Soft officiating I can take, because all refs are different. But be consistent! Lucas was getting kicked all over the shop today and he was fine with that, but as soon as one of our players ran anywhere near theirs he was happy to blow for a foul or a card. If we get a decent ref, at home, we can overturn the deficit though.… Read more »
Actually, since we will be at home, we want a weak referee–a referee influenced by the home crowd.
Good plan.
Now we just need to find a half-decent home crowd.
That worries me. Rennes seemed very good at working their fans up to a fever pitch so that they were loud and eager to shout for the ref to do something every time one of their own players dived. Is our midweek home crowd really capable of that? We seem more like an audience at the cinema…. all mobile phones and talking to each other through the action. I suspect the Rennes away crowd will out-shout us and influence the ref in the second leg too. We should warm our crowd up with ACDC’s “For Those About To Rock… We… Read more »
…and if they don’t go for “For Those About To Rock…” then they should use ACDC’s “Big Balls” instead. Good singalong song that, and always good for a laugh.
Bad team, bad players showing fake confidence they will go through.
Rennes starting diving from the first minute and, unfortunately, we (and the ref) fell for it.
Astonishing how he got that 2nd yellow. You shouldn’t even have to appeal.
The first two footed tackle was a yellow but the two subsequent yellows were not bookings. He fell and never touched the player. The second we all saw the arm across him and no contact. Awful decisions.
I think Sokratis needs to take some responsibility here. He made 3 bad tackles, was punished for 2 and was shown the second yellow. As a senior player he should know how to compose himself better here. If he stays on the pitch and doesn’t commit the 3rd foul, we don’t concede a goal just before half time and are not left to ride it out for 50+ minutes with a stretched back line and a midfield that seemingly can’t be bothered to track back. It’s then a very different game. But, as is now tradition in European games, we… Read more »
Sokratis was an idiot on the night. End of. Don’t get people defending him, just no logic in that kind of talk. His experience should have told him that he’s vulnerable as he was already on a yellow but no he decides to have a wrestling game with the dude. Then bear the consequences you fool!
If it were Mustafi, the narrative would be “he has cost ys the season”
If it’s Sokratis it’s “Emery failed to deal with aftermath of red”
Sokratis has Sokratis it up. He has been guilty of hands all over the place in the box before, a boutique 9f Greco-Roman Roman wrestling. But then the same fans who would castigated Mustafi for being over aggressive would say the Greek is being robust. I said it before Sokratis if he isn’t careful would coat us under another ref. As much as Unai could have managed it better after, there is no doubt as well that the sending off had an unnecessary impact. We need to be more cynical with opponents and not so naive all the time. You… Read more »
1.00am sat. Just got back from rennes. Drove and got Poole to Cherbourg ferry there and back. 33 mph winds in channel didn’t help. But a rewarding trip nonetheless. ,good stadium, amazing rennes fans, impressive city. BUT, I sat next to a young French guy and his girlfriend both from Paris. His first Arsenal game ever. A French guy supporting the gunners in his home country. He was exstatic to be there. Supporting the arse against Rennes and he even knew the songs. He sang them louder and clearer than most people there. And then that rabble turned up and… Read more »
“Sokratis has very good commitment, he has very good behaviour and he received two yellow cards in two actions of playing.”
I think I prefer “I did not see it”.