Arteta gets his 4th yellow card – Are the referees trying to kill his passion and emotion?

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 17: Referee Tim Robinson shows a yellow card to Mikel Arteta, Manager of Arsenal, during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Brighton & Hove Albion at Emirates Stadium on December 17, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Is officiating starting to get silly in the Premier League?

On the weekend Mikel Arteta was, for the 4th time this season shown a yellow card on the touchline. Now, if were being honest, he probably deserved it, Kaoru Mitoma had committed to what was a pretty nasty challenge on Bukayo Saka and Arteta has thrown his arms up in frustration and was quickly shown a yellow card by referee Tim Robinson and as I said, he probably deserved it, but personally I feel like these decisions are starting to get a bit silly and referees just seem card happy.

This is not the first time Arteta has been punished for his antics on the touchline and a lot of people out there are saying maybe he should be learning from his mistakes, but I think people really need to take emotions into consideration. No, it’s obviously not okay to go abusing the officials or anything like that, but when it comes down to pure emotion I think caution must be taken.

Football is such a passionate sport, a lot of decisions don’t go your way at times, and you have to learn to deal with that, but for some it’s harder than others to keep your emotions inside and for me, as long as it’s not abusive, I don’t see the issue. How can you expect managers or even plyers to not react to things that they don’t agree with? Arteta was one of four managers that were shown a yellow card on the weekend and for me that’s just ridiculous. We’re entering a stage of the game where referees are becoming more protected than managers and players, and whatever they say apparently goes.

Take the Liverpool vs Manchester United game this weekend for a prime example, as much as I have a distaste for United, Diego Dalot was shown two yellow cards in the space of 30 seconds for exactly the same thing, dissent. And to me, that makes absolutely no sense and of course the referee who branded the red card was Michael Oliver, who I’m sure you’ll all remember did something similar with Gabriel Martinelli. All these decisions that the referees are now allowed to make are ruining the game for me.

I might just have my red and white tinted glasses on and I’m sure every football fan feels the same, but for me, Arsenal seems to always be targeted by these decisions. Unless the manager or the players are abusing the officials, I don’t see why they should continue to be punished for passion and emotion. Taking that out of the game would be a huge mistake but that seems to be where the game is heading.

What’s your thoughts Gooners? Is the officiating getting a bit too silly in the Premier League this season?

Daisy Mae


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20 Comments

  1. He was asking for a yellow card to be shown, which you cannot do, unfortunately. Players, managers and coaching staff have been warned it’s a bookable offence.

    1. But the frustration is that the rule is only applied when the ref fancies it. E.g. when White got his yellow from the foul on Mitoma, the very first thing Mitoma did after getting pulled back was gesture a card for White. Yet the ref let that go for some reason?

    2. But he said he was tellig Martinelli something. The fact remains that the hatred for Arsenal is just too much.

      1. Did you see him in that interview when he said that? I did and he had a little grin on his face and then left, it was very much tongue in cheek. He was waving for a card!

  2. Unusually, I DO agree with the writer, this time.
    She is correct to point out that passion is a key and vital part of our game , which without passion would NOT be worth watching.

    Unless a manager is actually abusing a ref directly, by swearing at him directly or by physical menace, then a mere overreaction in the heat of th moment OUGHT NOT to be frowned upon.

    The REAL culprits are the IFAB,International Football Association Board , who have made the rules for ages.

    THOSE FOOLS ought to be immediately reversing thE catastrophically stupid changing of hand balL, which workedperfectly well for decades UNTIL THEY STUPIDLY changed the rule called hand ball , to ball to hand..
    Yes my friends, IFAB are thre REAL CULPRITS and those existing interpretations of rules that worked perfectly well for most of footballs history , were CHANGED by the idiots at IFAB.

    RESERVE YOUR ANGER FOR THEM, NOT MA!

    BTW, to call something “LAWS” that are actually rules and regulations is typically overbearing and self important.

    LAWS ARE PASSED BY PARLIAMENTS, NOT IFAB, whatever they may think!

  3. There is a camera directly on the dugout as the respective gaffer’s reactions are part of the package, what would life be like on the touch line if all managers were like the Benitezs and Avraham Grant.

  4. One wonders what MA would say and do, if one of his players kept getting booked for the same offence?
    I’m all for passion within the game…where would we be without it?!

    The rules are the rules and I do believe that I highlighted the one that said yellow cards would be issued for the offence that MA got his for just recently.

    As for the inconsistency, that just shows var technology has nothing to do with the complete mess officials create for themselves with their said inconsistency.

    Why IS IT so hard to follow such a simple rule?

    1. KEN oF COURSE VAR TECHNOLOGY has nothing to do with the complete mess andinefficience you refe rto.
      HOW COULDIT ANYWAY,as without humans messing it up,it is simply a piece of inert non usable technology!!

      On this point you and I DO AGREE, EVEN THOUGH YOU SEEM NOT TO REALISEN OR ACKNOWLEDGE I HAVE BEEN SAYING EXACTLY THAT RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING OF OUR LONG RUNNING VAR DISPUTES.
      The only ACTUAL DIFFERENCE betwen us being that I havew always been against th concdept of VAR, UNLESS AND UNTIL, it it entirely automated and without any direct human involvemenrt befor decisions are transmitted to refs, You still believe that better and more intense training of VAR operatives will cure the problem, while I DO NOT think that will ever cure inevitable human frailty, meaning their mistakes. VAR is now four years old and causing more controversy weekly than ever.

      I ask you HOW LONG do you think this intensive training will still take? Another four years? Fourteen years ? A hundred years? Which is it KEN?

      1. Quite simple really Jon – If the current batch of referees cannot following the rules and issue a yellow card AS INSTRUCTED then they are incompetent to do the job!!
        Train referees who CAN follow the rules, without fear or prejudice.
        As for your insistence that technology shouldn’t be used until it’s foolproof is nonsense – as Neutral said in an earlier article, those who took your attitude with regards to progress and technology, were known as Luddites and compared to King Canute.
        Thank goodness Howard Webb and his officials are prepared to recognise the importance of var technology and want to keep it.

        What your saying, in actual fact, is that we should carry on with the current officials who cannot follow the rule book, while we should ignore the technology that said officials WANT TO KEEP, as it helps and supports them, despite their obvious lack of understanding the current rules?

        YOU ARE AT COMPLETE ODDS WITH THE PGMOL, BUT CANNOT SEE OR ACCEPT IT!!
        SIGH!!

        1. KEN Every football fan who follows Prem football ALREADY KNOWS they are incompetent. That is a widely agreed given. The question is HOW do we change that status quo Good luck with your vain quest to make CVAR opeatives different from every othe huiman who ahs ever trod this EARTH.
          All you gave done is restate your already long held and well known opinion.

          But you failed, I notice, to answer my question as to WHEN that training will be successful.

          Which is WHY I always preferred to wait UNTIL AUTOMATED TECH -which is almost ready- does the job PROPERLY.

          As for your ludicrous Luddite comments ,it is YOU Ken, who are a Luddite, by actually keep banging your head against the wall in expecting humans not to make mistakes, despite the history of thousands of years on this planet for our species.

          Willl you never learn(a rhetorical question obviously)!!

  5. Oh, that’s why Dalot got thrown out. Good thing it wasn’t Martinelli or it would have taken only 20 seconds for Oliver to pull a second yellow.

    The managers will be having a group press conference to announce they are all going to voluntarily keep their hands in their pockets during each match until they are safely back to the dressing room. Keeping the players in line on the pitch is one thing, putting straight jackets on the managers is another. Are the fans in the first five rows next?

  6. All the entire England Refs hates Arsenal they are always been targeted anything they does never pleased with the officials

  7. No sugar-coating, Arteta is targeted by the English FA, for his Response to the blatant Robbery by the Refs/VAR against Newcastle Utd.😕😕
    I saw a Newspaper Article where a Picx shown the Turkish Club Owner who punched a Ref.
    Arteta’s picx of Ref complain was put next to it.😯😟
    It became Clear that some persons in England has an AGENDA against Arteta.😌

  8. To some of us (or at least me) who see things as they are, he is clearly marked for his stance against substandard refereeing.

    So he should just stay quite and let them do anything they want at the expense of him and Arsenal in general winning things?

    It’s not surprising at all considering the English poor refereeing without consequences is known all over the world.

    I say it is deliberate because I have never seen referees mistakes hurt some club.

    Some things are plain and do not need a debate. Everything in this world can be debated. The nature and reality of some things will remain the same even if anyone can decide to see the reality they want.

  9. More red cards can be expected for players against Liverpool games from now on. The media and referees will do everything possible to help Liverpool win this year

  10. These rules they set are inhumane, this game is all about emotions and passion. It is not for zombies and still pictures of a human figure, it’s real real-life.

  11. As always with this lot of refs and VAR officials, it is the glaring inconsistencies that make a mockery of themselves.

    I’m sure Klopp and Pep are next on the list for the same offense. Or the numerous players that continue to display the card gesture during games.

    Or when players surround refs, I can count on one hand the yellow cards given for that rule violation.

    EPL refs continue to be sub standard, little to no accountability, and the results are showing.

    1. EXACTLY 100% CORRECT DURAND!!
      While these well paid officials cannot be consistent with simple rules, how can we EVER expect them to be able to use technology?

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