Mikel Arteta would have no issues with repeating his weekend rant at refereeing and VAR standards, insisting it’s his “duty” to defend Arsenal.
Arteta was incandescent following the 1-0 loss to Newcastle at the weekend with the decisive goal allowed following three separate VAR checks – for the ball being out of play, a foul and an offside.
The Spaniard went on the offensive in his post-match news conference, labelling the decision to let Anthony Gordon’s goal to stand as an “absolute disgrace” and that he was “embarrassed” by the standards of officiating in the Premier League.
Arsenal subsequently released a statement yesterday, backing Arteta and citing “more unacceptable refereeing and VAR errors” at St James’ Park.
Arteta’s anger had subsided three days later but he was adamant he was doing the best by his club.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League clash against Sevilla, he said: “It is my duty to stand in front of you, to stand in front of the cameras and give a very clear and honest assessment of what happens in the game. This is what I did, reflect very openly how I felt that the team played and how the game was conditioned by this result with the decisions that were made.
“My duty is defending my players, supporting my players, supporting my club, defending my people in the best possible way and this is what I’m going to do time after time. I do it the way I feel with the evidence and being as clear as possible and I always do it. When we play brilliantly, to say that, when we have lost, to take my responsibility, the first one to do it. It’s the way that I am and I have to defend my club.
“When it was that clear and I had all the evidence for the words that I used in the media, it’s because I feel strongly about them. One thing is what I say externally, but internally to my players it’s about how can we play better, how can we be more dominant, how we can do the game the way we want to give no chance to the opponent.
Trossard on target ????
???? Go Inside Training ahead of our Champions League match against Sevilla ????
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) November 7, 2023
“One thing is my duty towards you guys and then my duty as a coach to do what we have to do. This is exactly what I’ve done, nothing special, nothing different, and I would do it and the club would do it again and again until this is right. Until this is right, we have to be better on the pitch and win more football games. That’s it.”
Arsenal and Arteta have outlined their willingness to help the Premier League improve the standards of decision-making, and the former Everton midfielder reiterated that stance today.
He added: “Errors are part of an evolution. There are always bumps along the road and maybe these things are very necessary to happen to improve the game in the right way. But we have to talk loudly, if we have a problem, let’s talk about this, let’s try to improve it in a very constructive way, that’s it, that’s what we are trying to do, nothing else.”
