Mikel Arteta’s Reaction to Newcastle Goal: Justified or Hypocritical?
Following Arsenal’s recent defeat against Newcastle, Mikel Arteta expressed his frustration with the decision to allow Newcastle’s goal to stand. But does he have a right to feel aggrieved?
Arsenal’s First Defeat of the Season
Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the season at St. James’ Park in a 5.30pm kickoff against Newcastle. The game’s only goal was scored by Anthony Gordon after a four-minute VAR check, which deemed it a legitimate opener.
Arteta’s Hypocrisy
Arteta’s post-match comments labeling the officiating as a “disgrace” displayed hypocrisy, considering his more relaxed response to the error that led to Luis Diaz’s goal against Tottenham being disallowed five weeks earlier.
Dissecting Arteta’s Comments
On This Is Anfield’s ‘Live at 5’ show with The Late Challenge Podcast, Paul Cope and Gareth Roberts analyzed Arteta’s comments and Arsenal’s statement following the incident.
“I don’t want to go into the decision itself, it’s more the reaction to it from [Arteta] and then Arsenal as the club,” Roberts said.
The Tribal Nature of Football
Managers often show little sympathy for errors unless they directly impact their club. Vincent Kompany and others have also demonstrated this tribal nature of football.
Unprecedented Error vs. Subjective Decisions
Arsenal’s statement mirrored Liverpool’s following the Tottenham debacle, but Cope points out that the two errors are not remotely on the same level. The Diaz mistake was unprecedented, while most of football is subjective.
Missed Opportunity for Change
Liverpool’s statement aimed to drive change and improvements in officiating and technology use. Unfortunately, Arteta and others were not willing to support this initiative when the opportunity presented itself.
Conclusion
While Arteta may feel aggrieved by the decision, his reaction and Arsenal’s statement seem hypocritical considering their previous response to a similar incident. The tribal nature of football often clouds managers’ judgment, hindering the progress towards better officiating and technology use.
* Paul Cope and Gareth Roberts are speaking on a new show from This Is Anfield and The Late Challenge Podcast.
There is a live show that airs each Monday at 5pm (UK) on This Is Anfield’s YouTube, with our second show each Wednesday.
You can also listen as an audio show, here.