Arsenal statement + PGMOL’s cosy cartel

Morning all. Welcome to a model new week.

After Mikel Arteta’s feedback after the Newcastle recreation, Arsenal launched an announcement yesterday backing the supervisor. It reads:

Arsenal Soccer Membership wholeheartedly helps Mikel Arteta’s post-match feedback after but extra unacceptable refereeing and VAR errors on Saturday night.

We’d additionally wish to acknowledge the large effort and efficiency from our gamers and travelling supporters at St James’ Park.

The Premier League is one of the best league on the earth with one of the best gamers, coaches and supporters, all of whom deserve higher. PGMOL urgently wants to handle the usual of officiating and give attention to motion which strikes us all on from retrospective evaluation, tried explanations and apologies.

We help the continuing efforts of Chief Refereeing Officer, Howard Webb and would welcome working collectively to attain the world-class officiating requirements our league calls for.

I believed an attention-grabbing a part of his post-game diatribe was when, on Sky Sports activities, he was requested if this was one thing he’d be speaking to PGMOL about, and stated:

“We’ve been taking it up for months.”

So, it’s straightforward to get the sense that that is somebody who’s reacting within the warmth of second, clearly, but additionally one who has come to the tip of his tether with the officiating requirements. Maybe some will assume it’s excessive, a traditional case of a supervisor who’s a sore loser, and there might be some fact to that. If we all know something about Mikel Arteta it’s that he hates dropping, however he’s normally fairly truthful in his evaluation.

Generally he’ll take the blame himself; nearly each time he’ll say there have been issues we may and may have executed higher in a recreation that didn’t go our manner; he’s not averse to creating it clear his gamers didn’t do sufficient (see his West Ham feedback from this week, the place he straight criticised them for not competing); and there have been loads of occasions when he has flat-out refused to talk about a referee or a refereeing choice.

However not this time. He’s had sufficient. He’s not the one supervisor to talk out this weekend. Wolves Gary O’Neil, who noticed his facet concede an absurd penalty towards Newcastle final week, needed to undergo that once more this weekend when Sheffield United got a spot kick in damage time. He stated:

I’m truthfully misplaced, I don’t know the place to go together with it. I’m advised to go in and have a wise dialog, however he nonetheless watched it telling me it’s a penalty, which tells me we’re in a loopy place.

I can’t assist however come again to Mike Dean’s recent comments which proceed to be glossed over in a manner I don’t assume is beneficial. What he advised us went past that one incident, and instructed there’s a form of Omerta among the many officers. At finest there is perhaps an edict to uphold the on-field choice as a lot as doable; at worst there are choices being made for the good thing about the officers moderately than making use of the legal guidelines of the sport accurately. The Bruno Guimares forearm on Jorginho feels very very like one of many latter. At some extent the place the sport had been heated up and there was a way of injustice among the many house followers due to the Havertz sort out and the next flurry of playing cards, is it past the realms of chance that the VAR choice was made to forestall additional outcry on the referee? I’m struggling to think about how educated officers can see apparent violent conduct after which ignore the legal guidelines of the sport.

As for the response to the Arteta feedback from the pundits within the highlight, this goes again to one thing I’ve been nervous about because the begin of the season. Right here’s what I wrote after we gained the Group Protect:

On ITV, the commentary sounded prefer it had been purchased and paid for by Howard Webb. Painful stuff.

That may be a theme that has continued all through this season. Are we imagined to take Michael Owen’s view critically provided that he has a paid gig, co-hosting a TV present with Howard Webb? Even that in itself is ludicrous. It’s introduced to us as a step-forward, as demonstration of PGMOL’s dedication to transparency, nevertheless it’s not. It’s a manner for Howard Webb and his large ego to get on tv. The very fact this present is occasional and never common tells you there’s no real dedication to transparency, and there are myriad methods they could possibly be extra open. Let’s have the flexibility to listen to the referees and VAR, the identical manner the commentators can. Launch the audio or the transcripts afterwards. There are instruments now that may precisely transcribe hours of audio in seconds. It may all be public in the event that they needed it to be, however they solely need to pay lip-service to transparency.

Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher had Webb in studio. Possibly they’ve been merely been smitten, however the appeal offensive factor is apparent. Webb saying, “Now we have a troublesome job guys, I’m making an attempt my finest, don’t make it tougher for us.”

Neither, after all, have had an issue getting in on officiating when choices about their very own golf equipment have been within the highlight. Even when there’s evidence that makes their in-game assertions incorrect, they don’t again down, they double-down. And that is the factor about Arsenal making an announcement. Requirements is not going to enhance except there’s some form of consensus. Go away apart the tribalism, depart apart the whataboutery, depart apart accusations of hypocrisy (as if each supervisor hasn’t stated one thing one week that is perhaps challenged the following). Nothing will enhance except the referees and the person in command of the referees are correctly accountable for his or her errors.

What occurs when a PL ref makes an error? He’s demoted to the Championship. Which primarily means the punishment is meted out to 2 ‘harmless’ golf equipment. Not the official. He nonetheless works. He nonetheless will get paid. He simply does it out of the glare of the Premier League highlight. It’s a bit mad actually.

And look, you at all times appear to have to caveat this dialogue by acknowledging it’s a ‘robust job’, however we’re some extent now the place that feels redundant. It’s a get-out clause for PGMOL. There are many robust jobs on the market, far harder than officiating a soccer match (and sometimes far much less profitable by way of wage), and the truth is that when you don’t do it properly, you get fired. From prime to backside, from the boss to the lowliest worker, that’s the way it works in all places. Besides PGMOL.

Which is why we’re the place we’re.

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Proper, that’s it for now. We will likely be recording an Arsecast Further in a short while. Maintain a watch out for the decision for questions on Twitter @gunnerblog and @arseblog on Twitter with the hashtag #arsecastextra – or when you’re on Arseblog Member on Patreon, depart your query within the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord server.

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