Ex-Arsenal chief Dein accuses Arteta of 'damaging image of club' with VAR rant

19 November 2023 , 16:41

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Ex-Arsenal chief Dein accuses Arteta of 'damaging image of club' with VAR rant

Former Arsenal chief David Dein has accused Mikel Arteta of damaging the Gunners' image with his stinging rant against VAR, and instead of backing him up with a club statement, he says he would discipline the Spaniard if he was still in charge.

Arteta reacted furiously earlier this month when his side lost 1-0 at Newcastle, with Anthony Gordon's winner allowed to stand by the officials despite three potential infringements in the build-up being checked.

The boss was savage in his post-match assessment, labelling the officials "embarrassing" and an "absolute disgrace." He was later charged by the FA, but the club issued a statement vowing to stick by the manager.

But Dein, who was vice-chairman of the club between 1983 and 2007, told talkSPORT the manager and players should accept their role in the loss.

“In 101 minutes of football we only had one shot at goal, so you can’t really say that the team deserved to win. It is what it is," he said. "There is a process in place for how they deal with these things and I just think it was a little bit unnecessary. I don’t think it did the image of the club any good.”

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Arteta was left furious with the decisions (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Pressed on whether he would have stood for such behaviour from Arteta during his time at the club, he added: "It wouldn’t have happened. But we’re in an emotional game and these things do happen, I think it’s unfortunate, and you live and learn.”

The 80-year-old was then pressed as to whether he would have disciplined Arteta, and said: “Probably," he said. "But you don’t want to undermine the manager either.

"The manager in the heat of the moment, that’s what he believed in. I was at Newcastle that game, he felt aggrieved that he felt the decisions go against him.

"In the final analysis, I think it was a bit of misdirection, because the fact is, there was 101 minutes – three minutes added on in the first half and eight minutes in the second."

Fraser Watson