Mikel Arteta went on the rampage in his post-game press conference unable to disguise his fury at the fact the officials allowed Newcastle United’s winning goal to stand.
VAR checked Anthony Gordon’s winner for three separate offences but decided to award the goal with no conclusive evidence that the ball had gone out of play in the build-up or that there had been a foul or offside.
We suspect he’ll end up with a pretty significant fine from the authorities but there won’t be many Arsenal supporters who disagree with the manager’s words.
On the result…
We have to talk about the result because we have to talk about how the hell this goal stands. It’s incredible. I feel embarrassed but I have to be the one now coming here to try to defend the club and please ask for help because it’s an absolute disgrace that this goal is allowed. It’s an absolute disgrace.
On why it’s a disgrace…
Because it’s not a goal. For many reasons, it’s not a goal. For more than one reason at least, it’s not a goal. And it’s too much a stake here. We put so much effort in. It’s so difficult to compete at this level. And it’s an absolute disgrace. Again, I feel embarrassed. I’ve been more than 20 years in this country and this is nowhere near the level to describe this as the best league in the world. I am sorry.
On the officials not having the necessary angles…
The makes it even worse. Even worse. It makes it even worse. You just need to see one image and it’s “c’est fini”. And if you have any doubt, you look at the second one, and if this is a goal…okay, that’s fine.
On there not being the necessary camera angles…
I don’t care, honestly. I don’t care what they say. It’s the outcome. It’s too late. Whatever they say is too late. I don’t want to be in the hands of people.
On the Havertz and Bruno Guimaraes incidents being talking points…
Yeah, and the penalty on Eddie, and there is a lot of things. We can continue.
On whether he thought the ball was out, if it was a foul or an offside…
This is really the question, guys? The question is, it’s not a goal. It’s simple. It’s not a goal. Simple. Because for a goal to be allowed, there are certain things prior to that, that the ball hits one meter from the goal that are not allowed in football. In here, in China, in Japan, in Spain, in Italy and in Portugal. They are not allowed. That’s what happens.
On an apology from officials not being much use…
[It means] Nothing, I have to stand here now and explain. And we lost three points today, guys. You know what that means? It’s too hard, this league. It’s too hard. It’s too much at stake. It’s embarrassing.
On how the players are…
I have to praise them. It’s not in their hands. It’s not in their control. I have to praise the players the way they play here. And what they did and how much they limited Newcastle to what they did and how much we tried. It’s incredible, honestly.
On Saliba’s performance…
It’s incredible the way this guy played with 20, 21-year-olds and the way he played here, the way they competed against this team because they’re a top team. It’s incredible so to get the outcome of the game like this, I feel sick That’s how I feel. I feel sick to be part of this.
We’ve got super sick arteta!
this is the single best thing since the goal today, thank you.
Instantly laughed out loud! 😅 For that, i thank you good sir! 👏🏾
Brilliant. I want this to ring out at the ground.
So a suspension coming for Arteta for telling the truth…
For Mikel to come out with this he knows it’s more than honest mistakes. This is groundbreaking. It’ll be interesting to see how the Premier League/Sky spin machine hit back.
There needs to be an investigation into the Prem like there has been on Serie A in the past. Corrupt to the core.
For too long Mikel has sat there in silence, when he has been on the end of some of the worst refereeing decisions I can ever remember seeing. Moving forward, he needs to come out and call it out for what it is, Klopp does it, and now gets to pick whichever referee he likes to come and referee the Liverpool matches. To go away to Newcastle and lose to that goal, in a game like tonight, is absolutely fucking scandalous. If you watch the footage back, the ball was so clearly out of play, literally every single player, including… Read more »
How is it inconclusive? Cannot the offside line check the location of the ball? I don’t get why the company line is “no goal line tech”…
Do you know where the goal line is? It’s not by the corner flag.
This has to be one of worst decision i’ve ever seen , the VAR need to be sack and as for the ref what can i say absolutely a shocker of a ref . Im f*#kn outraged smashed my fucking tele with my f$%kn phone after that disgraceful decision . Sorry doesnt compensate our team and if anything Arteta will get fine for speaking out its despicable .
Attwell lost control of that game from minute one. Burn kicking Saka 5/6/7 times with no consequences, Bruno steaming around like a bull in a china shop & throwing elbows/forearms like his employed by Dana White but only picking up a yellow on 88 because Attwell knew he wouldn’t have a reason to send him off that late & as for Madley stuffing his face with Domino’s at Stockley Park, Bruno didn’t see red because he “didn’t use his arm as a weapon”….I’m sorry WHAT?!? Do that on the street & you’d be arrested for assault! Fucking jokers the whole… Read more »
Probably will face a touchline ban for this but he’s just put into words what all of us are feeling. My gaffer.
Absolutely. This is how I exactly feel right now. Arteta have been very very restrained for a long long time against these decisions. Accepting apologies and excuses from this incompetent/corrupt cunts. If people don’t speak up or protest, this will never change. Fucking canceling my peocock subscription for a month here in the US and watch on illegal streams for this month.
And reason for cancellation, I will write how I don’t want to watch any more PL games because of this controversial decisions.
I think I am doing the same, cancelling my subscription as I can’t take investing myself emotionally into the outcome of a match of this signficance and having the incompetent and corrupt officials dictate the outcome of the game. The points stolen, be they 2 or 3, matter to the tune of millions. We played a solid away game in a tough stadium, and a point would have been admirable — but don’t forget that this team of ours is now well known for controlling the match, giving up very little, and nicking the late winner away from home. It… Read more »
We should have closed Willock down though. Dude chased the ball down, almost stumbled, had enough time to steady himself, ran all the way to the edge of the box and picked out a cross, and all along and we had no red shirt close to him.
That was also embarrassing.
I thought Joe Willock was brilliant in the way he beat two spectators before crossing the ball for the Newcastle goal and they were two rows back.
must have still thought he was on our team?
The only tenable excuse tbh
This is great. Love Mik
MA using PGMOL as a scapegoat for his shit tactics and his shit squad management. Had we an ounce of creativity today we would of won easily.
Talking out of your arse mate.less verbal Diarrhoea hey?
If the truth is considered verbal diarrhea, then I’ll do more of it
We played a ucl club to a nil nil draw away and should have been 11 v 10 for 60 minutes. Do one
idiots will see Arteta drag this squad from a mishmash of poor characters to being able to properly compete with an oiled-up Newcastle at St James’ Park, get done by a series of terrible refereeing decisions, and say “shit tactics, shit squad management”. like are you even trying to be a supporter? have you ever considered what “support” even means? yeah we lacked creativity today and that’s at least partly on MA but what about the solid defense, solid midfield, fight in the team, injuries as caveat etc.? No that was just “magic” and MA is only responsible for the… Read more »
We actually spend more money on transfers than Newcastle in recent seasons. Our squad definitely look better on paper. Then we ended up with a performance like this. Shouldn’t we be looking at the manager for answers?
It’s the only thing he knows how to talk out of.
Literally you’re pathetic
You sad little man
Look at the game stats. Add the fact this is the first game (out of 17) that we haven’t scored this season. Add the fact we have lost one in 11 and realise this is title challenging form.
I do feel decisions should lean more towards allowing goals. But the Bruno elbow is a straight red for sure. It reminds me of that Rooney one all those years ago.
Yeah he is a cunt. Actually they both are
What’s worse about that Bruno “challenge” is Andy Madley told the ref he “didn’t use his arm as a weapon & it was a yellow at most” well what the fuck is throwing your forearm/elbow into the back of an unsuspecting victims head then if it’s not to use it as a weapon? Then theres the non existent yellow for him also kicking a dead ball at Dec for zero reason, kicking the ball away after the whistle is a yellow so why isn’t it one for deliberately kicking it at an opponent? So Bruno did all that to only… Read more »
I’m sure everybody remembers Van Persie’s second yellow vs Barca for kicking the ball 0,00001 seconds after the whistle. How those butchers ended the game with 11 on the pitch is an insult to everyone who has eyes.
It’s not even just last night though, Alvarez & Paqueta kicked the fuxk out of anyone in a hi-vis shirt on Wednesday & all they got was a laugh & a joke with the ref. Bruno was literally BEGGING the ref to send him off. Said to my mate that if the elbow/forearm was first season Xhaka then Sky would’ve been calling for him to be banned for life
We’ve had far too many dodgy PGMOL and VAR decisions and Mikel is saying what needs to be said. The Premier League is bent, PGMOL is bent. I don’t care if we played well or not, when the opposition is allowed to assault our players without any punishment and VAR can’t find any problem with that goal, there’s something seriously wrong.
Yep. People cheat in athletics and cycling all the time for no money at all compared to the PL – the cleanest sport on earth where you can earn £500k a week. Ok guys. Ok.
Why even play the games? This was wired for Prince Bonesaw from the first kick. How can the Saudis pay EPL refs for anything? The league has no integrity with the PGMOL so corrupt. Just give the Cup to the highest bidder and get it over with.
I might also be missing the point about the rules of the game but how were they checking a tight offside call without drawing lines? And I call it right though Gordon looks well ahead of Raya and secondly doesn’t it come off Joelington’s hand or hands? Possible handball in an attacking phase wasn’t considered conveniently?
They said they didn’t have the angle to see it, even though Gordon clearly moves backwards to get the ball. SMH.
The ball was out of play before Willock plays it back in.
It’s there for EVERYONE to see on the Sky broadcast. That should have been enough to suffice disallowing the goal.
And then super cunt himself, fucking Neville, has the front to try and tell us that there’s “insufficient evidence.”
Utter bollocks.
how lucky are we to have a manager that defends our club like this and represents what we all arsenal fans think? at this point, what we all premier league fans think… refereing is absolutely nowhere near the level required. something has to drastically change.
He’s spot on with regards to the goal and VAR. However we didn’t do enough to get 3 points either. So I would say it cost us 1 point vs 3 points. Still unacceptable that the goal stood.
Well if VAR did it’s job Bruno would have been sent off and rightfully so. That red changes the entire game and the way it’s played from that point on.
Everyone gets bad VAR decisions. Imagine if we were Wolves fans. They get one or two inexplicably bad ones every week. Bottom line is we didn’t deserve anything more when we only managed to get one shot on target.
Fans only complain about bent/incompetent officiating when they lose. That doesn’t mean it isn’t happening constantly.
It’s been happening since VAR started. The only difference is when MA was at Man City all those calls went to them.
That’s bollocks.
To be luckier than a really unlucky team is not a bar we should feel privileged to have hurdled, John.
I haven’t seen a replay but was Eddie yanked to the floor in the first half. Is that the pen he’s talking about?
Oh pleaseeeeeeeee.enough BS mate.VAR & the ref screwed us over.Stop defending the inexcusable.
newcastle only got a point last week because var gave them 2 assists.
We deserved a point – because the game, as it played out, should have finished 0-0.
That wasn’t a goal but a clear example of the corruption that is slowly but surely killing this league.
Kudos to Arteta for calling them all out for the cowardly corrupt cunts that they are.
john, this sort of talk doesn’t excuse the poor officiating standards- that it happens to everyone doesn’t make it correct in any way, shape, or form. universal incompetence of match officials who make up rules as they go along is simply not good enough for the most watched sporting league in the world.
Name another profession or league where officials do not call blatant fouls and are allowed to continue reffing games. The PGMOL is bent, has been for a long time. The most obvious answer is most often the correct answer. No one is that bad at their job.
Right behind him, all the way. It was never a goal. An absolute disgrace. Now watch him get fined and suspended for having the guts and bravery to state what Neville and the rest of the cowardly cunts on Sky couldn’t bring themselves to say – in spite of the ‘inconclusive evidence’ staring them all right on the fucking face. Fellow Gooners, this is NOT the time to get on the team’s back or the manager’s back. This is a time where we ALL stand together as Arsenal Football Club. We pull up the drawbridge and say fuck them all… Read more »
Bless your heart, Q. This is the spirit.
Inspiring. Agree 100 %.
Brilliant. Rally round the cannon flag you fuckers, we’re taking on all comers. Fuck the PGMOL, UP THE ARSENAL!!!
We finally got the Mikel I’ve hoped and prayed for on a day like this! Enough of the niceties!!! Fuck VAR, Fuck Stuart Idiotwell!! Fuck the FA and their fucking ban!!
The Bruno Gruimares elbow on Jorginho is just completely nuts. How can it not be a red? It’s violent conduct and it’s clearly premeditated!
Apparently, it was because it was a forearm smash not an elbow. Everybody knows forearms aren’t violent, no matter what you do with them.
I can’t wait for IFAB to stand up for themselves in the face of such incompetence with a tweet: “@PGMOL You pedantic idiots…”
Because Madley in the VAR reckons he “didn’t use it as a weapon”…oh so Jorgi’s head just got in the way of his flailing arm them did it Andy?
It gets to the point when every week the talk is about poor refereeing decisions and VAR.
I can only come to the conclusion that referees are either incompetent or corrupt.
Football should be about football and not about the cretins that “referee” the games.
The FA and PGMOL is not fit for purpose.
its starting to feel like the refereeing scandals are baked into the spectacle.
You’re absolutely right, it feels like the Prem is more and more like our American big-time wrestling. This scandal is going to get more clicks and more lines written.. it really does seem like they’re doing it on purpose now. It’s unfortunate, because the players are so good and so fun to watch.. but this league is a joke
In the swedish studio they echoed what you said and totally thrashed the match officials, even saying “these guys protect each other”.
When the host asked “would you like to have VAR in the swedish league” the answer couldn’t have been more clear: “No, but we know UEFA will probably force it upon us”.
It’s really incredibly sad that we don’t discuss the footballing aspects after each game.
No one is that incompetent at their job, the reasons why this keeps happening to all clubs is staring us all in the face. No one wants to consider an investigation for fear of what they will find will hurt the league. Arsene was right all along, they are a disgrace to their federation. Arsene knew.
well done eddy pulis you just got away with what your owners get away with murder
no mention of gummy bears elbow to back of Jorghino head?
the officiating in the premier league is farcical and has damaged the brand beyond repair. every var official today is guilty of gross incompetence not once, not twice, not even three times, but FOUR times on the gifted goal alone.
why are all the reviews seem to be done from one side of the pitch?
Some very Saudi club VAR calls.
Wonder when the last time was that Castle or City got PGMOL issued apologies.
Also, may not have been the case with today’s officials but, because it’s all linked and been bothering me since some very high profile refereeing controversies, i don’t think EPL refs should be allowed to go ref in UAE and return to ref in the Premier league. Obvious conflict of interest. Anybody who says “they’re entitled to go get paid”, yeah they are, so let them do their job over there if they want. Shouldn’t be doing both.
Could be wrong but think I read after the uproar about Oliver going to the UAE for a game that Webb told his officials that they could no longer accept outside bookings during the season to “protect the integrity” of the league. Don’t worry about that Howard, your officials are pretty good at damaging that without fucking off for a mid season jaunt to top up their bank account
Do people understand that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are separate entities? With an increasingly fraught geopolitical relationship?
That said, having independent refs from another country (à la the world cup) come in to do the VAR might be a good idea. I get that refereeing is very difficult but it’s too much of a matey closed shop in England as it stands, and if you had independent external referees you *might* avoid gutless non-decisions like the obvious Guimaraes red. But then there are language issues. The whole situation is a mess, really.
sorry Sterdey, you clearly understand the difference because you said “may not have been the case with today’s officials”, but people seem to not be aware of this distinction. I don’t think any English refs are refereeing in Saudi Arabia.
Not yet. Give it time and mbs will buy pgmol too.
I’ve said for a long time that foreign refs, VAR or on field, need to be implemented in the Premier league. You can still have some high performing English if they are doing their job properly but widening the recruitment pool will keep them honest. We’ve got foreign players, manager, pundits and they all have made the game better. Refs are the worst performing off all those involved at football matches. Raise the standard
I’ve said this elsewhere – but it stands repeating. Can we not expect a minimum, consistent standard of camera angles for the most expensive league of the world’s most popular sport?
Like on all lines for example? There are cameras in the wickets in cricket ffs and those guys don’t have £20 to rub together compared to PL clubs.
Yeah that’s an obvious and easy fix ffs! Eliminate the possibility of “bad angles”. How difficult can it be? Speaks volumes of the level of incompetence.
Clubs should be required to make the necessary changes to stadium architecture to provide the correct camera angles for var and for broadcast. If they are unwilling or unable because of financial constraints, then they can remain at championship level.
The goal isn’t even the most scandalous thing in this match. The most scandalous thing is the VAR’s cowardly dereliction of duty in not referring Guimaraes’ clear red card offense to the on field ref. There is no excuse for it. It isn’t some weird situation. It isn’t a problem of camera angles. It isn’t a question of whether it was “clear and obvious error” not to give the foul. This is something the ref completely missed that is a textbook red card 3 game suspension for violent conduct. You cannot deliberately and with premeditation go up and sidearm someone… Read more »
Oh the classic two wrongs do not make a right.
I think if the three Newcastle players hadn’t got yellows for protesting, the red might have been given. Which, if true (and you can never prove it, would be a subconscious decision etc.) would be a totally unacceptable state of affairs. VAR has demonstrated that many top flight referees are making up the interpretations of the rules as they go along, based on vibes. That’s something you expect from pundits, not referees. I understand that refereeing decisions are subjective, but you need consistency in the subjective judgements. But then Guimaraes’ arm to the head was such an obvious letter-of-the-law red… Read more »
As an unhinged conspiracy theorist please give me proof that I’m wrong. The whole situation with PGMOL and VAR stinks.
You are 100% correct. The only way people are this poor at their jobs would be that they are benefitting from their poor performance. Nothing else explains it.
If taking just 1 shot on goal, having 9 shots blocked because of no urgency, and failing to cover that cross is what makes the boss proud, I’m scared. Fine to back them in public but in private he better be giving them a right bollacking. That was shockingly mediocre all across the pitch.
It was mediocre from both teams, neither deserved to win it. Newcastle set up for a point from about the 30 minute mark when the early backing from the locals didn’t heed a goal & we seemed like we weren’t prepared for that so if we were sat here after a 0-0 then neither fan base could complain about the result
There were some v bad refereeing calls, both VAR and on-pitch, and mostly in Newcastle’s favour. The ball looked out for the goal – the linesman should’ve called it. You can’t 100% tell from the video angle though. However, that doesn’t excuse us having a lame attack (1 shot on goal all game) and misfiring midfield, and a goalie who’s out of position flapping about. Arteta’s timing of subs was poor. He persists with Raya, Eddie, Saka etc when they are having a poor game. Sideways, slow passing, even after 90th minute. Even with the noisy home crowd at Newcastle… Read more »
I also feel sick. Our defense was incredible. Our offense pathetic. I feel sick we spent 60 million on havertz who does nothing except, as some people like to point out, makes good runs hilarious. Sure, the refs were terrible. But they ate terrible in every match and probably paid off by MBS.
But we are arsenal football club yet we have no strikers who can actually score goals. That means if saka or martinelli can’t get by their defenders we are useless. Did we ever look like scoring. Nope.
It’s time to accept the facts. These dictators are the ones that run the premiere league. Man city has how many infractions and nothing is done. MBS pays refs loads of cash and because they don’t want to jeopardize that they ignore out of play and fouls. Fair enough the onfield ref missed it. But VAR is a joke. Just do away with it. Give each manager a certain amount of challenges which when thrown the onfield ref has to go to the monitor to decide.
Bent refs and the PGMOL who answers to nobody. Except when they and their VAR mates (retired refs) hand job each other at the end of divide up the backhanders party.
Yes 🤝 count me in
When the refereeing is as bad as it is now the managers should be able to speak up and criticise. Why should referees be immune to criticism when they are so fucking awful at their job and the PGMOL is as corrupt as fuck. Referees should NOT be earning pocket money in Saudi Arabia and still refereeing games for Saudi owned clubs here, Total conflict of interest and very suspect.
mas cancel sky, make sure they know the reason
mas boycott of Premier league sponsors, make sure they know its because we don’t support corruption.
that’s what it is.
one or two howlers of decisions a, season abs it could be incompetence.
this, it is not that
I actually think the Guimares incident was worse than the goal. It’s a straight red. They didn’t even review it. How the f*^% is that?
He didn”t go hard enough on them. The refereeing body should be embarrassed for what they did.