- Gary Neville slammed Arsenal’s statement supporting manager Mikel Arteta
- Neville believes Arsenal’s action is ‘dangerous’ and called on the Premier League
- CHRIS SUTTON: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is a CLOWN – It’s All Kicking Off
Gary Neville has described Arsenal’s statement supporting Mikel Arteta as ‘dangerous’ and believes clubs are acting improperly with their handling of controversial refereeing decisions.
Arteta fumed at the officiating in his side’s weekend defeat against Newcastle that saw Anthony Gordon’s winning strike undergo a VAR check that has largely split opinion over whether the goal should have stood.
Bruno Guimaraes similarly avoided punishment for a supposed elbow on Jorginho that Arsenal supporters felt should have warranted a red card.
The Gunners manager was livid after the match and labelled Newcastle’s winning goal as a ‘disgrace’ and insisted the awarding of the strike was ’embarrassing’ for VAR.
Gordon’s decisive strike went through three separate VAR checks before being allowed to stand, with referee Stuart Attwell and VAR official Andy Madley deeming that Joe WIllock had kept the ball in play, Joelinton had not fouled Gabriel and that the goalscorer was onside.
Arsenal later made the surprise decision to issue a public statement supporting Arteta’s passioned rant and stated they were backing their manager after ‘yet more unacceptable refereeing and VAR errors’.
Neville explained that was the wrong move to make by Arsenal and criticised the club for making a ‘really poor’ decision in producing a statement.
‘I thought the statement was really poor,’ said Neville on Sky Sports on Monday evening.
‘Liverpool had a shocking one against them few weeks ago here and we knew it was wrong, there was feeling they had been hard done by.
‘A day after when Liverpool wrote statement with the suggestion of replay, I thought to be fair that was quite dangerous. The Arsenal statement is also quite dangerous.
‘All clubs signed a new behavioural charter and I’m not saying referees shouldn’t be put under pressure but clubs themselves should definitely behave better in these circumstances.
‘I’m looking at the Premier League and leadership in the Premier League, the reality of it is they have to start protecting referees, I was in favour of the transparency at the beginning of it,’ he said.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
