Will Arsenal suffer after Wenger´s criticism of referees?

I do not think that there is any chance of Arsene Wenger being pulled up by the Premier League to answer for the comments he made after his Arsenal side lost away to Manchester City today, because the Frenchman was careful not to suggest that there had been any wrongdoing or bias on the part of referee Michael Oliver or his assistants.

However, I do wonder how Mr. Oliver and the other Premier League officials will react to the Frenchman’s criticism, because he pretty much called them all incompetent. Wenger was understandably furious about another two calls going against the Gunners at the Etihad, especially as he feels the same happened last season.

The offside for the third goal cannot be argued with whereas the penalty is a more subjective call but once again a tight one went against Arsenal and after the same happened at Stoke and Watford you can understand any manager being unhappy, but Wenger maybe went a bit too far with his comments as reported by Sky Sports.

He said, “I would say overall the referee made the decision today, with the soft penalty and the offside goal. But we are used to it when coming here, last year they had two offside goals, and once again, I feel they don’t work enough, because the level drops every season at the moment. Overall it’s unacceptable what happens.

“The physical level is very good, the decisions [are not]. At 2-1 we are in the game, and he gives a clear offside goal, and of course that kills the game for us.

“And if you see last year we conceded two offside goals as well, but of course they are a top team, but on top of that it makes things very difficult for you.”

If you were a referee and someone said you were not doing a good job would it make you more or less willing to give their team a decision? Me too, although the way things have been going for us I am not sure the officials could do us much more harm than they already are.

D.N.

18 Comments

  1. Oh come on… Michael Oliver didn’t pick the team, play players in the wrong position, play Iwobi & leave our most expensive signing on the bench!!! Yes their third goal was offside, but I still think we’d have lost. They’re better than us & they have a better manager end of

    1. I agree totally with what you say Sue but I don’t honestly think Wenger helps our cause at all, I can’t remember a time today when he wasn’t having a go at the 4th official, the same 4th official that can’t influence the decisions at all. I said the same when he pushed one last season. Wengers problem is that he can see when another team or match officials have messed up or cheated but he seemingly can’t when it comes to himself. That’s why we aren’t moving forward, he’s too busy looking to blame something else than dealing with the things that went wrong that he can change.

    2. It is not whether Michael Oliver picked the team or not but it about him doing his job very well. I can’t believe refs get paid for their woeful display and players get slated for it. It is obvious he gave some assistance to them and he should be duly criticized. And we shouldn’t let Wenger faults get in the way of that.

      1. That’s a very good point but refs are human and thankfully I’m not a ref because I’d be holding some pretty major grudges and Wenger would be one of them

    3. You know Arsenal’s season is well underway when multiple articles are being written about a referee and their unfair treatment of Arsenal.

      I wonder how many of these articles were written during the time we were a major force and produced the invincibles.

      Not sure one can expect to turn things around until one is willing to recognize one’s own shortcomings rather than blame external circumstances.

      1. Hold on a minute, we got bad decisions in the ten years we were a force. We got three Premier League titles in that time, we should have got six or seven, we were that good. Bergkamp, the greatest ever player to play in the PL, Henry, the greatest ever striker, then the likes of Pires, Vieira etc etc but the problem was we were up against Sky Sports bosom buddies Manchester United, a club they actually tried to buy. Does anyone remember the seven minutes injury time they got against Sheffield Wednesday which cost us a title or the eleven penalties in eleven games given to them by crooked ref and United fan Mike Riley. Their were plenty of other incidents as well I’d like to tell you about but you’ll have to wait for the book to come out

        1. Football is rife of bad decisions. I just refuse to believe in the conspiracy theory that refs have it out for anyone particular club. Over time these bad decisions tend to even out. Like injuries, we have gone through some bad spells but they are hardly a conspiracy and last year and this year there are other top clubs that have suffered injuries to important players.

          I think it is more convincing to speak about bad referees after you win a game. We are 12 points out of first place before a third of the season has passed and that has nothing to do with referees. It is the time we focus on the real reasons for our continued slide rather than on the referees.

    4. Bugger the Ref put Sanchez and Ozil on the plane to whoever wants them. Leave Lacasset up front with Wilshire, Awobi and Ramsey in mid field, drop Zacha and get a new Keeper.
      To much picking a player that costs money to a player that wants to play for the club and we have a lot that wants too. CB

  2. It was a country mile offside, surely one of the officials must’ve seen that, as everyone else in the stadium did, and I can’t see the penalty being given against any other team, so I think Wenger has a right to feel aggrieved in that sense, but the starting lineup was incomprehensible with Lacazette on the bench, the amount of opportunities we had in the first 15 mins, he surely would’ve put one away, and why play Coq rather than Wilshere? If he’s not fully fit, at least bring him on for the second half. There no doubt that City are better than us, but we could’ve made the game a lot closer, and possibly won with the right starting lineup, and the correct decisions from the officials. City were not that good, they were held to draw by Wolves – same place, almost same team, against a well organised wolves team.

    1. And the other annoying thing is not replacing Gabriel – on the edge of being a first team member, and definitely preferable to Coq and Elneny in defence, yet we didn’t think to replace him, and as soon as we get an injury, which fair enough was Mustafi, rather than the more expected Koscielny, but to expect our defence to go through the season uninjured, with Kos carrying a semi-permanent injury and well into his 30’s is pure madness.

      1. agree again. Unexplainable to not replace Gabriel (actually IMO unexplainable to let him go so soon after buying him – points to a scouting issue IMO).

    2. I agree that a different lineup, one that should have included Laca could have made a big difference. But that is the difference between success and failure. We just don’t have the manager to get it right.

      (In fact, I think he is destroying Laca by benching him in some of the biggest games. Unforgivable IMO, but he found a way to alienate big players and reduce promising players to insecure messes.)

    3. You say City were not that good. I think we put in decent display and we still got hammered. I think City were good, in fact I think City are the best Premier League side since the Invincibles, the movement of the players, the way they keep the ball on the floor and the way close teams down, all signs of Pep genius, I fancy them for the Champions League, and to think Pep took a years sabbatical to give Wenger time to leave and replace him. Kills me

  3. Lets hope the lm linesman is suspended and if possible never allowed to
    be a lm again. I am sick of these mo who commit such crucial errors.
    Football is littered with the gaffes of these guys and until the FA steps in and
    punishes them harshly more such errors will crop up again.
    Lets hope Arsenal wont be a victim again.

  4. Referees are human. But come to think of it,they are supposed to be fair, unbiased, with sound judgement. I can see that,one of the reasons why they always err is because of politics and money, they are aware of betting companies favourite. Oliver Michael did perform below average yesterday. See the numbers of fouls are pretty equal but cards are different. I can actually conclude that he had a bet against Arsenal yesterday, the third goal was a proof. Everyone believed it was an offside including the man city player that gave the assist because of hus body language(reluctantly), yet the referee allowed it. Before the match ,a friend told me that winning margin by man city will be 2 goals. Actually was the outcome. Wenger need to know that his time is up,wrong selection.

  5. Arsene wenger can blame the officials from now till eternity if he likes just to deflect the blame from himself and his players. Instead we have raheem sterling to thank for being rubbish. Two shots across goal that he could have poked in, 2 v 1 with sane in support that he completely blundered forcing angry reactions from pep on the sidelines. The penalty decision was correct and what was monreal trying to do? The only decision that went against us was caused by the linesman which the ref may not have seen in his position. The game should have ended with something like 5-1 or 6-1. Over to you arsene.

  6. GUYS PLEASE STOP COMPLAINING. The biggest problem with arsenal is and has always been the manager imo. Lacazzate and Wilshere on the bench?????. Laca must be thinking, I was benched against Chelsea, Liverpool and now city, am i really that ineffective in big games. and 5 mins after being subbed he showed what he can do. None of the players on the pitch could have converted such a chance (maybe sanchez but hes not been in form lately).
    Wenger has not changed a bit. He still thinks he is the real deal esp after the unbeaten season and tbh that was over a decade ago. Guardiola is showing us what the modern manager is made of; ambition, tactics and adaptability. Guardiola NEVER liked playing on the counter while at barca and bayern. But look now, he has created a team that can possess very dangerously and that can break on you in the batting of the eye lid. Wenger STILL DOESNT believe in playing on the counter. He is just a lazy old and clueless donkey that still believes he runs the world. Guardiola brings out the best in his players (John stones, Otamendi, Sterling and Delph are not the same players that played under Pellegrini). Wenger destroys players on the other hand (sanchez, ozil, walcott, arshavin, podolski, lucas perez, and now he is making his mark on Lacazzatte). Men that goal must have shown wenger how clueless/naive/stupid/inept he is.
    What a joke of a manager, and arsenal will continue to be the laughing stock until this manager retires MARK MY WORDS gooners.
    EVERY big game sees arsenal make a very drastic change to the starting 11. This is what is costing us. Next game Mertasacker will come back to the starting 11 and arsenal will revert to the shitty 3-4-3. Yesterday Bellerin played way better at right back than at right wing back. Kos was effective too while playing centrally. But did Wenger see that. I 100% doubt that. He is still complaining about the match officials. If city were not in the UCL on wednesday, they would have put us to the sword. Thank God they was still tired. Its hard to believe Arsenal were the ones who enjoyed the European rest.
    WHAT A JOKE OF A MANAGER.

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