05 November 2023 , 23:54
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Mikel Arteta looks to have made a major U-turn on his opinion of refereeing decisions after his Arsenal side were on the receiving end of a contentious call.
The Spaniard was fuming on Saturday night as he saw the Gunners lose for the first time in the Premier League this season at Newcastle. Anthony Gordon scored a second-half winner that was shrouded in debate with VAR having to check several aspects of the goal.
Arteta came out in the aftermath of the loss and let rip at the fact the goal was allowed to stand. He labelled the decision "embarrassing" and a "disgrace" as his attack then saw him go for the PGMOL - just weeks after calling for more understanding towards referees.
The Arsenal boss said: "We've been taking it up (with the PGMOL) for months. There is too much at stake, we put in so many hours. I'm here to represent the football club and to get my team to compete at the highest level, the margins are so small, it's a disgrace, embarrassing.
He also added: "You look at the images and I don't know how to feel. I am wasting my time, we are wasting our time. I don't want to be in the hands of people. It is difficult enough to compete against this really good team. The way we play, the way we compete, it is embarrassing, there is too much at stake. "
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Those in charge of the referees have been forced to admit mistakes have been made despite there being less than a third of the season completed. Going back to the opening weekend, VAR and those on field have been heavily criticised.
The Spaniard has previously defended referee and VAR mistakes (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)Arteta's outburst comes after he defended those making the decisions following the VAR debacle in Tottenham's win over Liverpool, which saw them wrongly disallow a Luis Diaz goal for offside. The Arsenal boss claimed: "I don’t know. It’s something that we don’t have a say on, we don’t manage. I think they are trying to make the best decisions, they are trying to protect the game, they are trying to get as much support and be ruthless when they need to be.
"At some point as well we need to give support and understand that mistakes happen. We’ve made mistakes as well and if the pressure is so much then it’s very difficult to manage."