Arsenal may not have deserved to win at Newcastle but defeat thanks to a controversial second half winner fuelled a sense of injustice that the manager carried into the post-game press conference and beyond.
While the manager couldn’t hide his disappointment at the quality of the officiating, there were other talking points he and a few others touched on at St James’ Park.
Mikel Arteta on his side’s performance
I have no regrets with what the players have tried to do, the way they have performed. We will continue to do that but we cannot be in the hands of other people with the amount of work that we put in and the amount of effort that goes in, how much is at stake in a game for a football club and everything that is behind us. It is not good enough and we cannot accept that, I’m sorry.
Source: Arsenal.com
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Eddie Howe on his side’s win…
A massive win for us, a massive performance from the players. So, so pleased with them. A really tough game, it always is against Arsenal, both teams made it a battle. It maybe wasn’t the game we prepared for, a lot of physical play in midfield, a lot of duels but I thought the players did really well physically. It’s a massive win. It’s a bizarre moment [the goal] because the ball goes in and you usually have a feeling for whether the VAR is going to get involved, my initial feeling was that it wouldn’t but then I saw the referee’s reaction and I thought, “Oh, we could be in trouble here.” I didn’t expect three separate checks, I don’t know how tight the calls were but we’re delighted the goal was given.
Source: nufc.co.uk
0 – Arsenal have failed to score in all competitions for the first time this season (17th game). Newcastle were also the first team to stop the Gunners from scoring in the Premier League last term (0-0 in January). Curtailed. pic.twitter.com/eMpu2pgFn3
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 4, 2023
David Raya on Newcastle’s goal…
My point of view is I saw the ball going out of play. I think it is a foul on Gabriel, he [Joelinton] pushes him on the back and the decision was it wasn’t a foul. I don’t think it was supposed to go that way. And in my opinion it was offside. We are very, very disappointed.
Source: Arsenal.com
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Mikel Arteta on Odegaard’s injury…
We don’t know, we have to assess that but that’s not the topic for now.
Source: Sky Sports
I feel SICK & ASHAMED! 🤬
Mikel Arteta EXPLODES on VAR 💥
🔗 https://t.co/xUCsH5gkIc pic.twitter.com/SQwDHzz0Pw
— Hayters TV (@HaytersTV) November 4, 2023
Anthony Gordon on the game…
I think it was a great game, two top teams trying to win it and today was our day. As far as the VAR is concerned, I was just praying. I didn’t know what was going on. I was just really happy it got approved.
Source: nufc.co.uk
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Jamie Carragher on David Raya’s role in the Newcastle goal…
Let’s not get lost in all the VAR stuff. The Arsenal goalkeeper has again made another massive mistake. This is a massive problem for Mikel Arteta, it’s a huge problem. Again, he’s made the same mistake in huge game as he did at Chelsea. He hasn’t got away with it. He’s telling his players to get out but watch him now, he keeps edging and edging forward and when the ball leaves his [Willock’s] foot, he’s outside his near post. This is a recurring theme with this goalkeeper. He finds himself out of position and can’t reach.
Source: Sky Sports
Total BS! PGMOL is a crucible of unprofessional clowns. Makes it difficult to take the Premier League seriously.
Get rid of these clowns and save the integrity of this league.
If only they would! I can accept being outplayed or outscored properly. But losing like this? Disgrace is the word. Unworthy moment in the so called “best” league in the world.
But Gary Neville believed out was the right decision every time! Are you saying ser Gary is on the take? Well I am, Gary Neville for sure is paid money by the fossil fuel interests (like the rest of them).
It*
Gary Neville will say whatever he thinks will get him the most attention because he’s a talentless hack placed in a job purely because of who he is, not his aptitude or ability.
I mean, ball was probably out, definitely pushed in the back, and 1000% offside, but goal. Anyone who says the EPL is not crooked is a fucking clown. #OilOwnsFootball
The most vile and dubious officiating I’ve seen in recent years…..what does Newcastle have to do for their players to be sent off? There’s a reason Rugby is a separate sport….Naaaa…. brings the whole integrity of the premier League to question
These clowns in congress, sorry pgmol, are at it again… and it’s making the league unwatchable. The inevitability of bad decisions made out of incompetence or purely to cover for a colleague (sounds a lot like cops hmm), makes the game less enjoyable to watch. I wasn’t even mad yesterday, just left bewildered that 3 ‘professionals’ in a booth with multiple high definition, high speed cameras, cannot see what I saw on the TV screen live from halfway around the world. Insanity. It’s damaged the brand and made the league a joke. I’m rapidly losing interest in watching.
Football needs to go the rugby way. The communication of the officials needs to be broadcast to everyone in the stadium. That will make them more transparent and avoid making stupid decisions.
Didn’t realise I was watching UFC Newcastle. How Bruno didn’t get a red for the elbow he threw I’ll never understand
Dana White drawing up a contract for Bruno as we speak
Lol Dana white is so awful I wouldn’t wish him on anyone.
Bruno is protected by UAE money. They own the refs now so Bruno can do what he wants. He’ll eventually kill someone and fuck the corpse but it’ll be a yellow card at the most.
Saudi, maybe?
Agreed but I don’t think we could have really argued if Havertz stupid tackle(s) had brought a red card. A ref may have considered Bruno forearm smash to be a yellow – VAR cannot award yellow cards. VAR is a massive liability but if it wasn’t there at all remember it was the ref who gave the goal anyway so no change. (Ask Wolves how they feel!) I was one of the dinosaurs who was against VAR at all as I felt officials would rely on it too much. Our problem is that tv coverage now highlights every little thing… Read more »
Havertz’s tackle, while a bit wild and dangerous, was much more a commonly called yellow. Trailing leg, foot was low at contact, no studs. Newcastle deserved their yellows for being pissy about something the league sees week-in, week-out.
An intentional forearm/elbow to the head -off the ball- is always a violent conduct red. Clearly stated on the laws of the game. It wasn’t ‘negligible contact’ – it knocked his head forward, and that would be a spurious excuse at best for allowing what was, undeniably, intended violent conduct.
The VAR was clearly ludicrous, but if David Raya wasn’t completely in the wrong position (again) for the cross, all of the ensuing madness is completely avoided. He looks fine against the weaker teams, but seems to make bad errors every time the stakes are high.
Yes. I think the situation has now created two goalkeepers that don’t look up to it. Attitude or not, neither look as good as Martinez that we let go after waiting years for a match.
While I agree with the sentiment about our 2 keepers, I think Martinez isn’t as competent as either, and his attitude is utter shite.
Agreed! Not sure when I state this the thumbs down brigade come marching?
I’ve never understood keepers going for floated crosses like that with 1 hand anyway cause at most, they’ll tip it on to the head of any oncoming attacker, if he goes with 2 hands then he catches it & all we’re talking about is how Bruno wasn’t sent off & not everything else
that’s raya, now he hides behind the var, if you could simply catch the cross, there won’t be any VAR controversy….
I’m not too interested in assessing blame here, but it seems to me that letting Joe Willock chase down the ball without anyone near him and then letting him put in the cross with absolutely no pressure was the real mistake, not Raya’s positioning. Even if it looked like the ball was going out (which indeed it may have done), you can’t defend that way once he takes possession. I think that was Ben White’s fault, if finger-pointing is required. Two games in a row, for a player I like a lot.
Raya is to blame but so is the back line. They all switched completely off when the ball was rolling away. They didn’t play to the whistle, Raya panicked because he was the only one in the entire defence with his head in the game, and by the time White started running out towards Wilson it was too little too late. You can’t just assume the attacker won’t get to a ball in time, especially not in a big game. Whole defence culpable not just Raya.
Obviously these refs go on officiating jollies to UAE so it makes perfect sense for them to give the UAE’s PL team all the leniency and some. What is anyone going to do about it? Nothing I reckon. They answer to no one so they can do what they want and us fans can like it or lump it.
Corruption of this sort always bets on people being too attached to the source to actually follow through with ‘lumping it’. Probably true in this case as well. I love the game but it’s hard to watch Sunday league refereeing throughout the league week in week out. Used to try to give these Prem refs the benefit of the doubt but no more. PGMOL is a clown car. Corrupt and incompetent.
Also, to make things worse, it is not just the refs. Lots of the media, commentators and corporations with the “loudest voice* have the same vested interests as the refs and do not therefore scrutinise them as much as they should.
All brought to you by fossil fuels ladies and gentlemen. The same people that brought you the climate crisis, economic inequity, housing crisis, rapid global inflation, geopolitical instability, and corrupt governments (lobbying is corruption). But hey, keep watching because we’ll fuck you over again next week.
would be nice, unfortunatly i don‘t believe it…
If you’re going to have a conspiracy theory, you should at least get it right. Newcastle are owned by the Saudis, not the UAE. Or, you could say that massive incompetence, not conspiracy, is the culprit. For years now, I have heard about how we never get penalties because the referees are bent. Now we are getting a lot of penalties, and I’ve heard no conspiracy theory that explains that.
Sorry gents, last point, I promise. The good news from all of this is the quality of our defense. We are rickety and unconvincing going forward this year (I think it’s only a matter of time before Rice and Odegaard work out a long term offensive vibe together in midfield which will solve that problem), but our defensive structure is very strong this year. The good news is it took healthy doses of either corruption, incompetence, or both for the league to get a loss on our record. If it takes that much to beat us I take that as… Read more »
Don’t forget the Kovacic red card against Arsenal that was never given.
Arteta should have put his food down then and there.
It is not just the decisions against Arsenal. For example, if Rhodri got a red card against Liverpool last season, that could easily have been enough for us to win the title. His suspension this season shows how much they depend on him.
But maybe if we had not lost stupid point against West Ham, Southampton, Nottingham, it would have been enough for us. Come on. Is that really going to be a thing? City had been done at Old Trafford with Bruno’s goal. Still, they complained on the day, then just waited for us to bottle it. Erik Ten Hag cried at the Emirates. For the angle of the offside (which is not crazy), and the block on Johnny Evans for Rice goal which prove to be the winner. Liverpool cried too. But then the week after, said nothing when Konate escaped… Read more »
months go by and nothing change. the best league of the world’s most popular sport, a shit ton of cameras and people watching them, and they still can’t get things right. it goes beyond football and truly hurts me how people can be so damn useless. players dedicating their lives to get to the peak performance required to play in the pl, teams spending dozens of millions of pounds to be competitive, and some bald guy ruins everything. disgusting. hope teams get together and do something
There was a replay on the swedish broadcast a bit later in the game that clearly shows the ball touching the arm of Joelinton as he pushed Gabriel.. should’ve been four VAR checks.
Bojan, who I’ve found an ever louder gobshite for some time now, was spot on with his assessment on the VAR debacle yesterday.
To be clear, in below, I am not having a go at the team or at Arteta. I supported Arteta even when we were 8th, just in case some think otherwise and still do. Normally enjoy just reading the comments here and don’t comment as much as others…but its getting a bit worrying now, so my two cents(or may be 1/2 a cent by the time you read this due to inflation) Feels like Arteta is making some major mistakes too early in his management trajectory. Ignoring the VAR, Bruno foul etc(posters here have already covered it), the basics are… Read more »
good to see your post again @meletios. A bit long but a good read and genuine points made.
Agreed.
Sorry, but what do you expect? Newcastle are a very good team. You expected is to thrash them on their turf? IMO this was a really strong performance by arsenal. We were the better team, we bossed most of the game, we went close but they’re very strong defensively. Take the worst decision in football away… Oh and a blatant red from Bruno and it’s at least a draw. I’ll shout out to havertz here too. I’ve been on his bit IMO this was his best arsenal game and after rice and Saliba he was our best player. Raya did… Read more »
Agree, this is what I saw as well.
Daveo… for most part I feel like we are saying the same thing and for the rest, its more likely that my post may be failed to articulate things in a better way. As in my prev comment, I *did state that its* ignoring the var and missed red card as its already discussed much more aptly and extensively by other fans here. To your question though, agreed…yes I did not expect us to go there and be all attack , we cant, I realise that, but here are few more points, since you ask.. Over the games in this… Read more »
Very correct
Good points.
Jamie Carragher on the gruesome murder scene: Let’s not focus on the murdered guy or the fact he was robbed, he’s wearing an expensive watch and even last year he forgot his wife’s birthday
And he’s foreign… and not from a country that’s owns us.
Did the ref go and check on VAR TV? He should if it is this controversial.
Nah, a word from his mate at Stratford is all it takes to complete disregard the rules of the game and completely ruin the reputation of the league.
All he needed was “20,000 in the bank and 2 weeks in Riyadh for a goal” in his earpiece and it was decided.
Fans got together to protest the Super League, perhaps it’s time to protest PGMOL.
PGMOL needs to be run out of town. Tarred and feathered.
I won’t focus on losing points, because that or vice versa can happen in many games. I’ll stick to this year’s performances in the creative field. These are far inferior to last season, at least until April. The team lags in creating clear (collective) chances in open play and relies or expects most on individual player inventions (Saka, Martineli, Jesus, Ode). Timing is also lacking, leading to either slow pace or mistakes because some runs or actions of the one who will deliver the final pass or the receiver are made out of time. Certainly some absences (Partey, Jesus, Ode,… Read more »
“Never mind VAR not doing its job and never mind the corrupt refs taking bribes from UAE. It’s all Raya’s fault.”
Carragher
All just to cover up how bent the league is. Absolutely disgraceful.
agree with Carragher, if raya could do the most basic task of a keeper…. to catch the pass, there won’t be any controversies… now he is hiding behind the var, and not admit that he keep making mistakes, in every single match, and that manager? he just blind
It’ll be interesting to see if Mikel gets a tap on the shoulder after his post-match comments.
Notwithstanding the VAR fiasco, the defence and goalkeeper were poor in dealing with Willock’s cross.
Another observation. It was open season on Saka and not so much as a yellow,,, Bruno forearm smash and not even a yellow; but as soon as Havertz dishes out an old fashioned reducer, the ref wastes no time.
The purchases last year were required to bring the team to a higher level…. I feel we have gone out this year and purchased similar level players, ie they are not really improving our first XI any more but are paid too much… I doubt we will be able to shift Havertz, Raya, Vieira, Cedric again due to their high wages! I think Arteta has been running thru his credit in the bank with the fans too much this season. We can all get on board with the team winning but as soon as it starts losing, the less watchable… Read more »
PGMOL is rotten to the core and not fit for purpose. We can all agree on this and the first club to properly stand up and take them to court about decisions that cost £M’s will get applauded by me.
However, let’s also remember that our manager created a GK problem where there was none. It was yet another howler from Raya on the goal (obviously not just his fault) and if the manager has any decency or common sense, Ramsdale should be back in for a while.
We’re going to need 2 keepers now this summer, too… ramsdale disgruntled, and rightly so, and Raya not good enough. So let’s add that to our needs of a striker and 2 midfielders… going to be an expensive summer.
bring back Ramsdale
Wonder at what point we stop reffering to these deliberate outcomes ‘refereeing errors’ and call them for what they are. Match-fixing.