Arteta was visibly furious as Arsenal suffered a 0-1 defeat to Newcastle in a Premier League clash at St. James’ Park last weekend. Several decisions during the game were perceived as detrimental to The Gunners.
From the controversial goal by Anthony Gordon, deemed as invalid, to the leniency shown to Bruno Guimaraes, who escaped a card, these decisions left Arteta incensed, leading to his outspoken criticism of the officials.
Arsenal, not long after the match, released a statement defending their manager’s conduct. The North London club also labeled the refereeing as highly subpar.
However, Arsenal’s stance as a club has faced severe criticism. Gary Neville, Sky Sports pundit and former Manchester United defender, deemed Arsenal’s response as dangerous since it could set a negative precedent for the future.
“I think the statement is really poor,” Neville stated during a conversation with Sky Sports.
“Liverpool got a big surprise when they played against them a few weeks ago here, and we know that was wrong, there’s a sense they were hard done by.”
“A day after Liverpool put out a statement suggesting they might replay the game, I think that was a bad move. Arsenal’s statement was also a bad move.”
“All the clubs signed up to the new code of conduct, and I’m not saying that the referees shouldn’t be put under pressure. But the clubs themselves have got to behave better in these situations.”
“I look at the Premier League and the leadership in the Premier League, and they’ve got to start protecting the referees. I was in favor of transparency at the start,” he added.
